"Plan Kappa" - A KSP graphic novel (Jeb is back in Chapter 53! Well, kinda.)

[Scotius]

Oh. Em. Geee! Jeb almost gave ME a heart attack Awesome chapter! But...what did Jeb do on Minmus during his forced stay? *coughflashbackcough*

[DMSP]

Hah!

Hello to you too, Jeb!

[smjjames]

This one has everything! Poetry--drama--excellent ship design and piloting--and a Nixon letter for the WIN!

Oh that's what it was supposed to be. I thought it was something wierd from the monolith or something wierd/ominous transmitted by the antagonist or by Gene even.

Why couldn't he get back through the monolith though? Unless it's a one-way trip maybe.

[Commander Zoom]

*laughs and laughs, and applauds, and laughs s'more*

As for why he couldn't get back: I think the monolith was willing to bend its "do nothing but observe" orders/programming just a little bit (past the information-imparting it's already done, that is) - perhaps, in part, due to some rather un-machine-like spite at Jeb for trying to kick it - but after that, it's up to the kerbals to do the rest.

This also gives the space program something to do besides organizing a very long line and herding everyone through to Duna or wherever. That would be much too easy.

Edited September 25, 2015 by Commander Zoom

[Parkaboy]

As for why he couldn't get back: I think the monolith was willing to bend its "do nothing but observe" orders/programming just a little bit (past the information-imparting it's already done, that is) - perhaps, in part, due to some rather un-machine-like spite at Jeb for trying to kick it - but after that, it's up to the kerbals to do the rest.

This also gives the space program something to do besides organizing a very long line and herding everyone through to Duna or wherever. That would be much too easy.

That's a very good assessment. But you'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out if it's correct!

[Elowiny]

Why can't the kerbals just go through the monolith and get Jeb back? The monolith only accepts Jeb?

[lajoswinkler]

Really nice comic. Easy to read and nice looking layout.

[Starhawk]

Wonderful stuff, as always.

Thanks Parkaboy.

Happy landings!

[Sanic]

Why can't the Kerbals put all their effort into Duna or Laythe colonization?

[Whirligig Girl]

I just caught up. I have to say that this is really awesome. From the Spore reference to the custom poses to the talking teleporter monoliths to the brilliant story, this is the best KSP comic. Eve: Order Zero coming in a very close second.

- - - Updated - - -

Why can't the Kerbals put all their effort into Duna or Laythe colonization?

Well, that's the point. They didn't believe Jeb and Bob before, but now that they do they may be able to speed up R&D to get those ISRUs and stuff. I don't know.

[TheGamingNoobster]

I just caught up. I have to say that this is really awesome. From the Spore reference to the custom poses to the talking teleporter monoliths to the brilliant story, this is the best KSP comic. Eve: Order Zero coming in a very close second.

- - - Updated - - -

Well, that's the point. They didn't believe Jeb and Bob before, but now that they do they may be able to speed up R&D to get those ISRUs and stuff. I don't know.

The TMA stated that all of the Kerbol system will be destroyed (If i recall correctly)

[Terwin]

The TMA stated that all of the Kerbol system will be destroyed (If i recall correctly)

Nope, apparently even Kerbin orbit will be fine:

1. On Year 3, Day 1 something will happen that will render Kerbin inaccessible. No new missions may be launched after that. The brave kerbonauts must put as much hardware they can in orbit before that time.

[Spacetraindriver]

Is it bad if I'm only reading the posts with the novel/comic...

[TheGamingNoobster]

Nope, apparently even Kerbin orbit will be fine:

Welp, I recall incorrectly then! Haha, thanks for that!

[Deddly]

I like it! Sorry to keep coming with questions, but how does teleporting Jebediah to Minmus prove anything? Is it that he was asking for a "sign" of some kind, and they accepted his teleportation as such?

[Farex]

Another fine graphic novel detected. Another subscription added.

[Parkaboy]

The TMA stated that all of the Kerbol system will be destroyed (If i recall correctly)

The monolith said that the kerbals would have to evacuate the Kerbin system (Kerbin, Mun and Minmus). He said that Kerbin would be destroyed and implied that Mun and Minmus would be very dangerous places. It makes sense, if you remember that future astronauts have appeared in the orbits of the two moons, which means that Kerbin blowing up would send any kerbals in the planet's SOI to somewhere else in the multiverse.

I like it! Sorry to keep coming with questions, but how does teleporting Jebediah to Minmus prove anything? Is it that he was asking for a "sign" of some kind, and they accepted his teleportation as such?

This will be adressed next chapter, which, BTW, is running a bit late but will be posted before the end of the week.

