Through the Prism - Chapter 5 - Nobody Home (In Progress)

[Torgo]

KSP decided to be unfriendly tonight, constantly loading the launch pad a meter higher than it should have been after I managed to get 1 page done... so here's 1 page. Hopefully more tomorrow if the scenery decides to load at ground level...

[Torgo]

Not quite a brick joke....

 

[Torgo]

And now the spine-tingling, skin crawling conclusion to Chapter 3...

Why use a MechJeb when you could use a RealKerb?

Chapter 4 will start rolling in next week. Too much stuff going on this weekend.

 

[Geschosskopf]

7 minutes ago, Torgo said:

Why use a MechJeb when you could use a RealKerb?

That's a question best left unasked

 

[Torgo]

On to chapter 4, where we may actually get to see our first live kerb fly. But first, as is needed by any government entity seeking public approval funds, it's time to meat the press.

But first, a sneak preview from the Kerbin Educational Computing Consortium's newest edutainment game, The Joolian Trail:

We already know that getting to Jool is no picnic. I'm sure this program will benefit many young, budding mission planners, though. And onto the press conference...

Lots of cameos at today's press conference. Who knew Kerbin had so many reporters? I'm guessing most people will get all but one of them. The one hard one is from a sci-fi story from back in the early 70s that isn't available today in ebook format, and to my knowledge has never been made into a film.  

[Geschosskopf]

1 hour ago, Torgo said:

Lots of cameos at today's press conference. Who knew Kerbin had so many reporters? I'm guessing most people will get all but one of them. The one hard one is from a sci-fi story from back in the early 70s that isn't available today in ebook format, and to my knowledge has never been made into a film.  

Hmm, you've got Captain Marvel, Citizen Kane, Superman, and the X Files.  That just leaves Steve Martin, but I know that guy from his many appearances in the 70s and 80s  .  

 

[Torgo]

2 hours ago, Geschosskopf said:

Hmm, you've got Captain Marvel, Citizen Kane, Superman, and the X Files.  That just leaves Steve Martin, but I know that guy from his many appearances in the 70s and 80s  .  

 

I dropped a hint on his page, but I'm warning you that it's super obscure. 

I'm starting to regret not rolling with the most famous journalist in the universe, though, a mister Ford P. of the Galactic Guidebook something or other. I guess he could always show up in the post-flight press briefing, though.  

[The Optimist]

50 minutes ago, Torgo said:

I dropped a hint on his page, but I'm warning you that it's super obscure. 

I'm starting to regret not rolling with the most famous journalist in the universe, though, a mister Ford P. of the Galactic Guidebook something or other. I guess he could always show up in the post-flight press briefing, though.  

Please do!

[Torgo]

And now we go live to the launch pad...

 

 

 

Hoping to add the images from the actual flight later on tonight. Assuming it didn't go boom, of course. 

[Torgo]

And now, an actual, honest to goodness mission. The very first mission of the very fledgling Kerbal Flight Program (because space isn't even a glimmer in anyone's eye yet), featuring the very highest tech this kerbal society has to offer: The helium balloon, the parachute and the seat belt. 

When we last saw Jeb, he was pressing the button marked 'Inflate', because this is something only he, a pilot, can do. Once airborne, he has one other button to press, the one that says 'deflate'. The program will need more pilots like him, that is, if he survives this trip into the lower atmosphere.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Geschosskopf]

That's the most well-written 1st flight story I've read in a while

 

[Torgo]

15 hours ago, Geschosskopf said:

That's the most well-written 1st flight story I've read in a while

 

Saying thank you doesn't seem nearly adequate. I've read so many great stories by so many creators in here. I wanted to try a direction that I hadn't seen before. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

But you don't yet know if Jeb. Jr. survives this flight, or lands with his gondola. If he should make it intact, then he has to run the gauntlet of media jackals, which would strike fear into the stoutest of hearts. I'll post the next section later this afternoon. 

My Kerb timeline (and I'll do some more exposition on this in the next chapter) is roughly comparable to the 19th century on earth, though that's just a rough comparison as they have recently been introduced to newer technologies like automobiles, computers and television. They are incredibly adaptable, though, and learn new technologies at an astonishing rate. I've been trying to research the history of introductions of new technologies to a society to get some grounding on how things tend to play out. 

And to resolve the riddle from the earlier press conference, Steve Martin was a journalist in the novel The Throne of Saturn, which was written in the very early 70s with the space race continuing and turning very ugly as the US and USSR attempted to reach Mars. 

If the story itself wasn't so dark and filled with forum landmines, it would make a great KSP mission report series. And Mods, if such a title should not be linked here, please feel free to remove the link.

[Torgo]

So on to the descent portion of our story, which isn't as long as the ascent because gravity likes to help.

 

 

 

Poor Jeb. No mysterious disappearance for him. Not even anything out of the ordinary. But then, he wasn't the first kerbal to go up, so why would there be?

Coming tomorrow, media jackals rampage, Jeb answers tough questions (like "How can you drink that Green Steer stuff?"), and Bill goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on about the balloon. 

[Geschosskopf]

10 hours ago, Torgo said:

 I've read so many great stories 

Glad I'm off the hook there  .  

