[AAR] By Their Bootstraps -- Chapter 9 "Plum Full of Problems" (Feb 25) -- In which plans for a Minmus landing go awry

GreenWolf · February 6, 2016

By Their Bootstraps

A Tale of Rockets and Cosmonauts (and some other stuff too)

About This Story

This is a career mode playthrough of a 6.4x rescaled, heavily modded game, done in the style of an after action report. In some respects, it can be considered a sort of spiritual successor to my previous AAR, Because It's There. Unlike Because It's There, this AAR will be told in a more traditional style, with a mixture of in-universe dialogue and out-of-universe commentary. Updates will happen on weekends, and I'll try to have at least one launch per update post.

In-Universe Background

By Their Bootstraps takes place shortly after a major, decade-long war which saw the end of many longstanding nations and empires. The dominant powers in the aftermath of this conflict are the Greater Kerbal Empire, formed from the remnants of several former imperialist nations, and the Coalition of Free Republics, a loose alliance/confederation of former colonies of said former imperialist nations. The two powers are in state of cold war, with neither side willing or capable of starting another protracted conflict. Our story focuses on the Empire's space program, which is split between the military Imperial Rocketry Corps and the civilian Ministry of Aerospace Studies.

Chapter List

Chapter 1: Sparks Fly

Chapter 2: Flare Ups

Intermezzo 1: Sparks 6 Design Leak

Chapter 3: Spark Gap

Chapter 4: Flash Lights and Test Flights

Chapter 5: Cold Embers

Chapter 6: A Flash of Lightning

Chapter 7: Gumdrops

Chapter 8: Probes and Preparations

Chapter 9: Plum Full of Problems

Modlist

Spoiler

Mods Installed via CKAN

Action Groups Extended (AGExt 1.34d)
B9 Aerospace Procedural Parts - Fork (B9-PWings-Fork 2.1)
BahamutoD Animation Modules (BDAnimationModules v0.6.2)
BetterBurnTime (BetterBurnTime 1.3.1)
BetterTimeWarp (BetterTimeWarp 2.2)
CapCom - Mission Control On The Go (CapCom 1.4)
Coherent Contracts (CoherentContracts 1.03)
Community Resource Pack (CommunityResourcePack 0.4.9.0)
Community Tech Tree (CommunityTechTree 2.3)
Connected Living Space (ConnectedLivingSpace 1.2.0.1)
Contract Configurator (ContractConfigurator 1.9.6)
Contract Pack: Advanced Progression (ContractConfigurator-AdvancedProgression 4.5.1)
Contract Pack: Bases and Stations (ContractConfigurator-KerbinSpaceStation 1:3.1.4)
Contract Pack: Clever Sats (ContractConfigurator-CleverSats 1.0)
Contract Pack: Field Research (ContractConfigurator-FieldResearch 1.1.6)
Contract Pack: Grand Tours (ContractConfigurator-GrandTours 1:0.1.10)
Contract Pack: RemoteTech (ContractConfigurator-RemoteTech 2.0.1)
Contract Pack: SCANSat (ContractConfigurator-ContractPack-SCANsat 0.6.0)
Contract Pack: Tourism Plus (ContractConfigurator-Tourism 1.4.0)
Crowd Sourced Science (CrowdSourcedScience v3.0.2)
Cryogenic Engines (CryoEngines 1:0.2.1)
Cryogenic Tanks (CryoTanks 0.1.1)
Custom Barn Kit (CustomBarnKit 1.1.3.0)
DeepFreeze Continued... (DeepFreeze V0.20.3.0)
Deployable Engines Plugin (DeployableEngines 0.1.1)
Distant Object Enhancement (DistantObject v1.6.4)
Distant Object Enhancement default config (DistantObject-default v1.6.4)
DMagic Orbital Science (DMagicOrbitalScience 1.1)
Docking Port Alignment Indicator (DockingPortAlignmentIndicator 6.2)
Dynamic Texture Loader (DynamicTextureLoader DTL-1.6-5)
EditorExtensionsRedux (EditorExtensionsRedux 3.0.2)
Engine Lighting (EngineLighting 1.4.1)
Environmental Visual Enhancements (EnvironmentalVisualEnhancements 1:EVE-1.05-4)
Environmental Visual Enhancements - Config files (EnvironmentalVisualEnhancements-HR 1:EVE-1.05-4)
EVA Parachutes (VNG-Parachute 1.2)
EVAManager (EVAManager 6)
Ferram Aerospace Research (FerramAerospaceResearch 3:0.15.5.7)
Field Experience (FieldExperience 1.0.2)
Final Frontier (FinalFrontier 0.9.8-1882)
Firespitter Core (FirespitterCore v7.1.5)
FlagRotate (FlagRotate 1.1.2)
Flight Manager for Reusable Stages [FMRS] (FMRS v1.0.1)
Graphic Memory Monitor (GCMonitor 1.3.2.0)
Haystack Continued (HaystackContinued 0.4.1.0)
HeatControl (HeatControl 0.2.1)
Hullcam VDS (HullcamVDS 0.51)
Impact! (Impact v1.3.0)
InFlightFlagSwitcher (InFlightFlagSwitcher 1.0.1)
Interstellar Fuel Switch Core (InterstellarFuelSwitch-Core 1.18)
JoolBiomes (JoolBiomes 1.0)
Kartographer (Kartographer 0.1.0.2)
KAS Assembled Areobraking Shield (KASAssembledAreobrakingShield 2)
keepfit (KeepFit 0.8.4.3)
Kerbal Alarm Clock (KerbalAlarmClock v3.5.0.0)
Kerbal Atomics (KerbalAtomics 0.1.1)
Kerbal Attachment System (KAS 0.5.5)
Kerbal Construction Time (KerbalConstructionTime 1.3.1)
Kerbal Engineer Redux (KerbalEngineerRedux 1.0.19.4)
Kerbal Inventory System (KIS 1.2.5)
Kerbal Joint Reinforcement (KerbalJointReinforcement v3.1.4)
Kerbal Planetary Base Systems (KerbalPlanetaryBaseSystems v0.2.10)
Kerbal Stats (KerbalStats 2.0.0)
Kopernicus Planetary System Modifier (Kopernicus 1:beta-06-3)
Lithobrake Exploration Technologies (LithobrakeExplorationTechnologies 0.3.1)
MagiCore (MagiCore 1.0.1)
Mark IV Spaceplane System (MarkIVSpaceplaneSystem 2.1.1)
Minimum Ambient Lighting (MinAmbience 1.1.1)
ModularFlightIntegrator (ModularFlightIntegrator 1.1.2.0)
Module Manager (ModuleManager 2.6.20)
Near Future Construction (NearFutureConstruction 0.5.5)
Near Future Electrical (NearFutureElectrical 0.6.2)
Near Future Electrical Core (NearFutureElectrical-Core 0.6.2)
Near Future IVA Props (NearFutureProps 0.4.4)
Near Future Propulsion (NearFuturePropulsion 0.6.1)
Near Future Solar (NearFutureSolar 0.5.5)
Near Future Spacecraft Parts (NearFutureSpacecraft 0.4.4)
Outer Planets Mod (OuterPlanetsMod 1:1.9.2)
Part Commander (PartCommander 1.0.3)
PlanetShine (PlanetShine 0.2.4.2)
PlanetShine - Default configuration (PlanetShine-Config-Default 0.2.4.2)
Portrait Stats (PortraitStats 7.0)
Precise Node (PreciseNode 1.2.1)
Procedural Fairings (ProceduralFairings v3.15)
Procedural Parts (ProceduralParts v1.1.11)
QuickScroll (QuickScroll v1.32)
QuickSearch (QuickSearch v1.21)
RasterPropMonitor (RasterPropMonitor v0.24.2.1)
RasterPropMonitor Core (RasterPropMonitor-Core v0.24.2.1)
RCS Build Aid (RCSBuildAid 0.7.7)
Real Plume (RealPlume 2:v10.4.10)
Real Plume - Stock Configs (RealPlume-StockConfigs v0.9.4)
RealChute Parachute Systems (RealChute 1.3.2.7)
RemoteTech (RemoteTech v1.6.9)
REPOSoftTech-Agencies (REPOSoftTech-Agencies V1.1.1.0)
Resource Details in Tracking Center (TCShipInfo 0.3)
RLA Stockalike (RLA-Stockalike 13.3)
SCANsat (SCANsat v14.8)
ScreenMessageHider (ScreenMessageHider 1.2)
Sensible Screenshot (SensibleScreenshot 1.2.0)
ShipManifest (ShipManifest 5.0.0.0)
Sigma Binary (SigmaBinary-core 1:v1.4.0)
Smart Parts (SmartParts 1.6.6)
SmokeScreen - Extended FX Plugin (SmokeScreen 2.6.13.0)
SOC: Simple Orbit Calculator (SimpleOrbitCalculator v1.4.0)
Spacetux Shared Assets (SpacetuxSA 0.3.9.0)
StageRecovery (StageRecovery 1.6.3)
Stock Bug Fix Modules & StockPlus (StockBugFixPlus v1.0.5a.4)
Stockalike Station Parts Expansion (StationPartsExpansion 0.3.4)
Strategia (Strategia 1.0.0)
Surface Mounted Lights (surfacelights 1.2.2)
Thermal Monitor (ThermalMonitor 1.3)
ToadicusTools (ToadicusTools 17)
Trackingstation Ambientlight (TrackingStationAmbientlight 0.2.0)
Trajectories (Trajectories v1.4.5)
TweakableEverything (TweakableEverything 1.14)
USI Asteroid Recycling Technologies (USI-ART 1:0.7.1.0)
USI Core (USI-Core 0.1.7.0)
USI Kolonization Core (USI-UKS-Shared 0.1.9.0)
USI Kolonization Systems (MKS/OKS) (UKS 1:0.33.8.0)
USI Life Support (USI-LS 0.3.12.0)
USI Tools (USITools 0.6.2.0)
Vanguard Technologies Core (VNG-Plugin 0.7.2)
Ven's Stock Part Revamp (VenStockRevamp v1.9.1)
VersatileToolboxSystem-core (VersatileToolboxSystem-core 3.1.1)
Waypoint Manager (WaypointManager 2.4.5)

