Forgotten Space Program

[Garibaldi2257]

you are indeed correct sir, I apologize.

[Cydonian Monk]

Just now, Garibaldi2257 said:

you are indeed correct sir, I apologize.

No worries. That song choice was so perfect I'd expect Andy Weir wishes he'd thought of it.  (Assuming he didn't in the first place....)

[Cydonian Monk]

More Silicon, More Recycling

The third Silicon launch was rather pedestrian compared to the previous two. Comprised of two "empty" truss segments, two radiator and electrical trusses, and the construction bot needed to install them, the Si-3 was an order of magnitude smaller than the Si-2. Very much within the capabilities of the LV-05 Cantata launcher. 

Funds and the old bank account being what they were, the agency had to recycle the two experimental aircraft that were parked in front of the SPH before they could afford to launch it. This mission was absolutely scraping the bottom of the barrel, a barrel that was increasingly full of only bees and fleas. 

 

A small mistake in the design saw the Si-3 launched without any long-range communications equipment. (It was "Cost cutting, ja?" according to Wernher.) Given it was to direct rendezvous with Kelgee Station this wasn't expected to be an issue, but was still noted for inclusion in the next round of "don't do this" posters for the VAB. Indeed, the Si-3 was well within comms range of Kelgee shortly after achieving orbit, the ship in the interim aptly controlled by its kOS flight computer. 

As with the previous Nitrogen launch, the Silicon 3 retained its upper stage all the way to the station. This served two ends: the orbital stage of the Cantata includes RCS thrusters, which would come in handy during the installation of the new trusses, and the extra fuel was needed at the station for the upcoming RTG hunt. The one downside being the orbital stage would likely become a permanent piece of debris in a station-intercepting orbit. (Starting to think the agency needs a Space Debris division.)

 

 

The Si-3 launched slightly ahead of Kelgee, and as such only completed its rendezvous after one full orbit. That gave Rondous a bit more time to prepare the remote control system for the heavy installation steps.

The first step after rendezvous was to drop the two empty trusses at the zenith of the station. Following that, the station's construction bot Gerty (voiced by none other than Kevin Spacey) moved to the aft key node, where it would receive the radiator trusses. 

(At some point in this dance Gerty relocated the former science pod to the port docking arm. The science pod had now been stripped of everything except its Science Jr. and two docking ports.)

 

Once Gerty was at the key node, Si-3 transferred the two radiator truss sections and retreated back to the empty truss sections at the aft zenith node. It would wait there until Gerty completed the installation of the two radiator trusses.

 

 

Each of the radiator trusses include a sufficient amount of electrical capacity (for those late-night "KerbTV" binge watching sessions and for expected bursts of science data), as well as two small folding radiators. Various sets of (invisible) coolant hoses ran the length of the trusses, one end to be attached to the core and its various cooling systems, the other end to assist with cooling the RTGs. 

Gerty was more than up to the challenge of placing the two segments into place. The sun set following the installation of the second truss, and so construction was suspended.

 

Work resumed when the Sun was back on the proper side of Kerbin. The entire port solar truss assembly had to be removed to relocate the two solar array trusses for the Silicon Deep-Space Habitat. This was in part due to the need for the inner two solar arrays to stay retracted, and part due to slightly bad planning. (Because life would've been easier had the two solar array trusses been moved first.) Once the port truss assembly was clear, the Si-3 moved in to install its two "empty" trusses. The port truss assembly was then painstakingly reinstalled by Gerty.

 

 

Afterwards the two outer solar truss sections of the port solar truss were disconnected and installed onto the Si-DSH. The Si-3, now devoid of purpose, was docked to an open port on the port docking arm. Future crews will source it for parts before the remaining chunks and used engines are returned to Kerbin as scrap.