[Angelo Kerman]

The monolith said that the kerbals would have to evacuate the Kerbin system (Kerbin, Mun and Minmus). He said that Kerbin would be destroyed and implied that Mun and Minmus would be very dangerous places. It makes sense, if you remember that future astronauts have appeared in the orbits of the two moons, which means that Kerbin blowing up would send any kerbals in the planet's SOI to somewhere else in the multiverse.

This will be adressed next chapter, which, BTW, is running a bit late but will be posted before the end of the week.

... Or, with Kerbin being destroyed, maybe you could have a spinoff series involving a base on the Mun that has weekly adventures while flying some fancy spaceships as the Mun flings across the universe...

[smjjames]

The monolith said that the kerbals would have to evacuate the Kerbin system (Kerbin, Mun and Minmus). He said that Kerbin would be destroyed and implied that Mun and Minmus would be very dangerous places. It makes sense, if you remember that future astronauts have appeared in the orbits of the two moons, which means that Kerbin blowing up would send any kerbals in the planet's SOI to somewhere else in the multiverse.

The two moons would have been sent on their own orbits anyway, but too bad there isn't any n-body simulation in KSP.

[Commander Zoom]

... Or, with Kerbin being destroyed, maybe you could have a spinoff series involving a base on the Mun that has weekly adventures while flying some fancy spaceships as the Mun flings across the universe...

Y3, D1: "Breakaway"

The two moons would have been sent on their own orbits anyway, but too bad there isn't any n-body simulation in KSP.

I wonder... is anyone out there crazy and/or resourceful enough to recreate the Kerbol system in a program that does, run it forward to the aforementioned date, delete Kerbin, and see what happens?

Edited September 30, 2015 by Commander Zoom

[Parkaboy]

Y3, D1: "Breakaway"

I wonder... is anyone out there crazy and/or resourceful enough to recreate the Kerbol system in a program that does, run it forward to the aforementioned date, delete Kerbin, and see what happens?

That would be really neat! But now I wonder if I could hyperedit the moons into the calculated orbits. I nevet tried hypereditting a celestial body, would the change be persistent?

[Whirligig Girl]

That would be really neat! But now I wonder if I could hyperedit the moons into the calculated orbits. I nevet tried hypereditting a celestial body, would the change be persistent?

HyperEdit changing of persistent orbits is buggy and clunky. Simply changing the orbit of a planet is actually really easy with Kopernicus. It's probably the simplest change you can do to a planet. Best thing is, it properly calculates sphere-of-influence.

Example Config:

@Kopernicus:FOR[PlanKappaKerbinRemoval]
{
	@Body[Mun]
	{
		@Properties
		{			
			description	= The Mun got totally flung out of its Kerbin orbit dude! Speaking of Kerbin, I wonder where it went?
		}

                @Orbit
		{
			@referenceBody				= Sun

			semiMajorAxis				= sma
			inclination					= inc
			eccentricity				= ecc
			longitudeOfAscendingNode	        = lan
			argumentOfPeriapsis			= aop
			meanAnomalyAtEpoch		= w
			epoch					= ep
		}
	}
}

Just install the Kopernicus Beta mod, make a new folder with the name PlanKappaKerbinRemoval in gamedata folder, and inside the PlanKappaKerbinRemoval folder make a text document renamed from .txt to .cfg, and paste this in there. Edit the description and orbital characteristics however you see fit / have calculated.

[smjjames]

I wonder... is anyone out there crazy and/or resourceful enough to recreate the Kerbol system in a program that does, run it forward to the aforementioned date, delete Kerbin, and see what happens?

I hear it's been done before in Universe Sandbox, recreating the Kerbol system that is.

[Commander Zoom]

It occurs to me that you could do a quick-and-dirty fudge of the above by deleting the whole Kerbin system and placing simple craft with the names and orbital elements of Mun and Minmus at the appropriate coordinates - they wouldn't affect other planets or moons, of course, but if you just want to see if they encounter any other SOIs...

[Parkaboy]

It occurs to me that you could do a quick-and-dirty fudge of the above by deleting the whole Kerbin system and placing simple craft with the names and orbital elements of Mun and Minmus at the appropriate coordinates - they wouldn't affect other planets or moons, of course, but if you just want to see if they encounter any other SOIs...

Yeah, I'll keep examining the options, but we're still a long time away from doomsday at this point, so there's no rush. Meanwhile, enjoy another chapter!

Edit: Updated the last image (actually, I ended up having to re-update everything, because Imgur hates me). For now on, I'll try not to rely so much in the Powerpoint spell check, I guess...

Edited October 1, 2015 by Parkaboy