Manually Installed Mods

Home Grown Rockets + Community Fixes
KSPTOTConnect (Part of the Trajectory Optimizations Tool)
SMURFF
Sigma Dimensions
UKS/KPBS Compatibility Configs

Sigma Dimensions Settings


// Base Settings

SigmaDimensions
{
	Resize = 6.4
	Rescale = 6.4
	Atmosphere = 1.285
	dayLengthMultiplier = 1
}



// Advanced Settings

@SigmaDimensions
{
	geeASLmultiplier = 1
	landscape = 0.25
	atmoVisualEffect = 1
	resizeScatter = 1
	CustomSoISize = 0
	CustomRingSize = 0
	atmoASL = 1
	tempASL = 1
}

SMURFF Values


tanklever = 0.5
enginelever = 0.5
podlever = 0.5

RemoteTech Configs


RemoteTechSettings
{
	ConsumptionMultiplier = 1
	RangeMultiplier = 6.4
	ActiveVesselGuid = 35b89a0d664c43c6bec8d0840afc97b2
	SpeedOfLight = 3E+08
	MapFilter = Omni, Dish, Path
	EnableSignalDelay = True
	RangeModelType = Root
	MultipleAntennaMultiplier = 0.5
	ThrottleTimeWarp = True
	ThrottleZeroOnNoConnection = True
	HideGroundStationsBehindBody = False
	DishConnectionColor = 0.9960784,0.7019608,0.03137255,1
	OmniConnectionColor = 0.5529412,0.5176471,0.4078431,1
	ActiveConnectionColor = 0.6588235,1,0.01568628,1
	GroundStations
	{
		STATION
		{
			Guid = 5105f5a9-d628-41c6-ad4b-21154e8fc488
			Name = Mission Control
			Latitude = -0.131331503391266
			Longitude = -74.594841003418
			Height = 75
			Body = 1
			MarkColor = 0.996078,0,0,1
			Antennas
			{
				ANTENNA
				{
					Omni = 7.5E+07
				}
			}
		}
	}
}

Yes, that is 130 installed mods. Amazingly, I can load into the main menu with just under 3 GB of memory usage. If anyone wants, I can give you a .ckan file to save you time installing them all.

Data Tables

Career Stats

Funds: 3700278
Science: 65
Reputation: 74%

Building Upgrades

Vehicle Assembly Building: 2
Launchpad: 3
Spaceplane Hangar: 2
Runway: 2
Tracking Station: 2
Astronaut Complex: 3
Research and Development: 2
Administration Building: 2
Mission Control: 3

Tech Nodes Unlocked

Spoiler

Start (0)
Basic Rocketry (5)
Engineering 101 (5)
General Rocketry (20)
Stability (18)
Survivability (15)
Advanced Rocketry (45)
General Construction (45)
Aviation (45)
Flight Control (45)
Basic Science (45)
Heavy Rocketry (90)
Propulsion Systems (90)
Fuel Systems (90)
Advanced Construction (90)
Aerodynamics (90)
Landing (90)
Advanced Flight Control (90)
Space Exploration (90)
Miniaturization (90)
Electrics (90)
Heavier Rocketry (160)
Adv. Fuel Systems (160)
Specialized Construction (160)
Advanced Aerodynamics (160)
Command Modules (160)
Advanced Exploration (160)

Missions

Spoiler

Name

Operator:
Date:
Payload:
Launcher:
Crew:
Mission:
Status:

Sparks 1

Operator: Ministry of Aerospace Studies
Date: Y1D18
Crew: Jebediah (Pilot)
Mission: Suborbital rocket flight test
Status: Success

Sparks 2

Operator: Ministry of Aerospace Studies
Date: Y1D36
Crew: Valentina (Pilot)
Mission: Suborbital spaceflight test
Status: Success

Sparks 3

Operator: Ministry of Aerospace Studies
Date: Y1D61
Crew: Orwig (Pilot)
Mission: Orbital spaceflight test
Status: Success

Sparks 4

Operator: Ministry of Aerospace Studies
Date: Y1D92
Crew: Jebediah (Pilot)
Mission: Orbital spaceflight; Perform first spacewalk
Status: Success

Sparks 5

Operator: Ministry of Aerospace Studies
Date: Y1D117
Crew: Valentina (Pilot); Bill (Engineer)
Mission: First two kerbal spaceflight
Status: Success

Flare 1

Operator: Imperial Rocketry Corps
Date: Y1D139
Payload: Flare 1 Demonstration Satellite
Launcher: Salamander 411
Mission: Place Flare 1 into orbit
Status: Success

Flare 2

Operator: Imperial Rocketry Corps
Date: Y1D149
Payload: Flare 2 Magnetic Field Detector
Launcher: Salamander 411
Mission: Place Flare 2 into orbit
Status: Success

Flare 3

Operator: Imperial Rocketry Corps
Date: Y1D162
Payload: Flare 3 Kerbin Observation Satellite
Launcher: Phoenix 631
Mission: Place Flare 3 into polar orbit
Status: Success

Sparks 6

Operator: Ministry of Aerospace Studies
Date: Y1D180 - Y1D188
Crew: Orwig (Pilot); Bob (Scientist)
Mission: Test docking procedures
Status: Success

Lantern 1-3

Operator: Imperial Rocketry Corps
Date: Y1D225
Payload: Lantern 1 ComSat; Lantern 2 ComSat; Lantern 3 ComSat
Launcher: Dragon 6211
Mission: Place Lantern ComSats into 2/3-synchronous orbits around Kerbin
Status: Success

Gryphon Flight Test

Operator: Ministry of Aerospace Studies
Date: Y1D267
Crew: Jebediah (Pilot)
Mission: Test flight of the Gryphon
Status: Success

Flash 1

Operator: Ministry of Aerospace Studies
Date: Y1D276
Payload: Flash 1 Munar Surveyor
Launcher: Flash Rocket
Mission: Place Flash 1 into a polar orbit of the Mun
Status: Success

Flash 2

Operator: Ministry of Aerospace Studies
Date: Y1D288
Payload: Flash 2 Minmusian Surveyor
Launcher: Flash Rocket
Mission: Place Flash 2 into a polar orbit of Minmus
Status: Success

Proteus Flight Test

Operator: Ministry of Aerospace Studies
Date: Y1D341
Crew: Orwig (Pilot)
Mission: Test flight of the Proteus
Status: Success