 

 

Wernher and his interns had considered using four of the solar truss sections from Kelgee for the Si-DSH, but a check of their math showed that peak electrical needs of the vessel would never be more than 0.98 EC/s when not transmitting direct to Kerbin. That includes all three computer cores, telemetry systems, life support recycling, and basic short-range communications systems. Should the crew keep a data link open to one of the Neon Heavies for the entire trip, the EC consumption would only go up by 10-20%. 

A quick back-o'-the-envelope check of the electrical performance of the four large solar arrays indicated they _should_ produce in the neighborhood of 0.9 EC/s at peak operating semi-major axis for the mission. (Meaning they probably won't need four RTGs at all, but best to be safe.)

--

Some More Assembly Required

 

With all the important pieces in place, Rondous suited up for EVA #2. This would prove to be a busy task, requiring more than half an orbit to complete.

 

First task was to secure the Hab and the two truss assemblies to the Core using the provided EVA struts. This long process involved removing two strut plates from the Silicon 2's tug, retrieving six more strut plates from the two trunks, and then attaching the strut plates to the Hab and the truss assemblies where needed.

With the strut plates in place and bolted down, Rondous could then run the strut cables between them and tighten everything down. 

(His actual first task was to remove two of the solar panels from the temporary drive section of the Si-DSH / future tug and rotate them 180 degrees, but attempting to do so only resulted in Bad Things, so that plan was scrapped.)

 

 

Next Rondous had the heart warming job of installing the two RTGs on the solar truss assemblies. Really these could have gone anywhere provided they were within reach of the cooling system's hoses. Nobody was quite sure why RTGs, designed to use their heat efficiently to excite electrons and thus provide current flow, would need an additional cooling aid, but several instances of overheating and random explosions had been theorized, and Wernher didn't want to take any chances. The last thing one wants to happen while a few billion kilometers away from home in a foil-wrapped barrel is to have radioactive grenades going off just outside.

 

 

Rondous safely finished placing and wiring up the last RTG just as the Sun slipped behind Kerbin. The Si-DSH was now mostly complete, missing only two more planned RTGs and whatever ginormous drive section it would take to fling it out to Jool. The craft was pronounced safe to fly, and ground crews prepared for its first test run.

Rondous once again took a nice long nap and was granted the rest of the day off. He and Gletrix would head out in a day or so to examine some space junk "Thing" candidates the ground observers hoped would have spare nuclear bits to raid for fun and profit. Space piracy at its finest.

Speaking of profit, contracts for exploring the Joolian system and its moons have started to appear, providing a much needed income stream in the form of contract advances. 

 

 

It looks increasingly like the agency won't go bankrupt, which is always a good thing. A few more contract advances and everything will be right on track for the Jool mission. And perhaps they'll have enough left over for the Dres mission..... 

 

Navigation: Next Post

Edited December 4, 2016 by Cydonian Monk

[StickyScissors]

If you're really strapped for cash, i recommend some of the many contract packs that people have made

Unless you already have them and i missed them in the mod list

[Cydonian Monk]

59 minutes ago, StickyScissors said:

If you're really strapped for cash, i recommend some of the many contract packs that people have made

Unless you already have them and i missed them in the mod list

Currently not using any contract packs. It may come to that, though I think things will work out ok. If not there are several nice options out there. And there's always the government funding mod.... assuming these kerbals even have a government.

[Jeanjvs]

2 hours ago, Cydonian Monk said:

The first step after rendezvous was to drop the two empty trusses at the zenith of the station. Following that, the station's construction bot Gerty (voiced by none other than Kevin Spacey) moved to the aft key node, where it would receive the radiator trusses. 

 

Let me guess: Gerty is a psychopathic A.I. who will begin some sort of game to gain political power and become the president of the Joolian colonies, killing some of the crew in the process. Right?

[Geschosskopf]

@Cydonian Monk, very impressive bit of carpentry there.  Sending down a main yard, splicing and fishing it, then swaying it back up in just a few hours is the mark of a smart crew.  The old windjammer guys would be proud

But I wonder if the Juno will be able to reach 8-10km on Laythe by itself.

