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Through Hardships to the Stars [Chapter 32 - Something Big II]

TheEpicSquared

By TheEpicSquared
in KSP1 Mission Reports

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FL-T400

FL-T400

Posted
Posted

The Koverment is very impressed with your minar landing, and they have decided they will consider re-directing funds towards your space program in the near future(though they have unrealistic expectations). They would like to see space for themselves. 

your mission:

launch 20 tourists into space and have them all get together on an orbiting vessel, if they pass out from g-force you will not receive your bonus (but if they pass out from alcohol consumption, no worries(if they didn't just drink all your fuel)) 

Hartfield must be on board for a meet-and-greet

advance: rep:20

completion: funds[an amount that fits the storyline]

 

 

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KAL 9000

KAL 9000

Posted
Posted (edited)
16 hours ago, FL-T400 said:

-snippety snip-

He's in Sandbox mode :) 

Also, we have as many funds as we need, considering we're in a mad dash to evacuate Kerbalkind to Duna to save everyone from a gamma-ray burst impacting Kerbin. 

---

CLASSIFIED LOG

SECURITY CLEARANCE REQUIRED: LEVEL TRIPLE ALPHA 

LOCATION: TOP SECRET JAI EVIL FORTRESS CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS, DEEP INSIDE MOUNT WHOOPSTOOSHORT, MOUNTAIN RANGE WEST OF KSC, KERBIN

TIMESTAMP: A FEW HOURS AGO (FROM THE TIME OF THIS POST)

"Sir, urgent news!" An intern ran up to KAL. 

"What is it, Jonbald?" 

"As you know, we secretly hack every ship and probe in the Kerbol system so that we also have the science and data they've gathered."

"If that wasn't exposition, I'd cut your salary in half for informing me of something I already know." 

"I don't make a salary, sir. I'm an intern, I just get college credit." 

"Continue." 

"Oh, right. Anyway, recent data from Bigby Solar Observatory's secondary observations of the origin point of the gamma-ray burst indicates that the gamma-ray burst is closer than we thought! We've got a third of the time we thought we had!" 

"Have you confirmed this data?" 

"Yes, sir. I doubt KSC knows yet, though." 

"Drat! Jonbald, tell all the ITS workers that I'm doubling their shifts and approving overtime." 

"Yes, sir." 

"Greenbro, cook those books! We can't lose money by approving overtime for saving Kerbalkind!" 

"Yes, sir!" The other intern hastily shoved revenue books into the oven. 

"Genefred, get Hartfield on a secure channel!" 

"Yes, sir!" The third intern hastily set up KerbTime. 

Hartfield's face appeared on the giant plasma-screen monitor on the front wall. 

"Hey, KAL. What is it?" 

"Hartfield, I've got bad news..."

Edited by KAL 9000
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TheEpicSquared

TheEpicSquared

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Posted

Hey everyone, I decided to start a side project along with this one. It can be found here:

Note that this will NOT affect Through Hardships to the Stars at all. I'll still be releasing chapters (semi)regularly, and chapter 31 is still scheduled for next weekend. Anyhow, check that thread out if you want! :) 

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TheEpicSquared

TheEpicSquared

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CHAPTER 31: SOMETHING BIG

 

Following the successful maiden launch (and landing) of the Reusable Space Tourism Vehicle (RSTV), the KSP was eager to start commercial operations. The PR section had been quick to let the media in on this new way to space, and a mind-boggling amount of kerbals had applied for the first commercial launch of the RSTV.

The first five customers were Antop, Eily, Munner, Doly and Kaly Kerman. After enduring several days of training, they were finally ready for their ride into space. The KSP had gotten a huge amount of money, with each customer paying 50,000 kerbucks. This cost would eventually drop as more people signed up for the ride.

The five intrepid space tourists boarded the vehicle inside the VAB.ArfQa5Y.png

The RSTV was then rolled out to the launchpad, as usual.bEhny5v.png

Launch occurred soon after. The five tourists were beginning the ride of their lives.bmSKCyc.png

The Vector exhaust plume became nearly invisible as the rocket rose through 11 kilometers.Q3VNnKI.png

The target apoapsis of 106 kilometers was reached one minute and 15 seconds into flight. Rufroca.png

The capsule promptly separated, as planned. The passengers felt a slight jolt as the docking mechanism released the booster.VXIxUU8.png

At this altitude, the seat belt sign was turned off and everyone inside hurriedly unfastened themselves, enjoying the freedom of microgravity for as long as they could.