Ember 1

Operator: Ministry of Aerospace Studies
Date: Y1D345
Payload: Ember 1 Minmus Landing Probe
Launcher: Ember Rocket
Mission: Land on Minmus
Status: Success

Ember 2

Operator: Ministry of Aerospace Studies
Date: Y1D356
Payload: Ember 2 Minmus Landing Probe
Launcher: Ember Rocket
Mission: Land on Minmus
Status: Success

Ember 3

Operator: Ministry of Aerospace Studies
Date: Y1D367
Payload: Ember 3 Minmus Landing Probe
Launcher: Ember Rocket
Mission: Land on Minmus
Status: Success

Lightning 1

Operator: Imperial Rocketry Corps
Date: Y2D6
Payload: Lightning 1
Launcher: Thunderbird 4241
Crew: Irrigh (Pilot); Sheremy (Engineer)
Mission: Rescue CSEA astronaut Jesigh
Status: Success

Flash 3

Operator: Ministry of Aerospace Studies
Date: Y2D12
Payload: Flash 3 Munar Magnetic Surveyor
Launcher: Flash II Rocket
Mission: Place Flash 3 into orbit of the Mun
Status: Success

Gumdrop 1

Operator: Ministry of Aerospace Studies
Date: Y2D38 - Y2D39
Payload: Gumdrop 1
Launcher: Minimint
Crew: Valentina (Pilot/Commander); Tambella (Engineer); Dulong (Scientist)
Mission: Orbital test of the Gumdrop command module
Status: Success

Gumdrop 2

Operator: Ministry of Aerospace Studies
Date: Y2D72 - Y2D90
Payload: Gumdrop 2
Launcher: Spearmint
Crew: Jebediah (Pilot/Commander); Karchell (Pilot); Tedfen (Engineer)
Mission: Circum-munar flight to test Gumdrop service module and Minmus transfer stage
Status: Success; Minor technical difficulties

Gumdrop 2T

Operator: Ministry of Aerospace Studies
Date: Y2D80 - Y2D90
Payload: Minmus/Mun Transfer Stage
Launcher: Spearmint L
Mission: Circum-munar flight to test Gumdrop service module and Minmus transfer stage
Status: Success; Minor technical difficulties

Flash 4

Operator: Ministry of Aerospace Studies
Date: Y2D90
Payload: Flash 4 Minmus Magnetic Surveyor
Launcher: Flash II Rocket
Mission: Place Flash 4 into orbit of Minmus
Status: Success

Gumdrop 3SPT

Operator: Ministry of Aerospace Studies
Date: Y2D109 - Y2D180
Payload: Minmus Transfer Stage; Sugar Plum Lander
Launcher: Spearmint L
Mission: Minmus landing
Status: Success; Severe technical difficulties

Thunderhead 1

Operator: Imperial Rocketry Corps
Date: Y2D123
Payload: Thunderhead 1
Launcher: Thunderbird 424
Mission: Place Thunderhead 1 in orbit
Status: Success

Gumdrop 3

Operator: Ministry of Aerospace Studies
Date: Y2D135 - Y2D180
Payload: Gumdrop 3
Launcher: Spearmint
Crew: Valentina (Pilot/Commander); Bill (Engineer); Gemcie (Scientist)
Mission: Minmus landing
Status: Success; Severe technical difficulties

Rosters

Spoiler

Ministry of Aerospace Studies

Administration

Arthur, Minister of Aerospace Studies
Stanley, Lead Engineer
Troy, Flight Director

Pilots

Wing Commander Jebediah, Imperial Glider Force
Air Commander Valentina, Imperial Naval Dirigible Service
Squadron Commander Orwig, Imperial Glider Force
Air Lieutenant Laneny, Imperial Naval Dirigible Service
Flight Lieutenant Karchell, Imperial Glider Force

Engineers

Chief Technician Bill, Imperial Glider Force
Air Petty Officer Tambella, Imperial Naval Dirigible Service
Junior Technician Tedfen, Imperial Glider Force

Scientists

Bob
Gemcie
Dulong

Imperial Rocketry Corps

Administration

General Dean
Doctor Baxter, Senior Design Chief
Captain David, Launchpad Operations

Pilots

Air Major Irrigh, Imperial Balloon Corps
Flight Captain Rodnand, Imperial Balloon Corps

Engineers

Balloon Sergeant Sheremy, Imperial Balloon Corps
Air Mechanic 1st Class Kimtrix, Imperial Balloon Corps

Cooperative Space Exploration Agency

Administration

Director Tiberius

Scientists

Jesigh

Edited February 29, 2016 by GreenWolf
updates

GreenWolf · February 7, 2016

Chapter 1

Sparks Fly

****

A rocket was an unguided weapon.

That was how they had been used in the war, and it had gradually become the prevailing school of thought. It was the dogma upon which the Rocketry Corps was built, and, until that morning, it had gone virtually unchallenged.

That morning, however, would change everything.

Wing Commander Jebediah, Imperial Glider Force, stared at the largest rocket he had ever seen. It wasn't the largest rocket ever, he knew, but it easily dwarfed the small tactical rockets and air-launched missiles he had encountered before. Certainly, it was the largest rocket outside of the Rocketry Corps' armory.

"I'm supposed to fly that?"

"Not so much flying as sitting very still and keeping the nose pointed straight up." The technician's response did not contain the assurance of safety Jeb had hoped to hear. His next statement was even worse. "The sitting still part is very important. If you don't, it could shift the center of mass and send you into a tumble."

"And how high will this thing take me?"

"Not far. Ten, maybe fifteen kilometers." That was more than twice the altitude of the highest glider flight, which had been made from the summit of K2. Jeb wondered, with no small measure of disbelief, what this kerbal considered to be a high altitude.

Finally, the technician finished checking the seals on Jeb's pressure suit and said, "You're good to go." He gave Jeb an enthusiastic thumbs up, then scurried off towards the safety of the nearby observation bunker.

Slowly, nervously, Jeb climbed into the rocket.

****

In a way, it made sense that the Ministry of Aerospace Studies had been the first to successfully guide a rocket in-flight. The Rocketry Corps, after all, viewed rockets as weapons, and there was no place for a pilot inside a weapon. Still, the event had shown that the concept of guided rocket flight was not entirely unfeasible. Might it be possible, General Dean wondered, to have the pilot outside the rocket?

****

<Commander, are you ready to launch?> The voice sounded tinny and crackly over the tiny radio.

Valentina ran through the mental pre-flight checklist she had made.

Flaps locked? Check.

Ignition charges primed? Check.

Seatbelt fastened? Check.

"Affirmative, control. Just tell me when to go."

The voice of mission control had barely finished the sentence before Valentina had slammed her fist down on the very large, invitingly red button which someone had scrawled the words "GO TO SPACE" upon in black marker.

****

Sparks 3 was the largest rocket ever built to-date (with the possible exception of the massive rocket fielded by the Circumferential Powers during the Eleventh Battle of Gordon Flats, which spontaneously exploded before it could be launched). The fact that the Minister of Aerospace Studies had publicly, and rather vigorously, stated that they had plans to build even larger rockets did little to diminish the stature of the Sparks 3 rocket in Orwig's mind. Or in reality, for that matter.

You did say you wanted to go to space, he thought. And not just space, but orbit.

Or fiery, explosive death. One of the two. At least, he had thought it was two possibilities, until an engineer had reminded him that crashing into the ocean, getting stuck in orbit, suffocating, burning up on reentry, and smashing into the ground were also all possible.

The same engineer had also hurriedly assured him that all of those things were very unlikely, an assurance which did little to ease the panic caused by the preceding statement.

Orwig took a deep breath and pushed all thoughts of rocket-related death from his mind. Instead, he focused on the launch countdown, listening as the numbers slowly ticked down to zero. He was so focused that he almost forgot to press the ignition when the count reached zero.

Edited February 14, 2016 by GreenWolf

Bev7787 · February 7, 2016

I see you're back. What happened to the old AAR? I was loving it

GreenWolf · February 7, 2016

1 hour ago, Bev7787 said:

I see you're back. What happened to the old AAR? I was loving it

Part of it was just burning out on big, picture heavy mission reports. It took two hours or so to put together each chapter in the old AAR. Then 1.0 hit and killed all my mods. Then the forums migrated and killed all my formatting.