[Cydonian Monk]

3 minutes ago, Geschosskopf said:

@Cydonian Monk, very impressive bit of carpentry there.  Sending down a main yard, splicing and fishing it, then swaying it back up in just a few hours is the mark of a smart crew.  The old windjammer guys would be proud

Were that it a true yard, and we had good sheet and a good wind to carry us to Laythe, what a joy that might be. Wonder whatever happened to that solar sail mod.....

 

5 minutes ago, Geschosskopf said:

But I wonder if the Juno will be able to reach 8-10km on Laythe by itself.

It'll make it if I drop it from orbit.  Provided I can slow it down enough, of course. Otherwise one of them might ride back strapped to the Laythe Descent/Ascent Vehicle. Junos could become a critical part of the LDAV anyway, which is starting to take shape on paper if not in the VAB. I'm thinking about a hybrid delta-wing like craft where it can land horizontal (and glide to a good landing spot), take off horizontal, then drop its lower stage and heavy wings once up to speed.... We'll see.

At least I've finished the build for my small transfer shuttle (needed since the Silicon DSH/DSVs won't be able to dock with much of anything once they leave Kelgee). Guess these transfer boats will become Phosphorous since they were finished first. Might launch one of them tomorrow evening if I have time. Definitely will get one up this weekend.

It's increasingly looking like the first Silicon DSH/DSV will be using a chemical drive section. I've got one planned that'll take about eight launches to build and partially refuel. Remarkably that's still cheaper than upgrading the R&D building so I can unlock both the nuclear tech tree and the spaceplane tree (to get the liquid-only tanks). I need at least 2550 science points to unlock the NERVAs, which I could probably get from the Mün.....

[Geschosskopf]

12 minutes ago, Cydonian Monk said:

Were that it a true yard, and we had good sheet and a good wind to carry us to Laythe, what a joy that might be. Wonder whatever happened to that solar sail mod.....

Well, radiators and solar panels will have to do instead.  BTW, have you ever read David Drake's sci-fi Leary series based on the Hornblower series?  The starships there were all covered with antennae that created the warp field, and needed crew aloft fiddling with the antennae during the trip.

Quote

It's increasingly looking like the first Silicon DSH/DSV will be using a chemical drive section. I've got one planned that'll take about eight launches to build and partially refuel. Remarkably that's still cheaper than upgrading the R&D building so I can unlock both the nuclear tech tree and the spaceplane tree (to get the liquid-only tanks). I need at least 2550 science points to unlock the NERVAs, which I could probably get from the Mün.....

Not to mention aircraft parts that can survive reentry, which is arguably more brutal on Laythe than Kerbin.  As for the science, you can get considerably more than that on a single trip to Minmus hitting all the biomes.  And what about the other 3 or 4 moons of Kerbin, which I keep forgetting about?  Any of them have biomes?

Edited February 19, 2016 by Geschosskopf

[Cydonian Monk]

17 minutes ago, Geschosskopf said:

BTW, have you ever read David Drake's sci-fi Leary series based on the Hornblower series?  The starships there were all covered with antennae that created the warp field, and needed crew aloft fiddling with the antennae during the trip.

No, but that's definitely going on my list now. Might grab the Kindle version since the first book is free for me for some reason (probably from lots of saved up "no rush shipping" media credits and eBook legal settlements). Need to finish Blue Mars........ Someday. I'm not going to skip out on it 50% through like I did "ChapterHouse Dune" and "Foundation and Earth." (Two other books I need to finish someday. Maybe.)

 

17 minutes ago, Geschosskopf said:

As for the science, you can get considerably more than that on a single trip to Minmus hitting all the biomes.  And what about the other 3 or 4 moons of Kerbin, which I keep forgetting about?  Any of them have biomes?

