Pale Green Dot : The story of the Planet Kerbin

[Third_OfFive]

  On 9/17/2016 at 5:29 PM, Galacticvoyager said:

Well, people seem to make similar stories like this into mission reports...

Expand  

But it isn't a mission report...

Well, I say that, but I don't really know what mission reports are. What makes a mission report different from a novel?

Edited September 17, 2016 by Third_OfFive

[Planetace]

  On 9/17/2016 at 5:31 PM, Third_OfFive said:

But it isn't a mission report...

Well, I say that, but I don' really know what mission reports are. What makes a mission report different from a novel?

Expand  

Well, they tell the story of someones save. This is technically telling the story of a save. But we will see how the admins see it..

[Red Iron Crown]

  On 9/17/2016 at 5:26 PM, Galacticvoyager said:

Can I mod move this to mission reports...

@Red Iron Crown where are you?

Expand  

Fine where it is.

[Planetace]

  On 9/17/2016 at 5:34 PM, Red Iron Crown said:

Fine where it is.

Expand  

Ok! Just needed the mods opinion!

[CalculusWarrior]

  On 9/17/2016 at 5:29 PM, Galacticvoyager said:

Well, people seem to make similar stories like this into mission reports...

Expand  

I write a similar styled story to this one and I have mine in the main Fan Works section as well. I've always thought of Mission Reports as summaries of single missions, not the multiple ones these novels wind up being.

I'm not a moderator, so ultimately my opinion is irrelevant, though.

[Third_OfFive]

I lied.

Here's the final part of chapter 1 (I changed the chapters so they were all parts of one chapter). I've also updated some of the images in previous parts to make them look better.

I probably won't be posting to this thread for a few months. My life has become rather cluttered, and I've started college, which is taking up far more of my time than I expected. And I'll need to wait for all of the mods I use to be updated for 1.2 anyway, so I might as well take a break. In my spare time I'll probably clean everything up and tweak the writing a bit, and make it into a PDF.

Hope you guys enjoy!

 

CHAPTER 1.4

  Reveal hidden contents

Chapter 1.4

 

UNKK: Presidential Residence, Kolus City

5220 YHD Day 40, 0:20 ST

 

“When was the plane last seen?”

The President walked into his spacious office, escorted by a troop of intelligence officers. Secret service agents quickly shut and locked the doors after everyone had filed in.

“The plane was last seen taking off from Khwana Air Force Base in South Agrolina, at 4:26 standard time.” said General Thompfel, a chief officer in the KIA “It was expected to land in Wakira at exactly 5:34 standard time, where it would refuel and fly over the northern ocean and back into Alliance territory. Obviously, that never happened.”

“So, was the pilot captured?”

“Hopefully not. The plane had a self-destruct system in place, so the pilot and the plane should be completely unrecoverable.”

“Well then why did you call me here in the first place?”

“We want to talk to you about the space program.” another officer chimed in “We’d like to put a satellite over Kolus, so we can see what’s going on.”

 

 

UFKR: Bealekor Kosmocentre

5220 YHD Day 41, 0:21 ST

At the Bealekor Kosmocentre, the Glaz was being secured into place on the launchpad. Yugo Kerman tagged along behind the Prime Minister, as they inspected the procedures for launch in action.

“Must we focus all of our resources on rocket construction?” Yugo protested “The Kosmocentre is a mess! Parts are everywhere, there’s no cleaning crew, and some of the buildings are practically coming apart at the seams!”

“That’s not my problem” the Prime Minister responded casually, ducking as a steel beam carried by two workers passed over him “If you want to organize your facilities, organize them. I’ve already done you a favor by granting you Fraumhault; now I expect you to give me results. The UNKK has recently challenged us to a race to the Mun; one that the Party intends to answer with full force.”

“But.. I… This… ” Yugo sighed. There was no way he could reason with the Prime Minister. He was in charge, after all. Bottling his frustration, he continued.

“May I at least ask what all of the extra soldiers are for?”

“That’s classified.”

“Of course it is.”

 

UFKR: Bealekor Kosmocentre

15 minutes later

“Liftoff!”

The familiar sound of rocket engines filled the complex, as the Glaz soared into the sky. Yugo watched with the Prime Minister from a distance as the launch took place. Yugo watched the rocket intently, contemplating the future of the space program. The rockets that he and his colleagues had worked so hard to make were now an icon around the world; a symbol of the UFKR’s superiority and of space travel itself. He had changed the world.

And yet, he couldn’t help but feel saddened by his current situation. As the rocket climbed further and further into the sky, he imagined a warhead placed on that rocket, and he began to feel that maybe he may have doomed the world, rather than saved it…

 

“Sir, I think we have a problem..”

Inside the mission control room, the flight commander looked with concern at his control console.

“What is it?” said the Flight Commander

“We’re listing.”

“Telemetry?”

“Confirmed, Glaz is drifting off course.”

A feeling of concern quickly swept over the control room.

“Can you fix it, flight?”

“I’m trying sir.” The flight officer began frantically typing commands into his keyboard.

“Acceleration decreasing. Glaz is losing thrust.” reported System Diagnostics.

Suddenly, the projector screen in the front of the room lit up with red warnings, and small console alarms began to go off.

“We’re tipping! Glaz is off course!” said the Flight Officer

“Engines have stopped responding!”

“Abort! Abort!” ordered the Flight Commander.