Some of it also had to do with moving on to other endeavours for a bit, like writing for the SCP Wiki, running an IRC RPG group, doing preproduction work on a (still unreleased) webcomic, and, of course, ever present IRL commitments.

I should be back for a while, and this time though, I promise to finish this one. Sticking all the photos in an imgur album cuts down "production" time to under an hour, and by limiting myself to only updating on weekends (which means one to two posts a week), I hope to be able to prevent any potential creative burnout.

Shania_L · February 7, 2016

Hey there, good start to your career, orbital in 3 launches! you're certainly not wasting time!!

Always good to see new career reports, and as you are joining the 64k club I'll be watching especially closely ... certainly nothing to do with industrial espionage though ... much.

GreenWolf · February 8, 2016

Chapter 2

Flare Ups

****

"But it's possible."

Doctor Baxter nodded vigorously. "Yes, General. But it will take time."

"You have two months." General Dean turned and gazed out the window, in what he hoped was an ominous but also inspiring manner. "I don't care what you have to do, as long as I can see a rocket on that launchpad by the end of two months."

"Yes, General."

****

<How you feeling, Jeb?> Valentina's voice sounded in his ear. It had been her idea to have other cosmonauts act as the point of communications between mission control and the cosmonaut in the capsule, on the basis that it would decrease pre-launch anxiety. So far, it seemed to be working.

"Like a hamster, CAPCOM," he said, in reference to the distinctively spherical shape of the capsule he was sitting in.

He heard Valentina laugh. <Don't get too comfortable, we're about to start the launch countdown.>

Jeb did a quick check of his instrumentation panel. "Everything's green on my end."

He heard several kerbals shouting in the background, before Valentina replied, <Greenlight on our end too. Starting the clock at T-minus thirty seconds. Good luck.>

****

Jeb looked down at Kerbin through the pod window. "CAPCOM, you were right. The view is spectacular."

"Hint taken. Be advised that I am opening the hatch now." The air inside the capsule whooshed out into space as he opened the door. He was glad his suit was, in fact, actually airtight. He slowly pulled himself out through the opening. "I am exiting the capsule."

"Copy that. Only necessary risks will be taken." He was rewarded for his snark with another laugh. Clinging to the side of his spaceship, he looked back down at Kerbin again. "You were right again. The view is even better outside."

****

"Main engine cut-out, jettisoning first stage. Bill, open that first goo pod while we coast to second stage ignition."

"Opening the goo pod. I'm sure it's doing gooey things."

"Get ready for some acceleration, I'm gonna light the engines as soon as the first stage is out of range." Valentina watched the spent stage slowly drift away. Once she was sure it was safely away, she opened up the throttle. "Shout when we hit orbit."

Bill watched the numbers on his flight data readouts tick upwards. "Almost... now! Cut the engines."

Valentina cut the throttle, causing the two of them to jerk forwards slightly. "CAPCOM, this is Sparks 5 actual, can you confirm our flight status."

<Sparks 5, we confirm that you are in orbit.> Orwig was acting CAPCOM for this mission.

"Copy that. We'll run the rest of our experiments, then get back to you in five."

****

Almost exactly two months after he had issued the deadline to his scientists, General Dean stared out his window and saw a rocket.

The rocket itself had been the easy part. They had taken the Spinnaker powered boosters that MiniSpace has used for Sparks 3 and used them as the basis for a modular rocket that his engineers had taken to calling Salamander. The core was a single booster, to which up to four more boosters could be attached to increase the delta-v. A small upper stage had been placed atop the whole thing, atop which sat Flare 1.

Flare 1 had been the hard part. It was the brain which controlled the whole rocket, the point through which it could be remotely piloted and given limited pre-programmed instructions. It was going to be launched into orbit as a proof-of-concept military communications satellite, which was how they had managed to get the project within their jurisdiction.

Now to see if it would work.

****

"Explain to me how this... magnetometer, you called it?" General Dean looked to Doctor Baxter for confirmation.

The doctor nodded.

"Explain how this magnetometer falls within our jurisdiction as a military agency," the general continued.

"It doesn't. Not directly, at least. But the data it will gather is essential to paving the way for future missions."

"How so?"

"It's about the van Allen belts. If they exist, this will tell us where and how strong they are. It'll help us avoid them in the future."

"I assume these van Allen belts are a bad thing then."

"That's what we want to find out."

****

"The satellite will be launched into a polar orbit aboard a Phoenix rocket, which will give it full coverage of the planet's surface."

General Dean nodded in vague understanding. "And how long will it take for it to generate the map?"

"No more than two days."

A thought occured to him. "Why the larger rocket? Isn't it the same size as the last two satellites?"

"Different orbit. It takes more delta-v to launch into a polar orbit, and it'll be orbiting much higher than the previous Flares, which also means more delta-v."

"I see. How long before you're ready to launch?"

"A week, maybe a week and a half."

****

Commentary

Our plan after this is to continue some low orbit operations with MiniSpace, including a docking test, and start moving into setting up a comms network with the IRC. Sparks program will probably end once MiniSpace starts developing a standardized crew vehicle and launcher. (Also, yes, I'm aware this post is being made on Monday. I did the playing and the write-up on Sunday, however, so it still totally counts as a weekend post.)

Edited February 14, 2016 by GreenWolf
typo

GreenWolf · February 9, 2016

In today's news, a mini-update that probably comes as more of a surprise to myself than to you. Let's go now to the third page of the Imperial Times, the Greater Kerbal Empire's finest news source.

****

THE IMPERIAL TIMES

KSC – Earlier today, sources inside the Ministry of Aerospace Studies leaked this image of a concept design for the Sparks 6 mission. While the Ministry has refused to officially confirm or deny the veracity of this image, our sources have told us that the designs are mostly accurate, but said the scale "may be a little bit..." followed by holding their hands approximately half a meter apart and shaking them slowly.

Edited February 14, 2016 by GreenWolf

GreenWolf · February 13, 2016

Chapter 3

Spark Gap

****

"Why am I finding out about our own missions from the blasted Times before I hear them from my own engineers?" The Minister of Aerospace Studies was nearly brown in the face from anger.

"My apologies, Mr. Minister. We're not sure how they got ahold of our design documents, but I assure you, it will not happen again."

"See that it doesn't. The last thing we need is the Republics getting their hands on our plans." The Minister turned away from his lead engineer and lit up a cigar, a process which took him the better part of half a minute. "What exactly is the plan for Sparks 6," he asked between puffs of smoke. "This morning's paper was, thankfully, lacking in details."

The lead engineer cleared his throat. "The mission is two-fold. Sparks 6 will launch into a low Kerbin orbit, where the command capsule will detach from the second stage of the rocket and attempt to dock with it. If the docking succeeds, they will use the remaining fuel in the second stage to burn into an elliptical orbit with a higher apoapsis."

"And if the docking fails?"

"The manuevering thrusters have enough delta-v to safely deorbit the capsule."

****

"Easy does it... almost..." Orwig frowned in concentration as he guided the docking adapter towards the target.

"Maglock!" Bob shouted, a split second before a resounding THUNK echoed through the capsule as the magnetic locks pulled the two docking ports together.

"What's the seal look like?"

"Hard seal. Sensors say airtight."

Orwig smiled a tiny bit. He was getting the hang of this space stuff. He leaned over and flicked on the radio. "Hey CAPCOM. Guess what?"

Valentina's voice came back. <Docked?>

"Docked."

****

THE IMPERIAL TIMES

REPUBLICS REACH SPACE

Prublu, CFR – Director Tiberius, head of the Cooperative Space Exploration Agency, announced earlier today that his agency had successfully placed a small satellite into orbit. "This represents a great first step in space exploration for the Free Republics, and sets us on a path to eventually meet and exceed the accomplishments of the imperialists," he said. When asked how his agency was dealing with internal disputes between its constituent organizations, he shouted that there were no disputes, everything was going perfectly fine, and that our reporter was a filthy imperialist spy, followed by a tirade of insults not suitable for print. The Director had to be escorted from the premises by security.