 

10 hours ago, Torgo said:

My Kerb timeline (and I'll do some more exposition on this in the next chapter) is roughly comparable to the 19th century on earth,

Yes, the high point of human civilization IMHO.. Folks today keep worrying about civilization crashing, conceitedly failing to realize that 100 years ago this very day, civilization was actively cratering at Verdun, the Somme, and in what are today Italy, Ukraine and Poland.  Folks like to think the Dark Ages started in the AD 400s with end of the Western Roman Empire (forgetting that the Eastern Roman Empire lasted another millennium).  And that was just one empire falling.  In 1914-1918, THREE empires fell immediately, 2 more were mortally wounded and died soon after, and the various barbarian tribes have been squabbling like over their carcasses like vultures ever since.  That was truly the end of the world, a civilization that had endured for at least 5, maybe up to 10, centuries, depending on how you count.  So to all the doomsayers out there, get over it.  Civilization has ALREADY crashed and we're in the early part of the ensuing Dark Age.  Things are going to suck for another few centuries, if history is any guide.

 

10 hours ago, Torgo said:

And to resolve the riddle from the earlier press conference, Steve Martin was a journalist in the novel The Throne of Saturn, which was written in the very early 70s with the space race continuing and turning very ugly as the US and USSR attempted to reach Mars. 

Hmm, that is obscure because that was back in the day when I read a lot of SF.  I'll have to check it out.  Thanks.  But at least I got the right name, if not the specific person it was attached to

 

3 hours ago, Torgo said:

Coming tomorrow, media jackals rampage, Jeb answers tough questions (like "How can you drink that Green Steer stuff?"), and Bill goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on about the balloon. 

I'm not a fan of Red Bull as a beverage myself.  I'm a traditionalist, preferring coffee and whiskey .  But I admit I like their commercials and some of the things they sponsor.

[Wildcat111]

Thats one small step for a kerbal, one giant leap for Kerbalkind!

[Torgo]

So this is just a week or so late... but I've been suffering some severe writer's block. It's worse than my college creative writing class when I had to come up with a sequel to my first story, "Brainy Smurf: Son of Satan."  This past week, it felt like my brain ate a steady diet of cheese, unripened bananas and red meat, and washed it down with 5 gallon jugs of milk... and no amount of mental prune juice was working. I even broke out my DVD of the 80's version of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to try to break the logjam...

But now, finally free... the boring, waaaay too much talking conclusion of Chapter 4... seriously, if you are having trouble sleeping, these next 8 slides are like 8,000 sheep. 

Chapter 5 has much more action... and is already written, so all I need to do is get some screenshots. 

 

[Torgo]

On to Chapter 5, which would have been here much sooner if stupid things like life didn't get in the way. 

On the bright side, though, my 5 year old son built, launched into space and safely recovered his first rocket, totally outside the tutorial structure and with no adult help. That's not to say there was lots of trial and error leading up to it, and he still has a bit of trouble getting to actual orbit, but it was a wonderful milestone. He was playing KSP on the PS4, and now flies his rockets much better on that platform than I can. 

In chapter 5, we head back out into the inky void of space, where we join the Andromeda on its way back to Earth, a little crispy but intact. Some things may have changed, though...

Dave's in there, too, and he also looks like a kerbalized human. So our heroes know that something is different about themselves, but they can't figure it out. They look normal to each other, like they have always looked to each other. Now if they can only manage to land this can in mostly one piece, they may get to meet some new friends.. or not. There are a lot of things that live in Florida that can kill you, assuming you make it through the sky in one piece. 

[Geschosskopf]

Stranger and stranger.  Can't wait to see more.

[Just Jim]

On 8/14/2016 at 10:51 PM, Torgo said:

Dave's in there, too, and he also looks like a kerbalized human. So our heroes know that something is different about themselves, but they can't figure it out. They look normal to each other, like they have always looked to each other. Now if they can only manage to land this can in mostly one piece, they may get to meet some new friends.. or not. There are a lot of things that live in Florida that can kill you, assuming you make it through the sky in one piece. 

Hehehe..... yeah.  With my luck, they'll land in my backyard!  

[Torgo]

11 minutes ago, Just Jim said:

Hehehe..... yeah.  With my luck, they'll land in my backyard!  

Spoiler

Just hope you don't get a capsule-sized skylight punched through your roof!

Hoping to get the rest of the chapter done tonight. 

[Torgo]

And it's time for a little atmospheric interface....

 

[Just Jim]

OK, that was too funny!  And thankfully no-one landed on my roof... lol   

Edited August 21, 2016 by Just Jim

[Torgo]

2 hours ago, Just Jim said:

OK, that was too funny!  And thankfully no-one landed on my roof... lol   

I swear to everyone this was not a plant or a setup... but it did make me get the next two slides ready early....

No, Jim, it wasn't your house. It may have been Bob's house, though. I'm glad nobody was home. 

[Wildcat111]

On 2016-08-20 at 9:45 PM, Torgo said:

No, Jim, it wasn't your house. It may have been Bob's house, though. I'm glad nobody was home. 

HAHAHA

[Torgo]

I apologize for the lack of updates lately. I'm away at a poker tournament (conveniently scheduled around my cousin's wedding), and I'm in the middle of developing a presentation that my 5 year old and I will be giving later in the month on Astronomy for Kids, so that's sucked away most of my free time. At least I'm going to get to work some Kerbals into the presentation, since astronomy is a gateway drug to rocket science. 

By the end of this month, the aliens will finally interact with the natives.