“Engines have shut down!”

“I’ve lost control, sir.”

“Glaz is decelerating.” said Telemetry.

“I’ve lost contact.”

 

 

 

UNKK: Kerbal Space Center

5220 YHD Day 48, 4:33 ST

“T-minus 5 minutes” declared the PA.

On the launchpad, the Liberty 1 stood, fueled and ready for takeoff. It was unlike anything the space program had ever seen before. Before this, liquid-fuel rockets had been little more than an experimental concept, which Wernher had toyed around with in his early days as a rocket scientist. Now, it was top-of-the-line rocket technology. If successful, this launch would blow all of the others completely out of the water; this was the UNKK’s (second) attempt to put a satellite into orbit.

From a distance, crowds of spectators watched in anticipation. Due to the growing infamy of the Astra, this particular launch had drawn a huge turnout; far larger than before. Live radio hosts spoke ecstatically into their microphones about the event, film crews set up their cameras wherever they were allowed, and reporters were everywhere. The whole complex was filled with feelings of hope and proud patriotism. Some people were even passing out little hand-held UNKK flags. The KSC was alive like never before.

 

“This is mission control. Reset for final transmission test.”

Gene Kerman sat back in his chair. The mission control room had become significantly more crowded, as more and more equipment was being crammed into the small room.

“All channels have been reset. All receiving.” reported the radio tracking officer.

“Please don’t explode.” Gene muttered to himself “Please don’t explode...”

 

 

“Ignition!”

With a sudden jolt, the Liberty roared to life. As fuel rushed through the engine valves and ignited in the combustion chamber, the engine emitted a great rumble that tore through the air. The shock drew many yelps from the audience.

The heavy clamps holding the rocket released, and Liberty slowly began to rise into the air. A huge cloud of dust kicked up around the launchpad, from which the rocket emerged seconds later, as it soared triumphantly into the sky.

“Gravity turn sequence complete” reported flight.

Gene let out a sigh of relief.

The mission control building was now completely silent. Unlike previous missions, this flight carried no instruments, other than a pre-programmed reaction wheel and a simple radio transmitter. Anything else would have added too much weight. All they could do now was wait, and hope for the faint radio signal that would confirm a successful launch.

 

The Liberty, of course, didn’t care. As it ascended further into the sky and out of detection range, it’s pre-programmed controls kept it on a steady course into orbit. Every last drop of fuel counted.

 

From a technical standpoint, the Liberty was far less impressive than the Astra. It was much smaller, lighter, and lacked the advanced rocketry and control systems in the rockets used by the UFKR. The UNKK was still a long way from matching their opponent in this respect, but necessity drove them to try. To the people of the UNKK (even the whole Alliance, in fact), Astra had become much more than a beeping hunk of metal falling around Kerbin. To them, it had become a symbol. A symbol of power, or more accurately overbearing dominance, of their most feared and hated adversary, the UFKR; a threat to democracy itself (Of course, the equally polarized communists of Kolus didn’t see it that way, but that never stopped the two sides from demonizing each other). In this sense, Liberty was very appropriately named, as it symbolized an act of defiance against this tyranny of the sky.

As the aerodynamic fairing separated from the rocket, and the explosive bolts holding the satellite fired, a new chapter in Kerbal history began.

Just as the Astra marked Kerbalkind’s ascension into the Space Age, so too did Liberty mark the end of the great cold war, and the start of a new, more exciting era in history.

Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep…

 

The Space Race had begun.

 

 

Edited November 7, 2016 by Third_OfFive

[Starslinger999]

  On 7/6/2016 at 7:24 PM, Third_OfFive said:

 

Expand  

XD Truly Kerbal launch.

 

Also i see now that u included a quote from Star Trek (2009) "Did you disengage the external inertial dampener?" Was said by Spock when the enterprise didn't jump to warp.

Edited October 10, 2016 by Starslinger999

[GERULA]

this story must be put in a movie, a Kerbal movie

p.s; where are the commercials in the news paper ?

 

[Third_OfFive]

Hi guys, I'm back.

Been doing some revisions during some of my free time, and I made a PDF that you can download from the first post. Be sure to check it out, as I will be making all of my revisions there.

I have a few vague ideas for chapter 2. Thanks for all the feed back

Edited November 7, 2016 by Third_OfFive

[Third_OfFive]

Ok guys, I need your help.

Chapter 2 is almost ready, but I need some feedback.

Should I do more political satire, or should I avoid it and focus more on the central plot? I need to know this moving forward as they will make for two very different stories.

Edited November 18, 2016 by Third_OfFive

[Wardstone111]

Personally I think that you should include politics directly related to the main launches but mostly focus on events at the space centre and the main plot.

[Third_OfFive]

 

Chapter 2 is here! :DD

  Reveal hidden contents

CHAPTER 2 : THE GREEN STUFF

 

UNKK: Kerbal Space Center

5220 YHD Day 413, 5:20 ST

“What do you mean ‘They aren’t cooperating’? You get down there and tell whoever is flying that plane that this is restricted airspace, and they can’t fly here!”

At the Kerbal Space Center, things were as busy as usual. Gene Kerman, the space program’s Flight Director, was frantically getting things in order for their latest rocket launch; the EyeSAT-4. Since the launch of the Liberty, the UNKK’s first orbital satellite, earlier that year, the space program had received a massive wave of support form the public. Consequently, they received a flood of donations, government grants, and contract offers from private interests. The space program now had more money than they knew what to do with. Everyone, from the media, to the military, to big aerospace corporations, wanted in on the work that the space program was doing. It was like a dream come true for the staff at KSC.