When asked, General Dean of the Imperial Rocketry Corps declined to comment on the CSEA launch, while the Minister of Aerospace Studies said, "I'd like to congratulate our counterparts in the Republics for finally placing a coconut sized piece of metal into orbit. I understand how difficult such a task must have been for you, and how excited you all must be at having accomplished it. I wish you good luck in your future attempts, as I wager you shall sorely need it."

****

"When is the earliest date we can launch the Lanterns?" General Dean asked as he read that morning's paper.

"We're prepping the pad now, sir, and should be ready the day after tomorrow."

"Could you be ready by tomorrow?" He asked, setting the paper down on the table. The front page sported a black and white photograph of an enraged Director Tiberius.

The captain in charge of launchpad operations let his gaze drift downwards towards the paper. General Dean watched him read the headline.

The captain looked back up at the general.

"Yes, sir."

****

Commentary

Whoo, boy, those Lanterns. I probably spent three hours designing and simulating different rockets to try and get the three of them into a keostationary orbit. I finally gave up on a keostationary orbit, seeing as it would eventually drift apart anyways, and launched them into a 2/3 synchronous orbit.

Next steps are to send out some probes to the Mun and Minmus, and start designing some standardized launch vehicles and crew vehicles for MiniSpace. Meanwhile, IRC may start moving into crewed launches.

Edited February 14, 2016 by GreenWolf

Shania_L · February 13, 2016

Just noticed you are using Sigma Dimensions for your rescaling, rather than the 64k mod, how have you found it to be behaving?
When I finally get around to leaving 0.90 on my career (probably to 1.1) I was thinking of going with Sigma Dimensions.

From what I can see on your pictures have you managed to reduce the scale height of terrain features? I had a try with Sigma Dimensions for a x6.4 rescale and I ended up with 30+km high mountains west of KSC.

Have you also done manual rescales for time warp and the reduction in solar power for distance from the sun? as these are both handled by the 64k mod.

GreenWolf · February 13, 2016

2 hours ago, Shania_L said:

Just noticed you are using Sigma Dimensions for your rescaling, rather than the 64k mod, how have you found it to be behaving?
When I finally get around to leaving 0.90 on my career (probably to 1.1) I was thinking of going with Sigma Dimensions.

From what I can see on your pictures have you managed to reduce the scale height of terrain features? I had a try with Sigma Dimensions for a x6.4 rescale and I ended up with 30+km high mountains west of KSC.

Have you also done manual rescales for time warp and the reduction in solar power for distance from the sun? as these are both handled by the 64k mod.

No complaints so far with Sigma Dimensions. It comes with an option to apply an additional rescale factor to terrain after the intial rescale (the landscape config option), which I set to 0.25. (Initially, it was at 0.7, but I found the mountains were still too high. 0.25 means that there are only a few mountain peaks that breach the cloud layer, andnone of them go over 10 km high.) Dimensions automatically rescales time warp, solar power output, cloud heights, ring distances, etc... The only things I've really had to do was change the range multiplier in Remote Tech, and manually change the day length of Duna to keep it tidally locked to Ike. (I initially installed Sigma Binary alongside the Duna-Ike Binary Config, but that was causing issues with Stategia, so I cut it and manually changed Duna's day length with a mod manager config.)

The other major thing I do different from most 6.4x rescales is set the atmosphere height to 90 km instead of 100 km. It's a small difference, but to me, I think it more closely matches the proper atmosphere height of a planet with a 6.4:10 scale to Earth.

Anyways, I'm actually working on setting up some configs and a .ckan file for a 6.4x rescale/realism pack. Something like RO, but maintaing the Kerbal aesthetic, and removing a lot of the tedious realism things. Should make it a bit easier for people who like the challenges of a larger star system and more realism, but like the kerbal aesthetic and don't want to go full 10x scale.

GreenWolf · February 14, 2016

Chapter 4

Flash Lights and Test Flights

****

"Air Marshall Andre, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" The Minister of Aerospace Studies gestured for her to take a seat.

"I have, as I'm sure you understand, been following your ministry's recent efforts in rocketry with great interest." The head of the Imperial Glider Force said.

"Of course, entirely understandable. And let me say, your pilots have performed outstandingly."

The Air Marshall waved a hand dismissively. "I'm sure they have. However, I came here today to ask you a question."

"Oh?"

"Would it be possible to use a rocket to propel a glider?"

The Minister opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out. It was such a simple idea that it took him a full five seconds to process the full implications of it.

Finally, he said, "I think that might be possible, yes."

****

"MECO!"

"Explosive bolt activation! First stage away!"

"Second stage ignition!"

"On board stabilizers firing. Probe is still on-course."

"Navy reports splashdown of boosters five kilometers off the coast."

Flight Director Troy kept his eyes glued to the main board, which depicted a stylized graphic of the probe's current trajectory. The shouting of the mission controllers wasn't quite background noise to his ears, but it was close.

"How long until SeSCO?" He asked.

"90 seconds."

Exactly 90 seconds later the second stage cut-out and the third stage fired, putting the probe on a course for the Mun.

****

The launch of Flash 2 was no more sedate than the launch of Flash 1. But the time between trans-Minmusian insertion and Minmusian orbital insertion was far longer, which just gave the mission controllers more time to think about everything that could go wrong while en route to Minmus. This was compounded by the fact that it would take over a week for the probe to reach periapsis after entering Minmus' SOI.

So when the probe finally inserted itself into orbit around Minmus, Troy was more than a little surprised that none of his mission controllers passed out from the sudden release of tension.

****

"What exactly is the strategic advantage of a glider that can fly underwater?" Orwig asked as he looked at the Proteus.

"Don't ask me, strategy is above my paygrade." Jeb said.

"Maybe it's a stealth thing."

"Could be."

The two pilots stared at the contraption some more.

"Definitely a stealth thing."

Edited February 18, 2016 by GreenWolf

GreenWolf · February 15, 2016

Chapter 5

Cold Embers

****

"So, what's the plan?" Jeb asked the question that at least two-thirds of them were all thinking.

The Minister of Aerospace Studies nodded to Stanley. The lead engineer stood up and cleared his throat to address the assembled kerbals. "It's simple. We're going to land a kerbal on Minmus."

Immediately, everyone in the room started shouting.

"Craziest thing --"

"-- too dangerous --"

"-- call that simple?!"

"Quiet!" The Minister held up his hands, motioning for the room to be silent. "What Mr. Stanley is proposing is a necessary and inevitable continuation of our space program. Not just as a scientific endeavor, but as a political one as well. The Republics sent a kerbal on a sub-orbital flight into space yesterday. How long before they make orbit? How long before we lose our lead in this race -- and yes, it is most certainly a race -- how long before they pull ahead?" He paused to look around the room, making sure that he had everyone's attention. "That is why we are going to Minmus. Not because it's easy, or safe, or makes logical sense as the next thing to do. But because we need to get there first." He nodded to Stanley to continue.

"Um, yes, anyways, we're not going to shoot straight for a crewed landing. The plan is to start off with some probe landers to gather preliminary data needed for landing a kerbal there safely. This is the Ember program."

"How many probe landings are we looking at?" Troy asked.

"Three, initially, although that number may change."

"Why Minmus?" Valentina asked. "Why not the Mun?"

"Lower gravity world. Lower delta-v requirements. More margin for error."

She nodded. "Makes sense. A second of input lag doesn't hurt as much when your orbital velocity is less than 300 meters per second."

"When's the first launch?" Troy asked.

"Two weeks. The second launch will be ten days after that, and the third launch will be ten days after the second."

****

"Engine cut-out! Probe is on a sub-orbital trajectory," the guidance officer called out. "Are we ready to switch to manual?"

"Ready when you are." Jeb responded. He watched the probe's trajectory on the monitor in front of him.

"Alright, giving you control of the probe."

The green light indicating that he had control lit up on Jeb's terminal. "I've got her! Activating automatic stabilizers."

Many thousands of kilometers away, the probe's onboard gyroscopes whirred to life, keeping the probe pointed retrograde. It would make the landing that much easier.

For the next fifty minutes, the assembled kerbals at mission control sat in silence as they watched the probe fall towards the surface. Then...

"Braking burn!" Jeb shouted. Above Minmus, the probe fired its engine for just under five seconds, slowing its descent.

"It's still falling," someone commented.