I'm not sure what the total haul is from the other moons... they're all single biome with limited experiments though. Considerably less than what the program can get from Mün / Minmus. I've got some sort of asteroid hammer thing that came with the latest DMagic update (I think?) that I should try on those. As well as a few newer surface science instruments that'll work nicely on the two larger moons. A science lander for Minmus and/or the Mün will probably be Sulpher or Chlorine, depending. Argon is already planned too.... Busy few münths coming up.

[Tangle]

How do you record your missions? For example, the mystery SSTO on Kelgee station- you mentioned another ship of the same class having been recorded as landed. Do you just put the name, date, and status, or is it something cooler and involving, say, spreadsheets? 

[Cydonian Monk]

1 hour ago, Tangle said:

How do you record your missions? For example, the mystery SSTO on Kelgee station- you mentioned another ship of the same class having been recorded as landed. Do you just put the name, date, and status, or is it something cooler and involving, say, spreadsheets? 

Originally just on a small notepad. Once it became obvious the game was going to be a thing I switched to using a spreadsheet (Apple Numbers in my case as it works better on the iPad). At first this was so I could keep track of what worked and what didn't, mass of the vehicle, stage Δv, crews, etc., experiment notes basically. Over time I started to track more info, then less info as it became obvious I didn't need 50% of what I was keeping. Relatively simple spreadsheet these days.

Edited February 20, 2016 by Cydonian Monk

[Sanic]

Leftovers for a Dres mission? THIS WILL NOT STAND!

It violates Dres's rights as a dwarf planet! We demand Dres love! We love Dres!

I summon @SpaceplaneAddict!

Edited February 20, 2016 by Sanic

[RocketSquid]

On 2/17/2016 at 11:24 PM, Cydonian Monk said:

 Nobody was quite sure why RTGs, designed to use their heat efficiently to excite electrons and thus provide current flow, would need an additional cooling aid, but several instances of overheating and random explosions had been theorized, and Wernher didn't want to take any chances.

Well, it's very difficult to generate electricity directly from heat. RTG's, in fact, produce power through the movement of heat using the thermoelectric effect. However, RTG's should be more than capable of radiating away their own heat, after all that's what those cooling vanes are for.

[SpaceplaneAddict]

Hai!

 

All hail Dres, the mighty, the grand, the best planet of Kerbol!

[Cydonian Monk]

7 hours ago, Sanic said:

Leftovers for a Dres mission? THIS WILL NOT STAND!

It violates Dres's rights as a dwarf planet! We demand Dres love! We love Dres!

...

5 hours ago, SpaceplaneAddict said:

Hai!

 

All hail Dres, the mighty, the grand, the best planet of Kerbol!

Dres will be lucky if it gets the leftovers.  Though any leftovers it gets will be the same as the leftovers sent to Jool, so maybe it's equivalent to the Jolly Green Giant? Still, it won't be the last unvisited planet in my pantheon - I've never sent Kerbals to Moho or Eeloo either. So there's that.

 

7 hours ago, RocketSquid said:

 However, RTG's should be more than capable of radiating away their own heat, after all that's what those cooling vanes are for.

Aye, just after some 1.0.? update they started exploding randomly due to overheating (which I'm sure was due to the since-resolved clipping bug). Just not taking any chances, and neither are the kerbals.

[RocketSquid]

3 minutes ago, Cydonian Monk said:

Aye, just after some 1.0.? update they started exploding randomly due to overheating (which I'm sure was due to the since-resolved clipping bug). Just not taking any chances, and neither are the kerbals.

Also beware of warp. It screws with both RTGs and drills in so many ways. For example, I once had a Mun base partially powered by RTGs. Whenever I warped with the drill on, it would rapidly begin losing power. It turned out that not only did the drill begin drawing more power, but the RTG output seemed to decline. Not sure if it actually did, but I seemed to be losing power far faster than I had predicted. Additionally, it would at times overheat all of the radiators, when outside of warp but in the same conditions they would be fine.