“T-minus 1 minute to launch” blared the PA.

The rocket design which had been used for the Liberty, now christened the LV-T1 OBM, had now become the staple rocket for the space program. With some help from aerospace contractors, the rockets were refined into a sturdy, mass-producible, and reliable design.

Recently, the space program had been contracted by the KIA to start the EyeSAT program; a series of highly classified satellite missions designed to take surveillance photographs from orbit. After the incident with Jebediah Kerman, the KIA had decided that spy planes were too hazardous, and that they would now rely on space for espionage. This required a great amount of secrecy at the KSC, unlike other missions, which made Gene even more anxious than usual.

“T-minus 10.. 9.. 8.. 7.. 6..”

Gene paced across the cramped mission control room. The building had been refitted with new, state-of-the art equipment, but that didn’t make it any less hectic. The din of switches and printer servos was now replaced with mechanical beeps and the frantic typing of keyboard keys. On the upside, the crew had gotten to know each other better. Bilford played cards, Gusbin liked tinkering with computers, Wernher was brilliant, but antisocial; and they were all massive geeks. A sense of community had grown among the KSC staff, a bond that served to further motivate them in their work.

 

UNKK: Kerbal Space Center

Several days earlier

 

“Gentlemen, I give you… Project Moho.”

 

President Dilfrod shifted uncomfortably in his seat. An image appeared on the projector screen in front of the small table at which the Administration staff, as well as many high ranking officers, were seated. The presenter, an ecstatic young officer, began droning on about the potential of the project, which only served to bore the President even more. The recent election had left him exhausted, both physically, mentally, and emotionally. Fortunately, a huge conservative wave at the polls had won him a second term in a landslide, but the campaign trail had been especially painful nonetheless. He was just glad for it to be over. Arms crossed, the President scanned the room. Very quickly, he couldn’t help but notice that, among the officers and senators that were crammed into the confined meeting room, were some rather familiar faces.

Lobbyists. Of course, why should he be surprised. He instantly recognized Thompfel Kerman, from GNP. Chad Kerman, from C7 Aerospace; Hanly Kerman, from Kerlington…

The President snapped his attention back to the presentation. He was getting off topic.

 

“… the goal is simple; send a Kerbal into orbit, and return them safely to Kerbin’s surface.”

This raised a few heads.

“We will start with the development of a capsule that can sustain a Kerbal for brief periods of time within the harsh vacuum of outer space. Werhner has been gracious enough to provide me and my team with some design concepts for the capsule, and he believes that we will be capable of designing such a capsule that is light and compact enough to be launched into space with our current rocket capabilities.”

“How much will this program cost?” Chimed in one of the officers.

“Funding-wise, we should be fine for now. The finances that are currently at our disposal should be more than enough to design and build the capsule. However, this plan only accounts for sub-orbital spaceflights. Orbital kerballed flights will require the development of a much more powerful rocket.”

“But for now we won’t worry about that.” added Mortimer Kerman, the space program’s financial advisor, apparently wanting to change the subject.

“Yes.. uh, thank you Mortimer. For now, we will focus our resources on developing the capsule, and on upgrading our facilities. A full list of planned expenditures can be found in the report..”

 

“One question?” everyone’s eyes turned as the President raised his hand.

“Uh, yes, Mr. President?”

“Who exactly will we be sending up?”

 

 

 

Republic of Wakira: Eastern Border

5220 YHD Day 417, 3:19 ST

In the eastern reaches of the Republic of Wakira, a small military patrol plane was conducting a final sweep along the heavily fortified eastern border, which separated the Alliance-sympathetic nation of Wakira from the UFKR satellite state of Enzira. The plane banked left, and began its final pass over the border, scanning for any movement or suspicious activity in the buffer zone.

“This is patrol plane Delta Bravo, conducting final sweep. Everything seems all clear, as usual.”

“Roger that, patrol plane Delta Bravo. Finish your sweep and head home.”

 

As the last golden rays of dusk streaked down through the mountains, something caught the pilot’s eye in the distance.

“Wait.. patrol plane Delta Bravo here, I think I see something.”

 

At the source of the flickering light, stood a small, hunched figure, holding a mirror in his hand. He wore a thick army trench-coat, and his head was wrapped in crude strips of cloth. As the plane approached, he waved a white sheet in the air, signaling his surrender.

 

It was Jebediah Kerman.

 

UFKR: Bealekor Kosmocentre

5220 YHD Day 418, 5:49 ST

On the launchpad at the Bealekor Kosmocentre, Yugo Kerman watched from the vehicle assembly complex as the Muna 1 prepared for launch. After much hard work and deliberation, this towering machine that now stood before them was the space program’s largest and most powerful rocket yet.

After the catastrophic failure of the Glaz earlier that year, the Party elite had decided to take the Fraumhault program more seriously. Now, Yugo and his team had more than enough funding to do their work. (Funding, in this context, meant more resources and manpower; money did not exist in the UFKR, it was a communist state, after all.) Their new, two-stage rocket design was sturdier, more reliable, and had a much higher payload capacity. The only downside was it was so incredibly tall that it barely fit out of the door of the VAB. Oh well, a project for another time.