"Don't backseat pilot!" Jeb shouted. "Besides, this thing is monoprop powered. We've got plenty of engine restarts." He frowned in concentration as he watched the probe on his screen. "Burning!" Above Minmus, the probe fired for slightly over twenty-two seconds.

The probe was almost stationary now, some thirty meters over the minmusian surface. Jeb watched as it drifted downwards, slowly picking up speed. A few seconds before it hit the surface, he opened up the throttle again, before immediately closing it. A second later, the probe fired its engine for a moment, slowing down to a handful of meters per second.

Then it hit the surface.

"Contact! Legs two and three report surface contact. Leg one is still in the air."

Jeb frowned. While the probe would probably be fine if it tipped over, it wouldn't look good in the papers. "Is it tipping?"

"Uh, no. It's not moving."

"And leg one is still in the air?"

"Yes."

Jeb frowned again. Then, in a burst of realization, he leaned forward and flipped off the automatic stabilizers. "How about now?"

"All three legs report surface contact. Ember 1 is landed."

****

kOS - V1.0.2 - ember2@minmus

Altitude: 50 meters; Velocity: 20 m/s; Engine: 100%; Landed: No

Altitude: 40 meters; Velocity: 15 m/s; Engine: 100%; Landed: No

Altitude: 30 meters; Velocity: 10 m/s; Engine: 100%; Landed: No

Altitude: 20 meters; Velocity: 5 m/s; Engine: 0%; Landed: No

Altitude: 10 meters; Velocity: 6 m/s; Engine: 0%; Landed: No

Altitude: 0 meters; Velocity: 7 m/s; Engine: 0%; Landed: YES

Altitude: 3 meters; Velocity: 1 m/s; Engine: 0%; Landed: ???

Altitude: 0 meters; Velocity: 0 m/s; Engine: 0%; Landed: Yes?

****

The Ember probes had a thrust-to-weight ratio of over 10 in the minmusian gravity well. When coupled with a one second input delay and an automatic stabilizer that kept the probe pointed away from its direction of travel, it was rather easy to send the whole thing into a spin at low velocities.

As Orwig discovered first-hand five meters above the surface of Minmus.

As Orwig also discovered, those same automatic stabilizers then immediately pointed the probe upright the second the engine cut-out, allowing Ember 3 to safely drift the last few meters to the surface.

Whereupon it then began tipping over, only to be stopped by quickly reprogramming the same stabilizers to point the probe upwards instead of retrograde.

****

Commentary

Well, that was fun.

You might be wondering why I bothered sending three probe landers to Minmus. Was it for story? For science? No, it was for Strategia, a most excellent mod by @nightingale that overhauls the strategies system in career mode. I decided to go with the Minmus Probes strategy first, which required that I land probes in three different biomes (on Minmus, of course). Having done so, I think that the number of landings required is perfectly balanced between "tedious" and "too easy".

Next up, we actually, for reals, 100% serious this time, get to IRC doing crewed launches, and move into MiniSpace's crewed Minmus landing program.

Also, have this bonus album of me turning the spent transfer stage from Ember 1 into an impromptu impactor probe (which actually gives science, thanks to the Impact mod).

Edited February 15, 2016 by GreenWolf
typo

nightingale · February 15, 2016

Nice, already starting to see some Strategia influence in the mission report section of the forum!

GreenWolf · February 19, 2016

Chapter 6

A Flash of Lightning

****

"Our current strategic space assets include the Flare 3 Kerbin observation satellite, as well as the three Lantern communications satellites. We have additional launches scheduled to place half a dozen payloads from OMI into orbit over the next year, and are currently planning on expanding and improving the Lantern infrastructure." General Dean paused in his report for a moment to allow his comrades to process this information. "As I'm sure is evident by now, a small and growing – but not insignificant – amount of critical infrastructure is currently orbiting over our heads. I can guarantee the Republics will start building their own as soon as they are capable of it. And all of this infrastructure is completely undefended."

He watched the faces of his fellow members of the Imperial War Council as they considered this. To their credit, none of them allowed the concern that they were surely feeling show in their expressions.

"Well Dean, what do you suggest we do about it? I know you, surely you must have some plan." This from Sky Admiral Vincent, head of the Navy's Dirigible Service.

"I want to put boots on the ground – or up in the sky, in this case – to defend that infrastructure. Orbital outposts, crewed by elite infantry, equipped to defend our space assets – or attack the enemy's, if necessary. And I want to do it now, while we still have the initiative."

****

The call came on New Year's Eve.

General Dean was in his office, staring at the silhouette of the Thunderbird rocket and the Lightning crew vehicle perched atop it, scheduled to launch on their first orbital test flight in less than a week. He wasn't expecting any calls, but he could never have anticipated this one.

It had finally happened. The event that they had all been dreading and awaiting in equal measure.

Vehicle Failure in Space; Crew Return Impossible.

It was the third crewed mission the CSEA had sent into orbit. But it would be the first one to not come back down.

Unless they helped.

He stared at the rocket in the distance, and marvelled at the irony of it all. What was intended to be a weapon of war would find its first use as an instrument of mercy.

****

"Command, this is Lightning One actual. We have the target vehicle in visual range and are closing to ten meters." Irrigh kept her eyes focused on the growing speck that was the distressed CSEA spacecraft.

"Understood. We'll find alternative methods of communication if necessary." She flicked off the microphone and nodded to the kerbal sitting next to her. "Sergeant, try and hail them on the short-range comms."

"Yes, ma'am." He leaned in towards his own microphone and started flipping switches. "CSEA spacecraft, this is Lightning One. We are maneuvering towards you to attempt a rescue. Please respond."

There was only silence in response.

He flipped some more switches and repeated the message.

Still, nothing.

He repeated this process several more times, before Irrigh said, "Look!"

Some fifty meters away, a light had appeared in the window of the other spacecraft.

Approximately half an hour later, an exhausted looking kerbal opened the airlock.

****

ROCKETRY CORPS RESCUES REPUBLICS SCIENTIST, the headline read. The Minister of Aerospace Studies didn't need to read the rest of the article to know what it would say.

"It appears General Dean has been busy," he commented, to no one in particular. However, before he could launch into an extended soliloquy, he was interrupted by a knocking at his office door. "Come in!"

His secretary peeked her head through the door. "Sir, Mister Stanley is here to see you."

"Send him in."

She nodded in assent and motioned for the other kerbal to enter, closing the door behind the lead engineer once he was inside the office.

"I assume this is about Flash 3," he said, once the engineer had seated himself.

"Yes Minister. The assembly team just finished loading it onto the rocket this morning. It'll take them a few more days to finish up the final diagnostics and testing, and another day or so to roll it out to the launchpad. We should be able to launch before the end of the week."

"I'm glad to hear it. And how goes the work on the crewed Minmus landing?"

The engineer frowned nervously. "Well, we think we might have a working design for the command module, and we've got some preliminary designs for the service module that we think will work with a bit more refinement. But the lander is a bit... tricky."

"I have full confidence in the abilities of you and your team, Mister Stanley. You'll think of something."

"Thank you, sir." The lead engineer was unsure if this was an order or encouragement.

"For now, let's worry about getting this probe out to the Mun."

****

Commentary

This update probably has the highest ratio of text-to-images so far. Apologies if that ratio is too high for some people, but I've been sitting on those two albums since Monday, and wanted to get them into a post before I started doing launchs for the Minmus landing program.

Speaking of the Minmus landing program, I have been working on the designs for that in my spare time, and think I've come up with something that will do everything I want it to, in regards to story and gameplay. I've stolen bits from various different real-world Moon landing plans for this.

The current working plan is to launch two rockets for each mission, one carrying the command module and service module, and the other carrying the Minmus lander and the transfer stage. The command/service module will rendezvous with the lander and transfer stage, and dock to the top of the lander. The transfer stage will then burn to place the whole thing onto a minmusian intercept trajectory. The transfer stage will be designed to have a small amount of fuel left in its tanks after this burn, so that it can be detached and directed to crash into Minmus as an impactor probe (similar to the Saturn V third stage).

Once the spacecraft arrives at Minmus, the service module will be used to perform orbital insertion. Then the lander will detach from the command/service module and carry two kerbals down to the surface. They'll stay there for a little bit and do some science, then get back into the lander and fly it up into orbit to rendevous with the command/service module. Ideally, the lander will be able to do all of this in a single stage so that it can be refueled and reused for future missions.