[Geschosskopf]

1 hour ago, Cydonian Monk said:

Dres will be lucky if it gets the leftovers.  Though any leftovers it gets will be the same as the leftovers sent to Jool, so maybe it's equivalent to the Jolly Green Giant? Still, it won't be the last unvisited planet in my pantheon - I've never sent Kerbals to Moho or Eeloo either. So there's that.

I find neither worth the trip, except when Eeloo becomes a moon of Sarnus in OPM.  Best thing that ever happened to it.  There, it has a purpose as the customs house of the whole system.  Where it sits in stock, it's pretty much just Dres in white.

Edited February 21, 2016 by Geschosskopf

[Cydonian Monk]

Queen of the Airwaves

"Coming to you LIVE, 100 kilometers high, this is Sky Home Radio! Up next is a little song I like to call 'Perpetuum Kerbal.' Enjoy, kiddos." Sieta killed her mic and dropped the needle on a spinning black disc. The spring of the needle arm was just strong enough to keep it pressed to the vinyl, bouncing lightly as the slid around, its sound ever so slightly different from records on Kerbin. She liked to think that's what made her radio station in the sky so popular: its different sound. At least she liked to think it was popular.

"Sounds good" crackled a voice from a nearby speaker. It was hard to understand at times, so much static and barely more than a whisper, but to Sieta it sounded strangely familiar. Almost like the voice she'd heard on Kelgee. "It's a nice tune, different yet familiar."

"Thanks, ghost dude. Made it last night out of three recordings. Took almost a week to wire up all the synths and noise makers. Not easy when you're working with hundred-year-old electronics. Lots of blown capacitors and fuzzy fuses."

"Intriguing. Have you made any progress unlocking the commsats at Minmus?"

"Nope. However I did get a response from another of the LKOs. New Comm-4. Got a nice green light from it right now, but like the others I had to cut its high-gains. That's twelve so far, not counting the one they stole." Stole, butchered, burned up in the atmosphere - same difference to Sieta, but she'd decided to let it go. Mostly.

"I'm working on getting you the codes for the Duna relays, but after so many years there's no guarantee they'll work. Or that they're still tracking Kerbin." The voice paused. "You're about to have company."

Sieta tumbled across the room the the nearest radar terminal. Sure enough there was a blip approaching. "Any idea who?"

"Nobody I know."

She drifted to the window, anxious to see if it was friend or foe. Foe, obviously foe. No friends would leave her here alone with only the ghosts to talk to. The ghosts in her head, the ghosts in her machines, the ghosts of the airwaves. Whispers on the wind. 

No, friend. No friend. Or friend? How could she know? She grabbed her spear and made her way to the only open docking port. There had been lots of talk of space pirates lately, and she was a bit on edge. (Though she herself was in many ways a space pirate.) No way she'd let them take her station. No way she'd let them take her only friend. Her ghost. 

In the background the needle dropped off the edge of the record and scratched silently around its edges.

 

A few silent moments later and the familiar sound of metal-on-metal as the approaching craft slipped into the docking port and latched on. She held the spear back, ready to jab if something unfamiliar opened the hatch. Much to her surprise it was just familiar old Rondous. 

"You should call first next time."

"Hello to you too, Sieta. You welcome everyone this way?" He motioned to long, sharp object in her left hand.

"Oh, that? No. Hatch has been sticking a bit, sometimes it has to bleed before it'll open. Anyway, what brings you to my fair station in the sky? We're not signing autographs today."

"Uh..., well, we were just out looking for radiologicals. Hot stuff, you know. I didn't recall there being any on Baile Speir, but figured we should drop in and see if there was anything you needed. And make sure you don't have a spare RTG or three hidden somewhere."

Hidden somewhere. Right. "Nope. No nuclear materials here in Sky Home, little kiddo. Not that I'd let you steal my power if I had them. What's this for, anyway?"