The objective of Muna was ambitious indeed; send a small probe to fly by the Mun. Quite a risky, and expensive goal, but it would certainly impress Yugo’s superiors if successful. As the PA counted down the final moments to ignition, Yugo hoped it would all be worth it.

With a fiery blast, the engines fired, and Muna began it’s journey into deep space.

 

“Stage separation confirmed. Beginning transfer burn.”

“Stay on course, flight.” said the Flight Commander “We don’t want to screw this up.”

 

As the Muna ascended into the thin air of the upper atmosphere, the second stage booster performed admirably, hurling the small probe faster and faster up into the sky. Soon, the probe had built up enough speed to send it thousands of kilometers out into space. With the second stage spent, the probe detached, and the Muna’s precision monopropellant engine fired, in order to send it on just the right trajectory to (hopefully) pass through the Mun’s gravitational field.

Given the slight variability in the engine’s thrust, it was impossible to calculate exactly when and where the probe would encounter the Mun. A much more precise design would be needed for such a feat. However, it mattered little to the engineers at Bealekor whether Muna crashed into the Munar surface, or barely entered its SOI at all; all they wanted was to go near the Mun, and hopefully get some pictures of it.

Now that the final burn was complete, the probe was on a trajectory that would bring it close to the Mun. It would be many days before it reached the Mun, and many more before Bealekor would hear back from it again.

 

Escape trajectory out of the Mun

5220 YHD Day 419, 0:45 ST

Several hours later, in the silence of deep space, the small space probe began being drawn towards the barren rocky face of the Mun. With every second that passed, Muna continued to set the record for the longest distance ever traveled by a Kerbal-made object. As the Mun drew closer, an electronic timer went off, and the probe used the last of it’s RCS fuel to enter into a slow spin. The shutter covering the camera lens ejected, and it began taking photographs in slow succession, in an attempt to capture at least one good picture of the far side of the Mun.

 

click

 

click

 

 

click

 

 

Edited January 27, 2017 by Third_OfFive

[TheEpicSquared]

Awesome! 

[Third_OfFive]

Chapter 2.1 is finished. 2.2 on the way.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Chapter 2.1

UFKR: Bealekor Kosmocentre

5220 YHD Day 420, 0:05 ST

“Impressive work, Yugo.”

Yugo Kerman smiled beamingly as he read the newspaper headline. He knew the Party was impressed. Making the front page headline of the official state newspaper was a big deal. He sat down in his office chair, while the Prime Minister stood over him.

“This will certainly be a slap in the face to the UNKK. They challenged us to a race to the Mun, and here we are taking pictures of it! Hah!” the Prime Minister took a seat “And they haven’t even got a kerbal into space yet!”

Yugo couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement. Everything was turning around for him. And to think it was all because of a rocket failure..

“Oh, and that reminds me.” the Prime Minister continued “The Party has assigned you a new initiative.”

Ah, crap.

“Originally, it wasn’t planned to even start until the middle of next year. But, given the resounding success of Muna and your new rocket design, the Party has decided to accelerate the program. We’re calling it the Almach program.” He pulled a file folder from under his jacket.

“What’s the objective?”

“Simple.” He set the documents down on the desk “Send a pressurized capsule into orbit, and back down to the surface.”

“That’s… that’s hardly simple.”

“Well then, you’d better get to work.”

 

 

 

UNKK: Kerbal Space Center

5220 YHD Day 420, 4:35 ST

 

Wernher Von Kerman entered the enormous central assembly room of the VAB. The entire complex was bustling with activity, as scientists and engineering teams worked tirelessly to develop Project Moho. Several mock-ups for a capsule had already been thrown together in an attempt to build a solid prototype; all of which were rejected as too bulky, too flimsy, too heavy, or too dangerous. Despite the rigorous self-scrutiny, even Wernher was surprised by the breakneck speed at which the design was being refined. Throughout the VAB, large groups of scientists and engineers discussed argued amongst themselves about various design concepts and ideas. While there was some intermingling between groups, they tended to segregate themselves based off of which organization they worked for. Some worked for GNP, Kerlington, and other aerospace contractors, while others worked for a variety prestigious universities, or the Space Program itself.

 

In the center of the large room, a simple wooden mock-up capsule was being drafted for the final design. They appeared to have taken Wernher’s suggestions and settled on a cone-shaped capsule, and the engineers were now arguing with each other over what equipment could be crammed in there in order to make it work.

 

“This appears to be Kerlington’s bid for the contract.” said Werhner’s assistant, who followed him as he walked into the center of the room. “We want to subject it to standard hull stress testing once they have completed the model.”

“Good,” replied Wernher “Very good..”

 

 

 

 

 

 

UFKR: Bealekor Kosmocentre

5220 YHD Day 426, 0:07 ST

At Bealekor Kosmocentre, Yugo Kerman made his way through the energized crowd as they prepared to launch the first test of the Almach space capsule.

It had only taken Yugo and his team five days to put together a prototype for the Almach program, and slap it on top of a booster. The capsule design itself was based off of an old spherical cabin concept for deep sea submarines. A spherical shell constructed of lead-lined steel, and coated with heat-resistant plating made the capsule able to withstand the enormous pressure and g-forces associated with space travel, as well as protect any life-forms inside from the extreme temperatures and blasting solar radiation.

