Contact Light - Apollo and Beyond (18th June 2015)

[Capt-Coulson]

CONTACT LIGHT - Apollo and Beyond

Introduction

I've always wanted to write missions reports, but real life seems to always get in the way. That and lack of consistent will. Sigh. Well, I decided to finally give it a proper go, and I thought what better handrail than a forum challenge to guide me! This series of reports is designed to follow the Apollo Applications Project challenge by GregoxMun, and add a bit more flavour than simply posting the images. No schedule, no overarching format beyond the initial challenge; just letting the missions guide the writing and seeing where it goes!

Table of Contents

Chapter One - The Great Space Race

Pt 1. 'Apollo 4 - Answering the Call'

Pt 2. ON HOLD due to problems with Procedural Parts/Fairings.

MOD List

For sanity:

For difficulty:

For beauty:

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Edited June 19, 2015 by Capt-Coulson

[Capt-Coulson]

Ch.1 - Pt.1

'APOLLO 4 - Answering the Call'

NEWSFLASH

8^th November 1967

Kerbal Times: Today, press agencies from all across the United Kerbin States have gathered here, on the sunny shores of south Kerland, for a much-anticipated press release by the latest arm of the UKS Government: the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA was recently formed by the UKS as a direct response to successes by the United Soviet States of Krussia (USSK) and their recent, relentless successes in the field of space: not 10 years ago, Kaputnik I became the first object to slip the surly bonds of our planet and orbit around Kerbin. This ‘satellite’ tormented the UKS for several days, broadcasting its eerie beeping to the entire world. This was but the first in a line of firsts: subsequent flights by the Krussians have culminated in what is seen by many as the pinnacle of technological and scientic progress, namely the first manned flight in the history of kerbalkind as Yuri Kerbin became the first Kerbal to see our planet from space. In response, President JF. Kerman laid down an almighty gauntlet to the Krussians; he will put UKS boots on the surface of the moon before the decade is out. But with just 2 years to go until this monumental challenge must be completed, one has to wonder; how are NASA going to do this?

South Kerland Spaceport – Vehicle Assembly Building

8^th November 1967

Abe: ‘Gentlemen. I imagine you’re all wondering why we have gathered you all here today. Indeed, I imagine some of you have speculated quite accurately as to what you are about to be told. Well, it is no longer about those words. It is about delivering on them.’

Reporter: ‘Hell Abe, it’s not just us! The people are beginning to speculate. It’s been nearly 7 years now since the president laid down the challenge. And you guys have made some incredible progress. But some are starting to wonder if this is even possible; let alone in the next 24 months. Can we really do this? Can we really put a Kerbal on the moon?’

Abe: ‘I don’t need to answer that question. I’ll let what lies through this door do the talking. Gentlemen, follow me through this way, and watch your step as we enter the gantry – it is quite the drop here in the VAB!’

…

‘Behold. Gentlemen, the vehicle that will answer the challenge. I present to you… the Saturn V.’

Abe: ‘I imagine you have many questions. And no, before you ask; no photos. No film. This is still classified technology. We follow the same drills for this as we did with the Gemini and Mercury programs. We do however have media that we will release to you after the launch. I’m happy to take any questions at this point, but don’t expect answers to them all!’

Reporter: ‘You mentioned Mercury and Gemini, which were the project names for the Redstone and Titan launchers. What is the name of this project?’

Abe: ‘Well, this will all be in your post-launch press packs, but I can tell you now for free – this is the Apollo project.’

Reporter: ‘Post-launch press pack? So when’s the launch, Abe?’

Abe: ‘Well, we’re looking to send Apollo 4, this rocket you see down there, on its maiden flight sometime in the next 24 hours. And you know the drill by now. You’re confined to the Spaceport until after the flight. Gentlemen; if you could follow the escorts, they will remove any ‘compromising equipment’ and then lead you to your accommodation. You will be picked up tomorrow morning and be taken to mission control for the best show of your lives. Until then, good day. And here’s to a big one tomorrow.’

South Kerland Spaceport – Mission Control

9^th November 1967

Mission Controller: ‘We’re all good Abe. Just waiting on your go.’