--

What's it for is a question I had been asking myself, honestly. My tests indicated the Silicon DSH would need 4 RTGs to power itself in the absence of solar power. Given the likelihood of Jool eclipsing the ship for an extended period of time, such backups are in the best interest of the crews sent to said jolly green giant. Still, wayward RTGs are a difficult thing to come by.

And I had no idea what had them and what didn't, much like the kerbals. A bit of a hunt and seek, if you will.

--

Tour of the Junkyard

Rondous and Gletrix started out from Kelgee Station earlier that day. (In the dark, as is only fitting and proper.) Their first stop was an unknown blip, previously recorded as "Stuff 87". It had been elevated to Thing status when a ground observation verified it was larger than a small refrigerator. Their approach to the Thing had it lined almost directly against the Sun, making it hard to determine just what this Thing was.

 

Gletrix brought their craft around to face one of the Thing's docking ports. Not the right match for theirs, of course, so no hope of a hard dock this time. 

"Another station," Rondous quickly entered into the log. "No obvious sign of the equipment we're after, but still worth exploring. Appears to be flying a flag not terribly dissimilar to our own." He jumped out of the orbital module of the N-TC-12, remembering to take his space wrench with him just in case, and jetted quickly over to the Thing.  

 

 

A quick check inside of the station revealed a few notes and a name: "Piquemetami 1". Generally everything appeared to be relatively new. There was a strange green growth overtaking one end of the lab, but otherwise everything was spotless and clean. And new. It just felt new. (Or newer than the previous wrecks they'd stumbled on.)

He made sure to enable the station's primary communications and to verify they had a good link with Kerbin before he returned to the N-TC-12. No RTGs to be found, a bit of a shame given how new and fresh the station was. 

Their next stop was a quick rest at Baile Speir, where Sieta had been running something of a pirate radio station. Her transmitter was a bit on the weak side, in the 5 to 10 Watt range, so her "Queen of the Airwaves" show could only really be heard by the few folks living along the equator, but a team of enterprising kerbals had set up repeaters so that others could tune in from various other locales. 

No RTGs at Baile Speir, and little in the way of hospitality, so R&G set off for their next Thing.

 

 

Rondous took his logbook with him this time when he EVA'd. "Similar in design to the previous 'new' station, Piquemetami 2 appears to have been evacuated in a hurry." The name of this station had been easy enough to come by - it was printed on everything. Even the towels in the hab's showers (showers? wash rooms? drowning chambers?) had the name embroidered on them. Piquemetami 2. Such a strange name.

He bounced along the station's lone corridor, which ran from the 4-kerbal habitat at one end to the lab at the other. Experiments were floating loose and damaged in the lab, small blobs of potentially dangerous fluid gave Rondous a bit of pause. Two experiment craft were docked with the station, one supposedly having returned from one of the moons, if the logs were to be believed. 

The strangeness behind the empty station was perhaps explained by the three damaged solar arrays, though why such a small loss of power would cause a crew to abandon station was something unfathomable to Rondous. As with other such finds, there was still a craft docked. This time it at least had something resembling a heat shield protruding from the edges. Still, how did the crew escape?

Recording of the flight logs had stopped abruptly some years past. Exactly how many years would be a matter for debate, and more precisely determined once the ground crews had a chance to evaluate the data. Still, as with Piquemetami 1, everything looked new. Very new. And as before, he opened up the communications to Kerbin, made sure things were ship-shape, then started back towards his own ship.

Once again, there were no RTGs to be found. 

 

They arrived at their next target in the dark. (As is only fitting and proper.) It wasn't big, whatever it was, and the weak lights of the Nitrogen craft did little to reveal its secrets. Thankfully the Sun rose a few moments later.