The initiation of the Almach program had given Yugo access to a wider variety of state resources: including laborers, materials, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, and a curious collection of ‘computer’ scientists, all of which Yugo used to their full extent.

 

“Liftoff!”

The rocket blasted off with considerable force, tilting slightly to bring it on to its orbital trajectory. Instruments inside the capsule recorded everything about the environment inside, to ensure that it remained habitable throughout the flight.

As the rocket carried the craft further and further into the sky, the automated control system performed better than expected, keeping the unmanned capsule on a precise and stable course into orbit. It performed so well, in fact, that there was no need for any piloting assistance from the ground. The on-board system corrected for every jolt and turbulence that was thrown at it.

The test capsule fired its last remaining rockets, bringing it into a precise sub-orbital trajectory. 30 minutes later, the capsule would re-enter the atmosphere, and land safely back to the surface, making the test a resounding success. In the meantime, the little capsule drifted calmly into the silence of outer space.

 

UFKR: Bealekor Kosmocentre

A few minutes later

 

A round of applause went through the Kosmocentre as the PA announced that the mission was a success. As the celebrations died down, the Prime Minister approached Yugo Kerman outside of the mission control building.

“Excellent work, Yugo. I am impressed.”

“Thank you, sir..” Yugo replied, somewhat off-put by the Prime Minister’s praise.

“I would like to discuss advancing the program further. Recent intelligence has informed us that the UNKK is developing their own kerballed spacecraft, and they are progressing with alarming speed. Your success over the past few weeks is crucial.

Yugo was taken aback by how much information the Prime Minister was openly sharing with him. It was a pleasant surprise. Perhaps he had finally gained the Prime Minister’s trust. This was good..

As the conversation continued, a young kerbal began to approach the pair.

“Ah yes, I almost forgot.” said the Prime Minister “Yugo, I think it’s time that I introduced you to our new test pilot.” They both turned to see who was approaching them.

 

“Meet Valentina Kerman.” he said “Our first Kosmonaut.”

 

 

 

 

[TheEpicSquared]

Awesome! Will you be following the real-life course of things or twist it around a bit?

  Reveal hidden contents

Will the russians be the first to the moon?  

 

[Third_OfFive]

  On 2/5/2017 at 8:15 PM, TheEpicSquared said:

Awesome! Will you be following the real-life course of things or twist it around a bit?

  Reveal hidden contents

Will the russians be the first to the moon?  

 

Expand  

All I will say is that I have a clear ending in mind.

[KSK]

The pace builds! Oh - and 10/10 for the newspaper headlines.  

[Starslinger999]

  On 2/5/2017 at 8:08 PM, Third_OfFive said:

Chapter 2.1 is finished. 2.2 on the way.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Chapter 2.1

UFKR: Bealekor Kosmocentre

5220 YHD Day 420, 0:05 ST

“Impressive work, Yugo.”

Yugo Kerman smiled beamingly as he read the newspaper headline. He knew the Party was impressed. Making the front page headline of the official state newspaper was a big deal. He sat down in his office chair, while the Prime Minister stood over him.

“This will certainly be a slap in the face to the UNKK. They challenged us to a race to the Mun, and here we are taking pictures of it! Hah!” the Prime Minister took a seat “And they haven’t even got a kerbal into space yet!”

Yugo couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement. Everything was turning around for him. And to think it was all because of a rocket failure..

“Oh, and that reminds me.” the Prime Minister continued “The Party has assigned you a new initiative.”

Ah, crap.

“Originally, it wasn’t planned to even start until the middle of next year. But, given the resounding success of Muna and your new rocket design, the Party has decided to accelerate the program. We’re calling it the Almach program.” He pulled a file folder from under his jacket.

“What’s the objective?”

“Simple.” He set the documents down on the desk “Send a pressurized capsule into orbit, and back down to the surface.”

“That’s… that’s hardly simple.”

“Well then, you’d better get to work.”

 

 

 

UNKK: Kerbal Space Center

5220 YHD Day 420, 4:35 ST

 

Wernher Von Kerman entered the enormous central assembly room of the VAB. The entire complex was bustling with activity, as scientists and engineering teams worked tirelessly to develop Project Moho. Several mock-ups for a capsule had already been thrown together in an attempt to build a solid prototype; all of which were rejected as too bulky, too flimsy, too heavy, or too dangerous. Despite the rigorous self-scrutiny, even Wernher was surprised by the breakneck speed at which the design was being refined. Throughout the VAB, large groups of scientists and engineers discussed argued amongst themselves about various design concepts and ideas. While there was some intermingling between groups, they tended to segregate themselves based off of which organization they worked for. Some worked for GNP, Kerlington, and other aerospace contractors, while others worked for a variety prestigious universities, or the Space Program itself.

 

In the center of the large room, a simple wooden mock-up capsule was being drafted for the final design. They appeared to have taken Wernher’s suggestions and settled on a cone-shaped capsule, and the engineers were now arguing with each other over what equipment could be crammed in there in order to make it work.

 

“This appears to be Kerlington’s bid for the contract.” said Werhner’s assistant, who followed him as he walked into the center of the room. “We want to subject it to standard hull stress testing once they have completed the model.”

“Good,” replied Wernher “Very good..”

 

 

 

 

 

 

UFKR: Bealekor Kosmocentre

5220 YHD Day 426, 0:07 ST

At Bealekor Kosmocentre, Yugo Kerman made his way through the energized crowd as they prepared to launch the first test of the Almach space capsule.