Abe: ‘Let’s get this show on the road then. [turns to the reporters] Gentlemen, I hope you’re ready for this. This is the culmination of years of work by thousands of Kerbals, and our first step on the final road to the Mun.’

Mission Controller: ‘Control to all stations. We are T-minus 60 seconds and holding. Start the countdown to launch. Commencing pre-flight checks. Stage?’

Stage: ‘Go.’

Mission Controller: ‘FIDO?’

FIDO: ‘Go flight.’

Mission Controller: ‘RETRO?’

RETRO: ‘We’re go, MC.’

Mission Controller: ‘Range?’

Range: ‘All clear, go flight.’

Mission Controller: ‘CAPCOM?’

CAPCOM: ‘Go.’

Mission Controller: ‘Payload?’

Payload: ‘Go for flight.’

Mission Controller: ‘All stations are go for flight. Main engine sequence start. T minus-5 seconds.’

Abe: ‘Here we go. Godspeed Apollo’.

Mission Controller: ‘2, 1, and 0. Lift-off confirmed. Apollo 4 has cleared the pad.’

Reporter: ‘Would you look at it go! And the noise! I nearly fell out of my goddamned chair!’

Abe: ‘Right now, the Saturn V is pushing its full rated payload up to the sound barrier. It will break through just after it pushes through the cloud layer. At this point, the 5 first stage engines are putting out more thrust than any machine in history; over 7500kN of force.’

Abe: ‘About now, the rocket will be approaching first-stage separation. The second set of 5 engines will take over. In the event that any engine fails to ignite at this point, the rocket can continue with just four engines and still complete its mission.’

Abe: ‘Soon we should see second -stage separation, aiming for an orbit at 100km. The rocket continues upward and places itself in a suborbital trajectory. Advancements in engine technology mean that the third stage can now cut out, and these engines can be restarted a few minutes later for the orbital circularization.’

Abe: ‘We hope that at this stage, fairing separation takes place. The pilots have been replaced for this flight with an Automated Transposition and Docking (ATD) unit to test… well, transposition and docking.’

Abe: ‘Once we are happy that the staging, sequence and payload are functional, a retro burn will take place to prevent LKO clutter and debris. We will perform a series of sequential separation tests on this suborbital path.’

Abe: ‘After that, all that is left is the capsule re-entry. For this first flight re-entry is uncontrolled. There was simply not enough memory to program a controlled re-entry. Real pilots will of course have substantially more memory!’

Abe: ‘And that, gentlemen, is how you do that. The flight data is already pouring in, so if you’ll excuse me, there is a lot of work to be done, and as you can appreciate by now, there is nothing more to see – or rather, than you can see. Our escorts will take you back to recover your possessions, and I will release the media of the launch to you at 1600hrs this evening. Thank you all for your attendance, and god bless the UKS.’

Reporter: ‘Abe! When is the next launch? The public will want to know!’

Abe: ‘All in good time. You’ll all be the first to know, I’m sure.’

NEWSFLASH

10^th November 1967

Kerbal Times: …there you have it. The UKS has once again cemented its lead in what some are calling the ‘Great Space Race’. Apollo IV, with its Saturn V launch vehicle, worked flawlessly, sending the dummy payload into LKO and breaking a number of records in the process. Whilst it remains to be seen if this vehicle can deliver on JFK’s promise to the people, it certainly seems as if the dream is becoming reality. NASA will not release its schedule of upcoming launches, but we can surely expect more in short order, now that Project Apollo has begun. Of course, the question on everybody’s lips is not just when, but who? Who will be the daring young Kerbals bold and brave enough to take this next great leap? Stayed tuned dear readers, to find out!

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Edited June 19, 2015 by Capt-Coulson

[Capt-Coulson]

So my save file completely borked. All of the procedural-parts dimensions decided they were just going to do what they wanted, and turn my rocket, LEM and CSM into unflappable abominations. I rebuilt the craft, went for supper, came back, loaded up and... borked again. Then I noticed that RSS is out. So then... highly distracted by that now. I have the content written for two more of these, less the mission specific stuff, so I just need to fly it. I'm looking at reflying the first mission in RSS and seeing how that goes.