 

Rondous EVA'd over and had just entered the ship when something terrible happened. "Ah!! I dropped my snacks! Can't breathe...." The water from his suit bottle shot past him as it sought escape from the pressures of existence. Rondous gasped for air and hurriedly put his EVA helmet back on, wasting no time in making for the exit. (Perhaps it was a bad idea to take his helmet off before checking the atmosphere? The other stations with their perfect air had made him a bit complacent.)

 

In the rush his suit had bleed off all of its oxygen, leaving him with nothing to breathe during his very rapid trip back to the Nitrogen. His suit had trapped some air in it, but that was all in the lower body. His eyes were stinging as he made it back into the N-TC-12's orbital module. Gletrix had already helmeted up and was preparing to jump out and grab him, which thankfully wasn't needed. 

He did manage to catch the name of the ship - "Lore of the Adventure", though it had nothing in the way of communications equipment and was powered solely by two small solar panels on its side. Somehow. Rondous was tempted to steal one of their antennas and place it on the small station, but there was no way the small panel could provide enough energy to keep it broadcasting. He wasn't even sure there was a flight computer on board.

Having lost a days worth of food, Gletrix and Rondous considered aborting the mission then and there. They were on the exact opposite side of the planet from Kelgee Station, and catching up to Baile Speir would require an orbit that was somewhat inside the atmosphere. A quick check of the orbital map showed another target nearby, so they decided to press on with their two days worth of supplies.

Their next target turned out to be something gigantic. 

 

It was tumbling slightly, so Gletrix was nervous about bringing the ship in too close. Obviously a station of some sort, it resembled nothing else they had encountered to date. A long spindle with fuel and solar arrays at one end and four spokes at the other. At the end of two of these spokes were two craft that didn't appear to be atmospheric craft of any sort. Shuttles for use between stations, perhaps?

 

Rondous once again made his way over on EVA, attempting to match its slow tumble as best he could. None of the airlocks had a way in from the outside - no handles, no latches, nothing. He moved from window to window, hoping to see someone, anyone on the inside that could let him in. Near as he could tell the entire station was abandoned, like everything else they had encountered. 

It appeared the only way in was through the docking ports on the spokes. He was looking over these spokes when something on one of the mystery craft caught his eye. 

 

 

Bingo. Just what they were after. A quick glance up at the other craft showed it too had an RTG. Rondous keyed his mic. "Gletrix, patch me through to the space center." In a few moments the familiar voice of one of their compatriots lilted across the airwaves, asking what was up.

"We've found a large station with two of what we're after. Only problem is the two craft the RTGs are attached to appear to have no other means of generating electricity. If I remove these, whatever purpose those craft serve will be void. Please advise."

It took several minutes for the response from the space center. Rondous took the opportunity to build a makeshift transponder using the kOS flight computer from the N-TC-12 and an antenna from one of the shuttle-like craft. they may not be able to enter the station from the outside, but at least they could now track it.

 

By the time he was done with that, the response had been radioed up. "Nitrogen, The Boss says you are go for RTG extraction. Smash and grab, then run."

 

 

--

Trafficking Hot Goods

With the two RTGs they needed now safely stored inside the magic bag of holding orbital module, G&R made their way to Kelgee. This involved kicking their orbit up to above 400km so that Kelgee could "catch up" to them before they would've run out of supplies. They were back at their now familiar home in the sky in only an orbit and a half.

 

They had barely even docked up when Rondous grabbed his space wrench, the two RTGs, and a few other odds and ends and made his way out to install the two warm, sharp-edged, radioactive pieces of nightmare fuel.

 

 

 

Rondous had just finished installing the last RTG when the order from the space center came up for them to return to the surface. Crews were being prepared for the maiden flight of the new Silicon DSV, and The Boss wanted everyone (except Sieta, who would train later for the Dres mission) to be on the ground for the Mün-flight training. 

 

Rondous and Gletrix were recovered safe and sound after their capsule landed in the highlands. The ground crews made sure to wave a geiger counter over them a few times, just to make sure neither had pocketed any blutonium from the RTGs. Convinced they were safe, the recovery team drove them back to the space center for the debriefing.