It had only taken Yugo and his team five days to put together a prototype for the Almach program, and slap it on top of a booster. The capsule design itself was based off of an old spherical cabin concept for deep sea submarines. A spherical shell constructed of lead-lined steel, and coated with heat-resistant plating made the capsule able to withstand the enormous pressure and g-forces associated with space travel, as well as protect any life-forms inside from the extreme temperatures and blasting solar radiation.

The initiation of the Almach program had given Yugo access to a wider variety of state resources: including laborers, materials, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, and a curious collection of ‘computer’ scientists, all of which Yugo used to their full extent.

 

“Liftoff!”

The rocket blasted off with considerable force, tilting slightly to bring it on to its orbital trajectory. Instruments inside the capsule recorded everything about the environment inside, to ensure that it remained habitable throughout the flight.

As the rocket carried the craft further and further into the sky, the automated control system performed better than expected, keeping the unmanned capsule on a precise and stable course into orbit. It performed so well, in fact, that there was no need for any piloting assistance from the ground. The on-board system corrected for every jolt and turbulence that was thrown at it.

The test capsule fired its last remaining rockets, bringing it into a precise sub-orbital trajectory. 30 minutes later, the capsule would re-enter the atmosphere, and land safely back to the surface, making the test a resounding success. In the meantime, the little capsule drifted calmly into the silence of outer space.

 

UFKR: Bealekor Kosmocentre

A few minutes later

 

A round of applause went through the Kosmocentre as the PA announced that the mission was a success. As the celebrations died down, the Prime Minister approached Yugo Kerman outside of the mission control building.

“Excellent work, Yugo. I am impressed.”

“Thank you, sir..” Yugo replied, somewhat off-put by the Prime Minister’s praise.

“I would like to discuss advancing the program further. Recent intelligence has informed us that the UNKK is developing their own kerballed spacecraft, and they are progressing with alarming speed. Your success over the past few weeks is crucial.

Yugo was taken aback by how much information the Prime Minister was openly sharing with him. It was a pleasant surprise. Perhaps he had finally gained the Prime Minister’s trust. This was good..

As the conversation continued, a young kerbal began to approach the pair.

“Ah yes, I almost forgot.” said the Prime Minister “Yugo, I think it’s time that I introduced you to our new test pilot.” They both turned to see who was approaching them.

 

“Meet Valentina Kerman.” he said “Our first Kosmonaut.”

 

 

 

 

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I knew Valentina was a Kosmonaut ALL ALONG!!!!!!!!

Well in real life Valentina Tereshkova (The person who Val was based on) was the first Female in space/First female Cosmonaut in space so I knew Val would have something to do with the UFKR. But maybe she might defect and join Jeb and dah Gang or something. Or maybe an inter-continental secret Relationship?? (Probably the second one) I really don't know at this point. All i have to go on at this point is that they fist bump in the 1.0 trailer so they do have some sort of relationship in game

                .          

[NISSKEPCSIM]

I took one look at this, and I'm hooked.

[Third_OfFive]

2.2 is here! Finally..

I had college stuff to attend to, so this chapter has been like a month in the making. I also moved everything over into a word document, so that took a little while as well. Enjoy.

  Reveal hidden contents

Chapter 2.2

In Flight over Western Wakira Ocean

Date and Time Classified

            Jebediah stared dreamily out of the window next to his seat. After all this time, he never thought he would fly again. Spending months in the UFKR as a fugitive, surviving in the wilderness and blending in with the local population, he found it surprisingly difficult to adjust back to life in the modern world. A hotel room, prepared food, reading in his native language, and even speaking in a normal tone of voice, all felt like distant memories to him. Despite this, however, he was still sane.

            Following the crash, Jeb spent the next several months trekking across the vast and sparsely populated tundra of northern Kolus (with a few hitch-hikes and stolen cars along the way), until he managed to sneak across the border into Enzira, and continued west, in disguise, to the border with Wakira. There, he managed to catch the attention of the border patrols, who took him in for questioning. He was brought to the capital, where the UNKK’s embassy took him in, and a few days later he was put on a private flight back to Alliance territory. Now, here he sat, aboard the ambassador’s escort plane, seated across from an agent, who was debriefing him on his current situation.

            “Your family has been notified that you are alive. However, under order of the Intelligence Agency, you are not to publicly discuss with anyone the circumstances surrounding your disappearance. Is that understood?”

            “Yeah...”

            “Do you have any questions you would like to ask me?”

            This surprised Jeb, for some reason. He paused a moment to think.

            “Will I be allowed to fly again?”

            The agent shuffled through some papers in his briefcase, which sat on the floor next to his seat. “Well, the program that you worked with has been cancelled; largely, in fact, due to your disappearance. The Intelligence Agency has decided that spy planes are now too risky to be used for espionage.”

            Well, crap. He was out of a job.

            “However” the agent continued “given that you have shown extreme resilience and adaptability in surviving for months in a hostile environment…” he produced a single document from his briefcase “The Intelligence Agency has offered to transfer you to a new program, where you will work as a test pilot.”

            Test pilot? That doesn’t sound very fun. “Test pilot for what, exactly?”

            “You haven’t been reading the news recently, have you?”