Once all the kerbals are back aboard the command module, the lander with be detached and left in orbit around Minmus. The service module will then be used to perform a final burn to set the command/service module on a trajectory to reenter Kerbin's atmosphere. At some point before reentry, the service module will be discarded to disintegrate in Kerbin's upper atmosphere, while the command module carries the crew home to a (hopefully) safe landing.

If the lander can successfully be made single-stage, future tranfer stages will carry some monopropellant tanks to refuel the lander instead of a new lander. The extra payload space made available by not needing to carrying an entire lander could be filled with some additional hardware to drop onto Minmus, like rovers or science packages.

As a final bonus, here's my math and concepts drawings for the mission.

GreenWolf · February 22, 2016

Chapter 7

Gumdrops

****

"Gumdrop?" The Minister of Aerospace Studies wasn't sure if it was a joke or not.

"Well, we were running out of fire-related words that didn't involve exploding, and we took a vote, and, well, it, uh..." Stanley's explanation trailed off into silence. He waved at the stack of papers lying on the desk in front of him. "Look at it! It even looks like a gumdrop."

The Minister studied the design sketches. "I suppose it does." He sighed. "And the rocket? Don't tell me it looks like a mint."

"It's a play on words. It's roughly the same shape as a spear, and it's going to be used to launch things to Minmus – which is mint colored – and spear is also a verb which means to strike or to pierce, and a rocket launch can be metaphorically described as piercing the sky. Spearmint, see? Although that last one is a bit of a stretch, I'll be honest..." He trailed off again as he realized his audience did not share his enthusiasm.

The Minister stared at his lead engineer with a mixture of awe and horror. "You have put entirely too much thought into this."

"Thank you?"

"And here, what about the lander? Any rough resemblances or convoluted wordplay involved?"

"Oh, no, that's just to stick with the theme."

****

"Karchell, when you joined the force, did you ever think you'd be going to the Mun?" Jeb attempted to make smalltalk while they waited for the pre-launch checks to finish.

"Uh, no sir, I can't say that I did. Mostly I just thought I'd be flying gliders."

"Did you hear? Nobody's going to be flying gliders soon. Andre has put in a standing order for some of those Gryphons. In a few years, there won't be a single glider left in the force. A glider force without any gliders. Imagine that."

"Maybe they'll change the name."

"To what? Aeroplane Force? That's worse than the Dirigible Service."

Valentina's voice interrupted them. <Hey, if you two are done discussing the merits of different naming conventions, we've got a greenlight to launch here in control.>

"Sorry about that CAPCOM. Hold on that countdown, we're still doing our checks," Jeb replied. He flipped off the microphone. "Remind me not to leave the mic open again. Hey Ted, do we have a go or no?"

From his seat in the lower section of the spacecraft, the engineer replied. "Tell control to start that countdown, we have a go."

****

"Alright CAPCOM, we're in orbit. How long before you can get that transfer stage up to us?" Jeb asked.

<It's being rolled out to the pad now. Launch will happen in about a week.>

"A week."

Jeb sighed and flipped off the microphone. "Anyone bring any cards?"

****

"And gotcha! Hey CAPCOM, tell Stanley he needs to put some RCS on this thing."

<I'll let him know, Jeb.>

"And some stronger gyroscopes. This thing turns like a blimp."

"Of course you don't," Jeb muttered. "Got that flight plan loaded, Ted?"

"Yep. It should show up on your screen any second now."

"I see it. Wow, we're cutting it a bit close. T-minus ten to burn."

The next ten minutes ticked by in relative silence, interrupted only occasionally by one of the crew calling off an item from the pre-burn checklist. The engine ignition itself passed with minimal fuss, and the spacecraft slowly lurched off towards the Mun.

Perhaps a minute into the burn, a problem appeared. "Jeb, I'm getting overheat warnings on the trans stage engines!" Tedfen shouted.

"Throttling down to sixty."

"Temp is still rising."

"Thirty."

"Holding steady at 1700 K."

"Karchell, take the stick. Keep her pointing prograde," Jeb said. "CAPCOM, we have a situation here."

"Trans stage engines were getting too hot. Had to drop throttle to thirty percent."

<You're still burning?>

"I'm not calling an abort. I reckon that we can still do the transfer burn. We'll just have to modify the flight plan a bit."

<Hold on.> He could hear bits and pieces of a shouted, frantic debate going on in the background. <Okay, your reckoning is good. If you hold your current heading, you should be able to finish the burn with some delta-v to spare in the trans stage.>

"Alright, then we'll continue the mission as planned."

****

Commentary

First off, a status update: I have the gameplay and images for the next two or three chapters completed, and will be posting them later throughout the week. Depending on how that goes, this may be how I do future updates (gameplay on the weekend, post during the week).

For those confused about the point of the Gumdrop 2 mission, it was a Munar flyby to test the transfer stage, the Gumdrop, and the service module. A good thing that I did, too, as it revealed some important design flaws that would have been Very Bad if they had popped up during an actual Minmus mission. Major changes to the design include adding some radiators to the transfer stage, adding RCS to the Gumdrop + service module, and some adjustment of fuel lines to increase launcher delta-v. As we'll see in Gumdrop 3, some more refinements may be necessary.

The next update will contain the launch of the Gumdrop 3 transfer stage, Flash 4 (another Minmus probe) and a special payload from the Imperial Rocketry Corps.

Also, I'll probably be updating the mission stats table in the OP to be a bit more detailed. If you saw the table in Because It's There before the new forums devoured the formatting, you'll have an idea of what it'll look like.

Also, to my annoyance, the spacing on the Lantern sats has started falling apart. I was going to need to launch new ones eventually, but the timetable on that has been accelerated a bit.

GreenWolf · February 23, 2016

Chapter 8

Probes and Preparations

****

Flash 4 sat on the launchpad, entirely oblivious to the fact that it would be the last of its brethren to do so, at least for the foreseeable future. All of MiniSpace's assests had been reallocated towards the Minmus program, leaving only some surplus hardware for this mission to perform a magnetic survey of Minmus.

Flash 4 was also entirely unaware of its mission, because it was a remote controlled probe, and thus incapable of being aware of anything. Certainly not the large and prolonged acceleration from the launch that would have been lethal, or at least seriously inconvenient, to a kerbal crew. Nor the incredibly boring half-month long trip out to Minmus. Not even the fact that it would never be returning home, consigned to orbit the distant moon forever.

In the control room, Flight Director Troy reflected upon the advantages of probe missions.

****

Nineteen days later, another probe, also bound for Minmus, sat on the launchpad. However, these were the only similarities it bore to Flash 4. This probe was the control point for the Minmus transfer stage, which would set Gumdrop 3 on a course to Minmus before placing itself on an impact trajectory with the icy moon. It would launch with the Sugar Plum lander carried atop it, serving double-duty as the orbital insertion stage of the Spearmint L for itself and the lander.

In mission control, the future crew of Gumdrop 3 had gathered to watch the launch of the vehicles that would push them out to Minmus and carry them to its surface.

"I don't like this," Bill said again. "Twenty-six days in the parking orbit? All of the oxidizer could--"

"We've been over this already," Stanley said, cutting the flight engineer off. "Boil-off will not be an issue."

"Structural embrittling."

"Hasn't been observed in any missions of similar duration."

"Thermal expansion of the interstage decouplers."

"Bill, give it a rest already." Valentina said. "Try and enjoy the launch."

"Fine," he said. "I still don't like this though."

****

A few days later and many thousands of kilometers away, Flash 4 arrived at Minmus. It was, of course, entirely unaware of this fact.

****

A week and a half later, the reason for the twenty-six day delay between the two Gumdrop 3 launches was getting ready to launch.

We need to get our own launch complex, Captain David mused as he watched the launchpad crews frantically scurrying about to finish the last pre-launch operations.

The object which they were focusing their attention on was Thunderhead 1, the first in what would hopefully be a long line of space stations operated by the Rocketry Corps. It was merely a flight prototype to test engineering techniques, but its success -- or failure -- would be instrumental in the design of its eventual successors.