And so ends this long and wandering Nitrogen mission. 

 

Navigation: Next Post

Edited December 4, 2016 by Cydonian Monk

[Madrias]

And so the RTG hunt continues in the next episode, same Kerbal time, same Kerbal channel!

 

(Sorry, couldn't resist.)

[Tangle]

Wait... how do you deploy the "things"? Are they set as asteroids, or are they just there? 

[Cydonian Monk]

15 hours ago, Madrias said:

And so the RTG hunt continues in the next episode, same Kerbal time, same Kerbal channel!

 

(Sorry, couldn't resist.)

Heh  Hopefully this is the last of the RTG hunting. I expect by the time the Dres mission is built the agency will have its bluetonium enrichment operations in full swing. They dan alfeady buy much smaller RTGs from AIES, but why buy when you can "borrow" it for free?

 

14 hours ago, Tangle said:

Wait... how do you deploy the "things"? Are they set as asteroids, or are they just there? 

Magic.

These are all things I've launched in previous saves. For the last two years I've kept a persistence file I call "Unity" that includes all previous saves. Everything from my Demo save (from which Thomlock originates), and even some of my test saves, but no RSS, since my RSS saves always break badly with each new version, and skipping a couple others that don't make sense. All with a running clock and sequential entries. I don't generally play directly from that save, as it's in the several tens of megabytes in size and eats more than a Gig of RAM.... So this particular persistence file, "Forgotten", is basically that save with many of the uninteresting bits removed. A subset.

So, in a way they're just there. Arguably this is similar to the game-generated "rescue kerbal" and "recover parts" contracts, except I'm not getting paid and no kerbals seem to be there to rescue. Or, you could look at it as though I've been playing from the same persistence file for more than two years. Sorta.

Edited February 22, 2016 by Cydonian Monk

[Madrias]

I don't mind the RTG hunting.  It's interesting seeing you picking apart old stations and ships in order to get 'free' parts for your space program.

As for the Forgotten Space Program, it's a nice way to honor the old stuff you've done without adding in the problems usually associated with old craft and new updates.  Here, a perplexing Thing in space got there because in a previous version, the atmosphere was like soup, jets could reach orbital velocities, and stations could be launched as a whole unit into space.

That, and I'm really enjoying the story, that something happened to the previous space program, and now your new crew is busy picking up the pieces, getting back into orbit, and finding interesting artifacts along the way.  Sometimes it's things that are far-off in the future for your team (like proper sized RTG's), and sometimes it's just finding an old comms network floating around, just after you've launched all of your new communications satellites.

That, and I thought the F9 moment was epic.

[Tangle]

Ah, of course- they're not asteroidy bits, because asteroids are a pain in the ass to dock with. 

[monophonic]

6 hours ago, Cydonian Monk said:

Magic.

These are all things I've launched in previous saves. For the last two years I've kept a persistence file I call "Unity" that includes all previous saves. Everything from my Demo save (from which Thomlock originates), and even some of my test saves, but no RSS, since my RSS saves always break badly with each new version, and skipping a couple others that don't make sense. All with a running clock and sequential entries. I don't generally play directly from that save, as it's in the several tens of megabytes in size and eats more than a Gig of RAM.... So this particular persistence file, "Forgotten", is basically that save with many of the uninteresting bits removed. A subset.

So, in a way they're just there. Arguably this is similar to the game-generated "rescue kerbal" and "recover parts" contracts, except I'm not getting paid and no kerbals seem to be there to rescue. Or, you could look at it as though I've been playing from the same persistence file for more than two years. Sorta.

So, could you just switch to any of those from the tracking station? Should you choose to drop the role play and just do that. Because, if not but you have instead managed to rig them up so you have to approach them with a ship before you can switch to them, I want to ask you how.