---

UFKR: Bealekor Kosmocentre

5221 YHD Day 25, 1:09 ST

            Mission control at Bealekor was filled with an aura that could only be described as surreal. Kosmonaut Valentina Kerman had just boarded the Almach 1, which was fully fueled and ready to launch. There was as much dread in the air as there was excitement; much was at stake, as with any launch, but never before had this included the life of a Kerbal.

            “Valentina, this is mission control, do you copy?”

            “Loud and clear, control!”

            “Copy. We’re performing a radio frequency check. Are all channels receiving?”

            “I think so. All of the little lights are on. Is that a good thing?”

            Yugo Kerman watched from a distance as the Almach prepared for launch. All around him, the hillside was peppered with spectators and photographers, eager to witness the launch. Him and his team had toiled over this spacecraft, fine-tuning everything to ensure that the capsule would perform exactly as expected. The party was, as always, rushing the program, pushing Yugo’s engineers to cut corners and complete the Almach as soon as possible. Thankfully, however, the fact that a Kerbal’s life hung in the balance was enough to convince the party elite to be somewhat reasonable, allowing the engineers some breathing room to test their designs for maximum reliability. Thus, everything was tested, checked, and re-checked, at every step of the assembly process. Critical systems had backups, and the backups had backups. Everything; absolutely everything, had to work perfectly, or a Kerbal would die. To Yugo, now, watching the rocket from a distance, it was like watching a play that had been rehearsed a thousand times, on opening night; except any mistake the actors made could lead to instant death.

 

Valentina Kerman sat comfortably inside the tiny capsule, waiting anxiously for the countdown to start. Despite the enormous risk she knew she was taking, she brushed the nervousness aside. These were the moments that she lived for.

“This is control. All systems are go. Beginning countdown.”

“Copy, control.”

“Oh, and Valentina?”

“Yes?”

“…Good luck.”

“Don’t worry about me, commander. Whatever happens, it will be for the glory of the motherland! Now, send me to space!”

“Copy. T-minus 10.. 9.. 8.. 7.. 6…”

“5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1…”

“Ignition!”

            Immediately, Valentina’s ears were filled with a deep, and loud rumble. The cabin shook violently, as the main engines roared to life with tremendous force. Seconds later, she heard a loud Ka-chunk! and was immediately pushed down into her seat as the rocket began to ascend.

            “Liftoff!”

 

 

 

“Pressure is 101.32 KPA, Temperature is at 13 degrees. Altitude is at 18 km and rising.”

The rocket tore through the sky, thundering into the heavens at break-neck speed. From the ground, mission control monitored the Almach’s condition closely, ready to abort at any second.

“Copy. First stage separation in T-minus 50 seconds. How are you doing, Valentina?”

            “I’m doing fine. Experiencing a considerable amount of… G-forces. Just trying to focus on breathing at the moment.”

            So far, everything was going perfectly. The Communications officer managed to get the live video feed to work, much to the delight of the spectators watching from above.

 

            “Engine burnout.”

            The first stage engines burned out the last of their fuel, offering Valentina a brief respite from the intense G-forces.

            “Stage separation in 3.. 2.. 1.. Mark.”

            Clunk!

            Immediately, the second stage engine fired, pushing Valentina back into her seat.

The rocket’s aerodynamic fairing deployed, revealing the small capsule in which Valentina sat. Inside the capsule, the rumbling of the second stage engine gradually faded into silence, replaced only by the gentle rattling of metal. The spacecraft’s automated control systems pitched the spacecraft down, guiding it into the exact trajectory needed.

The final stage separated with a loud ka-chunk!, followed by a short burst forward as the separation rockets fired.

“Final stage separation confirmed. Deploying comms array. Can you hear me, mission control?”

“Loud and clear, Valentina! How are you feeling?”

“I feel great control. Really glad to be not dead.”

            “That is good. Approaching 68 kilometers. Prepare for final insertion burn.”

            “Copy”

            The onboard navigation system adjusted the spacecraft’s orientation slightly. Valentina listened for the sound of the attitude control rockets firing, but they sounded faint, and distant. In fact, she heard almost… nothing. Barely a sound. Of all the things that Valentina had prepared herself for, she had never expected this; complete and utter silence.

            Valentina felt a brief jolt as the service module engine fired, giving the Almach one final boost into outer space. Once the final burn was complete, Valentina examined the controls. The flight had gone precisely as planned.

            “70 kilometers! Congratulations Valentina, you are the first Kerbal in space.” Cheering could be heard in the background on the radio, as the flight commander said this.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Valentina lifted her head, and took her first look out of the window.

            “I can see the ocean!” Valentina said into the radio.

            “Uh… Valentina could you repeat that please?”

            “I can see the ocean through my port-side window, down below. I can make out the clouds, they look so small from up here! I can see the curvature of the planet!”

            “That’s great. Can you tell us how you are feeling?”

            How typical of bureaucracy, always ruining the moment…

            “I feel fine, control. No Injuries. A bit flustered but in good shape. In fact, I feel kind of… light. Like I am floating in water.”

            “Yes, that is weightlessness. We expected that. It’s normal. How is the view?”

            “It’s unbelievable, control. Unbelievable.”

 

Edited June 19, 2017 by Third_OfFive

[Third_OfFive]

Chapter 2.3 is done. It's a bit on the short side, so I will probably update it later on. Hopefully I can speed things up now that I have more free time.