The first crew would have to wait to launch until after Gumdrop 3 had reached Minmus. This was the downside of sharing launch facilities with their civilian counterparts. But the advantages, especially in maintenance cost savings, were great enough that both of them were willing to put up with this relatively minor inconvenience. For the moment, at least. David suspected that General Dean would quickly become dissatisfied with the arrangement if their launch rates ever reached his desired goal of one a month.

"Hey! Be careful with that!" He shouted at two kerbals he had noticed roughly handling one of the launch umbilicals. Leaving further musing for later, he hurried over to where they were to scold them about safe handling procedures for fuel lines.

****

Commentary

I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, since it's largely a lot of nothing happening, but there's not really any other way I could show these things happening, since Gumdrop 3 is going to take up an entire post on its own, and that's only counting from the crew launch to the landing.

Still, next chapter will have quite a bit happening, as will the chapter after that. Let me just say this: Nothing ever goes exactly as you plan it.

GreenWolf · February 25, 2016

Chapter 9

Plum Full of Problems

****

The first problem occured only a few minutes into the launch.

"MECO!" Bill shouted, as the two gravities of acceleration pushing them towards space vanished.

"Staging." Valentina kept her view focused on the flight readouts in front of her.

"Explosive bolts are good. Separation is clean."

"Ignition!" The rocket started to lurch forward as the second stage fired.

It was at that point that something exploded.

"What was that?" Valentina asked, her hand frozen above the abort button. At this stage of flight it would do nothing for them.

"Not us," Bill said, checking his engineering console. "Looks like it was the interstage on the first stage."

"We blew it up?"

"Yeah. We were too close when we fired the second stage."

She frowned, remembering that Jeb had done the same thing on Gumdrop 2. She should have been more careful. "Any damage to the second stage?"

"Not that I can tell."

"Nothing to worry about then."

The rocket continued its ascent.

****

The second problem occurred during the Minmusian transfer burn.

"How are those engines?" Valentina asked.

"Running a bit hot, but temperature is holding steady," Bill replied. "Trans stage will burnout in thirty seconds."

Valentina frowned. They had more time than that left in the burn. "That leaves us short 200 meters per sec." She flicked on the radio. "CAPCOM, we don't have enough delta-v in the trans stage to finish the burn. I'm going to run the trans stage dry, decouple it, and then swing around to finish the burn with the service module."

"What?" This from both Bill and Gemcie, who were both now looking very alarmed.

<Val, are you insane?> Jeb asked.

"There's no way the service module has enough delta-v to do a direct abort at this stage. We'll finish the burn, swing past Minmus, and drop back down to Kerbin." As if on cue, the transfer stage cut-out the moment she finished speaking. "Bill, decouple the trans stage!"

The engineer flipped the switch on his console that would fire the explosive bolts. Four small pops resonated through the hull of the spacecraft, indicating that the bolts had fired.

That was when the third problem occurred.

"The trans stage isn't decoupling!" Bill shouted.

"Why not?"

"I don't know! The bolts fired, but it's still stuck to the Sugar Plum." He paused. "We're going to have to cut it loose."

Valentina frowned, thinking back to a moment several weeks ago. Thermal expansion of the interstage decouplers. "No. I have a better idea." Taking the controls, she started rotating the spacecraft back and forth.

"What are you doing?"

"Improvising."

With a scrape and a lurch, the transfer stage slid off the bottom of the Sugar Plum lander and tumbled away. Valentina gave a shout of triumph, then spun the entire spacecraft 180° around and fired up the service module engine.

They were going to Minmus one way or another.

****

"I've done the math, and we still have enough delta-v to finish the mission," Valentina said.

The other two kerbals looked at her in disbelief. The last two weeks had been spent in relative silence as they watched Minmus grow larger each day.

"I thought we had agreed on aborting the mission," Gemcie said.

"That was when we thought we weren't going to have enough delta-v," Valenina countered.

Bill held up a hand, stalling further argument. "How?"

"The lander. It has almost twice as much fuel as it needs to do a safe landing and take off. Same deal with the service module. If we siphon some of the lander's fuel, we'll have enough to do the insertion burn and the ejection burn, and still have enough to land."

"Those are our saftey margins," Bill said. "You want us to burn off all our safety margins."

"Not all of them. We can leave enough fuel in the service module to do the ejection burn before landing, and still have a few hundred meters per sec left in the lander." She looked between the two of them. "Well?"

Bill frowned. "I want to check your math first... but, if you're right... well, how could I pass up the chance to land on Minmus?"

The two of them looked to Gemcie. The scientist had never been to space before this mission, and had spent most of the flight in nervous silence. "Suppose you leave the service module with enough fuel to burn home. What happens if you're wrong about the lander? What if you're trapped on the surface? I can't fly the ship home by myself."

"You wouldn't be doing it yourself. You'd have everyone back on Kerbin guiding you through it. All you'd have to do is point prograde and burn when they tell you."

The other kerbal frowned anxiously. "I... alright. Let's do it."

Valentina smiled. "Minmus, here we come."

****

"CAPCOM, I'm beginning my spacewalk over to the Sugar Plum."

<Val, I'm going to tell you again, I really don't think this is a good idea.>

"Jeb, if you're gonna keep nagging me about this then put down the headset and get Orwig on the line."

She heard an exasperated sigh in response. <Alright. You're drifting away from the craft, make a correction burn.>

"Got it. Alright, I'm at the hatch. Starting the depressurization sequence."

<Yep, we see it. Good to know that the telemetry is working, at least.>

"Alright, I'm inside. Bringing the systems out of hibernation. Tell Bill to get over here, I need a second pair of hands."

<He's heading over now.>

A few minutes later, the hatch was pulled open again and Bill crawled inside. He climbed over to the engineering console and began flipping switches. "Getting some alarms over here. Apparently the Plum's not happy about us draining some of its fuel."

"Tell it to quit crying and get those engines prepped."

"Already on it." The next few minutes passed in silence as they worked to prepare the lander for descent. "Alright, system warmup is complete. Should I retract the docking latches?"

"Yeah, go ahead and do that now." She flipped on the lander's own comms. "Gumdrop 3, CAPCOM, this is Sugar Plum actual. We're about to undock and begin our descent."

****

"There is no greater endeavour than exploration. No sweeter victory than discovery. As I take the first steps upon the surface of Minmus, it is with the knowledge that I walk in the footsteps of all explorers who came before me, and the confidence that my feet shall not be the last on that path." – Valentina

****

Commentary

So it turns out I overengineered the service module and the lander, and underengineered the transfer stage. Whoops. Still, everything turned out okay in the end.

The Sugar Plum will be left in orbit of Minmus, so future missions won't need to carry a lander with them. Instead, I'll stick an RCS tank ontop of the transfer stage that can be used to refuel the lander out at Minmus, and to power some RCS thrusters on it. If I can dock the transfer stage and the Gumdrop before the Gumdrop discards its second stage, I can transfer the remaining fuel in it over to the transfer stage. Throw in a few tweaks to the Spearmint, and I think I can get the transfer stage into orbit with enough fuel to actually send the Gumdrop out to Minmus without the service module needing to fire. I might even be able to fit a small rover onto it to drop doen onto the surface.

I have named the landing site of Gumdrop 3 the Plains of Gently, after a friend of mine on IRC. At some point, I'll put together a map of Minmus showing the locations of all the landing sites and the names I've given to various terrain features.

Next up: More problems, and the Gumdrop 3 crew return home.

Mister Dilsby · February 25, 2016

Argh, this is the second time this week I found I inadvertently picked a name for a craft (Gumdrop) used in someone else's published space program. Sorry! As my penance I will now make sure to read through all of this excellent mission

GreenWolf · February 25, 2016

In all fairness, it is a pretty easy name to pick. I mean, even Apollo 9 called their CSM Gumdrop.

I suppose this does raise the question though: Why are so many spacecraft shaped like gumdrops?

Mister Dilsby · February 25, 2016

In my case it wasn't the shape, it was that the design was a little reminiscent, to me, of a @Cupcake... dropship (in being a monopropellant-only lander built compactly around a Mk2 inline cockpit) though very unlike a Cupcake design in execution (there not being a clean line on the whole thing). Hence "drop" for "dropship" and "gumdrop" for a sort of confectionary tribute to an inspirational designer

[AAR] By Their Bootstraps -- Chapter 9 "Plum Full of Problems" (Feb 25) -- In which plans for a Minmus landing go awry

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