Sirius Station-

[VASMIR]

SIRIUS STATION- Prologue

For ten years, the two largest countries on Kerbin had begun a race to the Mun.  Ten years and 15 deaths later, one of them had gotten there.  But now, with tensions rising again, an olive branch of peace was found: a giant space station built in co-operation.  In the 27 years that followed, four countries and many more companies would use this station

But it all had to start somewhere.

PART 1- Core Module Launch

NOVEMBER 7, 1983, Kerbal Space Center.  12:22 AM

On the pad stands the Prometheus IV rocket.  Though it came too late to enter the space race, this rocket had been launched 132 times since '75, with 120 successes and 12 failures.  Today, it would launch a part of a space station.

KASA:  We have launch in T-10 seconds.  9, 8,7 ,6-

KASA:  5-main engine start-4, 3, 2, 1-

KASA:  We have liftoff of the Prometheus IV rocket carrying the Sirius Station Core!

The first part of the ascent was almost perfect-

But as the rocket turned, as loose bolt had come free, and it tore straight through one of the rocket's engines.

For a few seconds, the engine sputtered, but it eventually had just shut down.  This was not a problem, as the Prometheus IV has a massive gimbal range, but a lot of other factors had caused even danger.

Another bolt had come loose, leaving the payload with only half of it's restraints.  Combined with the already swaying rocket, SSCM slammed into it's fairings.  However, despite a wild amount of sway, the rocket made it into the desired trajectory, and the upper stage separated.

The fairings detach as the orbital burn begins.  The desired orbit was 100 kilometers and at a 40-45 degree inclination. 

The Prometheus Orbital Stage detaches, revealing the station core.  Though this core will nit be doing much movement, it is attached to the Station Rendezvous Stage, derived from the service module of a crew vehicle.  All of the KASA launched modules had it, but right now, this flight is just a test.  Meanwhile, the core had unfurled it's solar panels...revealing something very, very, wrong.

During the launch, the left panel had been jammed in an impact with the fairings.  With the station being equipped with only one panel, power fell to zero in just a week.  All plans to launch a new module in the month were cancelled- a rescue mission now had to be planned.

 

 

[Kekkie]

How to give rep???

 

[VASMIR]

PART 2-  My Only Hope

It was decided that the two best candidates for such a rescue mission were two of three brothers that had been heroes before:  Jebediah and Bob Kerman(Bill, the third brother, would fly later).  Jebediah was on his second flight, but he had distinguished himself in the skies over Vietkam.  Bill, meanwhile, was an engineer at KASA.  He had helped designed the booster that would be putting him into orbit.  This was his third flight into space, but first on a Phoenix capsule.

December 23, 1983, Kerbal Space Center, 12:56 PM

The Phoenix capsule was a new, and cheap, way of getting into orbit.  First flying a decade ago as the first stations entered orbit(eight precursor stations had been launched.) and Kerpollo ended, the Phoenix CTV was so successful that it's carrier rocket was renamed- Thessia.

KASA:  10,9,8,7,6-

KASA:  5-main engine start- 4, 3, 2,1-

KASA:  We have liftoff of the Thessia rocket carrying Jebediah and Bob Kerman on a mission to save a space station!

The Thessia rockets used for Sirius station were different than their original sisters.  Unlike the Thessia v1, the v2s carried an extra four solid booster, bringing it to a total of eight.

JEBEDIAH:  Whoah!  Look at the thrust of this thing!

Due to a calculation error, the first six boosters to detach all had their parachutes ripped off.  Why?  Because no-one had factored in the added thrust and altitude given off by extra boosters.  No other Thessia V2 would have parachutes.  Meanwhile, in the upper atmosphere, the LES flies off, and the Thessia rocket uses it's last two, and later ignited, boosters.

And then even the last boosters fell away.

The upper stage separated and fired, putting the Phoenix CTV-1 into orbit.

BILL:  Look at the view.

JEBEDIAH:  This will never get old.

Here is a picture taken from Jebediah's window.  Jebediah sold it at a KASA art show for 35 million kerbcoins, and it now rests in the Kerbal Air and Space Museum.

Due to the trajectory of the Phoenix CTV, Jeb and Bill would rendezvous in just one orbit.  A fast but very fuel-needy maneuver.  Later missions would take a slower but safer "One-Day-Chase".

As the Kerbol rose over the horizon on orbit one, Jeb prepared for docking.

With the sun setting and Jeb and Bob pulling in to dock on orbit two, SSCM detached it's POS stage.

Pulling in to dock.  I actually did this part in f2 view from the cockpit. 

Success! 

Jeb entered the station first.  After rerouting the power from their capsule into the module, things such as life support and light flickered back on.  Despite now three solar panels, there was still not enough power, so the upper block and the control deck was left shut down.  If all went well, those would be fixed the following day- on Christmas Eve.  Also coming on Christmas was a new visitor to the station...l

Stay tuned for more.

Edited December 24, 2015 by VASMIR

[VASMIR]

PART 3- Working Man

December 24, 1983, Kerbal Space Center, 1:22 AM

On the pad stands the Thessia v2 rocket, this time upgraded to have non-recoverable boosters.  As such, all Thessia v2 rockets to launch after were given a small "0.1"  to the v2 sign, thus making them Thessia v2.1s.  Here it was launching the Falcon Resupply Craft.

The rocket lifted off without incident.

The upper stage separates from the first stage, and it completes orbit.  Also pictured is the fairing detaching.

Here is the Falcon RC.  It uses the same service module, but lacks a decoupler and heat shield. Another aspect is that the crew cabin has been stripper to just a computer and scaffolding.  AT the top is a small service bay which holds equipment and supplies.

After a few orbits, the FRC docked with the station.  Using an on-board power converter, the FRC's solar panels were used to generate power to the rest of Sirius Station.  Now Bob decided to venture on-wards.

Here, Bob unloaded the cargo.

BOB:  Nice of you guys to bring us...steaks?  Well I guess we're having a luxury meal, Jeb.

On December 25, Jeb entered the Phoenix CTV and undocked.  As Sirius lacked an air-lock, Jeb had to depressurize his capsule.  To keep it from floating away, Bob, who is on the station, used remote control.  When all was go, Jeb used the Orbital Maneuvering Pack to reach the panel.

The jam was easy to fix, requiring a quick tug to fix.  In the station, Bob activated the panel, and it did unfurl.  Right away, power began coming back.

With Jeb and the Phoenix back at the station, the crew waited five days before undocking the FRC-1.

FRC-1 de-orbited, and without a heat shield, there was only one thing it could do: burn up.

Comms were lost as soon as flames built up.  Observers reported seeing it break up instantly, and it's debris hit the ocean small and scattered.

On December 29, Jeb and Bob left Sirius station.

With the de-orbit burn complete, the CTV separated.

The heat shield did it's job, and Jeb and Bob lived through the fires of re-entry.

The parachutes deploy...

...and touchdown!

No one would visit the station for a while, as many tests would be run to make sure that nothing was too badly damaged.

Jeb would return to Sirius Station, but Bob wouldy retire after this flight.  He currently lives on the KSC Island with his wife and 15 children.

Edited December 25, 2015 by VASMIR

[LividPumpkin]

OMG i have used a giant spacecraft for manned eve mission and i called it sirius 1