I have a lot of ideas and story to tell, any last suggestions, before I put it all on paper?

  Reveal hidden contents

Chapter 2.3

 

Suborbital Trajectory above Kerbin

5221 YHD Day 25, 1:25 ST

            In the dark and silent abyss of space, a small point of light drifted gracefully over the deep blue face of Kerbin.

“**C…trl ## Al..ma#h** Control to Almach, do you read?”

            As the spacecraft entered back into the light side of Kerbin, Valentina’s radio crackled to life.

            “Copy control, I read you.”

            “Copy that, good to hear you again, Valentina.”

            Valentina pressed into her seat, as the automatic control system began to fire the retrorockets to reorient the spacecraft.

            “We’re approaching the descent phase. Preparing for retro burn in T-minus 30 seconds…”

            The flimsy little capsule which had propelled Valentina into space had built up just enough speed, during ascent, to fling itself around the night side of Kerbin, and enter back into the atmosphere above UFKR territory.

“Ignition”

The small service module engine fired, causing the capsule to rattle faintly. The engine burned through the last of the capsule’s fuel, using every last puff to slow the capsule down as much as possible.

            “Engine burnout” reported Valentina.

            “Copy. Preparing for separation sequence in 3.. 2.. 1..”

            Klank!

            Suddenly, several lights on Valentina’s console went red.

            Beepbeepbeepbeepbeep!

            “Master alarm”

            “Copy, master alarm. Service stage has failed to detach. Almach has entered a lateral spin.”

            “Can you get it under control, flight?”

            “Negative. Control jets are no good, we’re out of fuel. Reaction wheels are not responding.”

           

The Almach was now descending dangerously fast towards the outer fringe of Kerbin’s atmosphere, spinning wildly. Small bits of debris were flung out from the damaged detachment ring.

“Sixty seconds to atmospheric reentry.”

Valentina struggled to sit up in her seat. Her vision began to blur.

“Fifty seconds.”

“I’m commencing manual override."

Ka-Chunk!

            Beepbeepbeepbeepbeep

            Oh, what now?

“I’ve successfully detached the descent stage. I’m also getting a low oxygen alarm.”

“Copy. How low, exactly?”

“It reads 5%. It just jumped down from 10%”

“Just.. try to keep calm, and breathe slowly, Valentina. We will be out of contact once you begin to enter the atmosphere. You should be on the ground in no less than ten minutes. Ten s##** #o ***nt##******”

“Control? Control, do you copy?”

The radio went to static. Valentina kept focused, and lined up the capsule as best she could for reentry. Hopefully the automatic system would take care of everything from here.

After a few moments of total silence, Valentina felt the capsule begin to wobble, then shake rapidly. The capsule was filled with sounds of rattling metal and a faint, low rumble. Outside the window, she started to see flickers of what looked like orange flame.

            The rumbling grew louder, and Valentina sank back into her seat due to the massive g-load. The Almach (or at least, what was left of it) was now screaming into the atmosphere at six times the speed of sound. The outer hull lit up like an ember. Virtually paralyzed by her own crushing weight, Valentina did the only thing she could. She sat still, focused on breathing, and waited.

 

 

 

---

UFKR: Somewhere in Western Kolus

8 minutes later

            With a sharp tug, the main parachute ripped the capsule out of its free fall. Outside her window, Valentina could see blue skies, and mountains in the distance. A faint hissing sound could be heard, as the capsule vented air into the cabin.

Thunk!

            The capsule planted itself firmly onto the ground, resulting in a considerable jolt that shook through the cabin. Fortunately, the fuselage took most of the shock, leaving Valentina unharmed.

            And just like that, it was over. The most momentous journey ever undertaken in the history of Kerbalkind, finished with the detaching of the space capsule’s parachute, and one kerbal sitting inside wondering how she was still alive.

 

 

---

UNKK: Kerbal Space Center

5221 YHD Day 25, 4:30 ST

            Newspaper in hand, Mortimer Kerman barged into the administration room, where the other administration staff, as well as the general, were present.

            “Sir! Sir! They’ve done it! They-“

            “We know. Sit down."

 

Edited May 21, 2017 by Third_OfFive

[TotallyNotHuman]

This might be a somewhat odd query, but is Bealekor Kosmocentre a reference to @Beale (of Tantares fame)?

I could've sworn that name looked familiar to me...

[Third_OfFive]

  On 5/18/2017 at 1:53 PM, TotallyNotHuman_ said:

This might be a somewhat odd query, but is Bealekor Kosmocentre a reference to @Beale (of Tantares fame)?

I could've sworn that name looked familiar to me...

Expand  

The launch site I used for the UFKR is one I made myself, based off of parts and textures that beale graciously gave to me. Hence, I named it after him.

They were old parts that beale had made for his own launch site, which can be found in this thread

Edited May 18, 2017 by Third_OfFive

[TotallyNotHuman]

Ahh, I see. I was mainly going for the naming aspect, but that's some interesting trivia.

[NISSKEPCSIM]

  On 5/17/2017 at 9:37 PM, Third_OfFive said:

Newspaper in hand, Mortimer Kerman barged into the administration room, where the other administration staff, as well as the general, were present.

            “Sir! Sir! They’ve done it! They-“

            “We know. Sit down."

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"They've got a man up there! It's Gagarin!"

"We know. Sitdown!" 

Edited May 21, 2017 by NISSKEPCSIM