Permadeath Space Program

[Xenonclave]

 

I've always wanted to write up some mission reports, and I feel since it's now summer (woohoo!) and seeing as I'm an unemployed student (awww) I might as well spend the time I'm wasting of my life doing this! To freshen up the Kerbal experience I'm using ResearchBodies as well as (as of right now) the Outer Planets Mod and my own Planet Collection (I've spent so much time making these planets, but never gotten to them legitimately). I am however going for a really stock feel with this.

 

Most importantly, as a sort of personal challenge, I will not be quickloading or reverting flights in this playthrough, meaning that Kerbals are going to die a lot.

 

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Career mode - Normal difficulty

Visual Mods - PlanetShine + Distant Object Enhancement 

ResearchBodies - Only Kerbin and the Mun unlocked from the beginning

Planet mods - My Planet Collection, Outer Planets Mod

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Part I, Pros and Cons

*Note to self: Do not send Kerbals into space before looking over the rocket for more than 3 seconds.

 

Things went fine for the first launch, when valiant Valentina became the first Kerbal to leave the ground (apart from like, you know, jumping) in the first rocket in Kerbal history, riding aboard the Petit Mk I.

The design of the Petit Mk I has its pros and cons

Pros: Cheap, can fly

Cons: After reaching the apex of its trajectory, tends to dart straight down. Also partially explodes on landing.

The important part is, Valentina's flight yeilded valuable scientific information, which Wernher von Kerman tells me can be used to improve our rocket designs (how that makes any sense, I have no idea).

This data lead to the creation of the Gros Mk I, a larger cousin of the Petit featuring two stages and an experiment bay.

Jebediahs flight was meant to only reach the upper atmosphere, but unbeknownst to me the Gros is in fact capable of reaching space, thus making Jeb not only the first Kerman to go to outer space, but the first to go there by accident.

Of course, those aren't the only firsts Jeb set today. You see, the Gros also has a few pros and cons.

Pros: Can make orbit!

Cons: I might have maybe (just maybe) forgot to add a heat shield.

Coupled with the accidental suborbital flight and well...

Jeb also became the first Kerbal to die in space.

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Part 2, Accident™

Spoiler

Wernher von Kerman lead our engineering teams into making a terrific new advancement in rocket design, using some of the data Jeb was able to transmit back before his... accident.

Our current, two part plan is:

1) Immorally attempt to prevent news reports concerning Jeb's... Accident™.

2) Quickly do something good in order to have positive media attention, like actually returning a live Kerbal from space.

Thus we have Valentina in the newly upgraded Gros Mk II about to embark on a hopefully not perilous journey.

The Mk II features a more streamlined design, a heat shield, a drogue chute for added safety and a compartment for storing extra science instruments.

It is also incredibly poorly balanced.

Regardless, abandoning a mission is not an option here! Money is tight, after all, so Val had to find a way out of the spin and get herself back on track.

Now I'll admit, I totally expected her to die (which would have really been a shame, 3 flights and no pilots left) but the drogue chute really helped, if I'm honest (she was coming in ridiculously fast, it's hard to plan a shallow sub-orbit with solid fuel engines).

Following Val's successful mission bringing in a lot of scientific data, and in light of Jeb's Accident™, I'm going to be focusing on some unmanned missions for a while now

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Like I said before, it's my first time writing up mission reports, so please leave feedback! Thanks for reading, I'll post another part soon.

Edited June 1, 2016 by Xenonclave

[CAKE99]

R.I.P. (Rest In Pizza) Jeb.

What are your planets like?

[Xenonclave]

8 hours ago, CAKE99 said:

R.I.P. (Rest In Pizza) Jeb.

What are your planets like?

They're in my signature

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Part 2, Accident™

Wernher von Kerman lead our engineering teams into making a terrific new advancement in rocket design, using some of the data Jeb was able to transmit back before his... accident.

Our current, two part plan is:

1) Immorally attempt to prevent news reports concerning Jeb's... Accident™.

2) Quickly do something good in order to have positive media attention, like actually returning a live Kerbal from space.

Thus we have Valentina in the newly upgraded Gros Mk II about to embark on a hopefully not perilous journey.

The Mk II features a more streamlined design, a heat shield, a drogue chute for added safety and a compartment for storing extra science instruments.

It is also incredibly poorly balanced.

Regardless, abandoning a mission is not an option here! Money is tight, after all, so Val had to find a way out of the spin and get herself back on track.

Now I'll admit, I totally expected her to die (which would have really been a shame, 3 flights and no pilots left) but the drogue chute really helped, if I'm honest (she was coming in ridiculously fast, it's hard to plan a shallow sub-orbit with solid fuel engines).

Following Val's successful mission bringing in a lot of scientific data, and in light of Jeb's Accident™, I'm going to be focusing on some unmanned missions for a while now.

Edited June 1, 2016 by Xenonclave