The capsule soared through the Kerman Line.rXXFxWU.png

The bluish structures, called "nebulae", according to the scientists, were eerily pretty out the window. BcdOGv9.png

The booster could be seen floating beneath the capsule.5DV3a2M.png

Eventually, apoapsis was reached, three minutes and 31 seconds into flight.2NScFCH.png

The passengers all strapped themselves back in at 65 kilometers and the grid fins deployed to keep the capsule steady.KEz8xPc.png

Reentry offered some high g-forces, but the training meant that the descent was still a piece of cake for the kerbals inside.NsfOgFT.png

Then, an alarm went off.5ExPy27.png

Apparently a grid fin was stuck. Luckily, they were only used to stabilize the craft during the most stressfull part of reentry, and with that over, the grid fins didn't do much anyways.XUkNebU.png

Everyone was nervous as the craft fell. Would the engines safely land the capsule?

With a jolt, the engines ignited, instantly slowing down the craft.oG8x2Fs.png

oIliOlW.png

Then the legs deployed. The emergency abort system was still active. At the slightest indication of a failure, the parachutes would deploy.

Luckily, everything was going well so far.uNZ4wQ7.png

The automated throttle system on the capsule was doing wonders, and the capsule was descending at a stable rate.EIV6K5R.png

The spacecraft neared the ground...BTpN40O.png

And then, with the ever-so-slight jolt of the landing legs absorbing an impact, the capsule was safely on the ground.uip6FGw.png

The engines shut down and the komputer automatically started safing all the systems on board. The passengers had just experienced the ride of their lives.

Meanwhile, the Booster Recovery team at mission control started prepping the booster for landing as soon as separation occurred. 

The grid fins were deployed at 63 kilometers.Z3IVvNj.png

Reentry was a lot more stressing on the booster, because of the additional mass.pPGV6wB.png

At 2.6 kilometers, the Vector started up, putting immense loads on the tank. It was clearly weakening, but wasn't breaking.i0ONl9z.png

So far so good.

The landing legs deployed at 1 kilometer above the surface. The rocket was still plummeting to the ground at over three quarters of the speed of sound. Would it make it?S3fsoBa.png

The Vector increased power to full throttle, rapidly slowing the craft down. However, it was still experiencing large g-forces.4p689rF.png

Finally, the rocket slowed down enough for g-forces to back to normal. The booster was now descending at a steady 16 m/s.GGgNTUL.png

The booster neared the surface.JH5JZol.png

And then it landed.qiExybS.png

Dust was still visible in the air, as it had been thrown around by the Vector exhaust.

The booster looked surprisingly intact, despite the hot reentry and the high g-forces. Perhaps it wouldn't be as hard to reuse as previously thought.YQDUMcN.png

The booster and capsule had landed within a few meters of each other. This was a textbook mission, and Hardfield had no issues whatsoever with filing it under the "successful missions" section of the log. Recovery teams were sent out immediately, for both the booster and the capsule.bkbGQT7.png

6tkItEU.png

***

 

Meanwhile, the Tracking Station guys had discovered that a less-than-optimal Jool transfer window had opened. Preliminary calculations showed that if launched within a few days, a Jool probe could conduct flybys of both Vall and Laythe before entering Jool orbit.

So a spacecraft was designed. It consisted of a Vall lander, named the Vall Stationary Explorer:hnjaZqc.png

And a Laythe lander, the Laythe Stationary Explorer:aLLBkey.png

These two landers didn't sport many science instruments, as the whole project was an experiment. Therefore, the KSP didn't want to use an overly huge amount of money that could be a complete waste.

The two landers were attached to an orbiter, called the Jool Explorer:JPSDvRs.png

The Jool Explorer spacecraft was powered by two RTGs, and its propulsion system consisted of a single "Dawn" ion thruster. The Dawn was chosen because it was efficient enough to conduct multiple burns, so it could conduct scientific flybys of Jool's moons several times before running out of propellant. 

Speaking of science, the Jool Explorer was fitted with considerably more scientific instruments compared to the landers, because the potential scientific bounty out at Jool orbit was so much more than on the surface of one of its moons.

Due to its mass and its destination, The Jool Explorer spacecraft + lander combo needed to be launched by a Kerbol 1.aRmTb5c.png

wYKIAAP.png

The mighty rocket, which had taken kerbals to the Mun, was rolled out to the launchpad over the duration of several hours.h98N9Z8.png

Then, the center Ratite, and the four surrounding Vectors, ignited, easing the giant contraption off the pad.UwcXQlr.png

Press cameras captured astounding images of launch.DbXcecG.png

Helicopter chase cams also got wonderful views of the ascending rocket.ndwWWGF.png

The gravity turn was going well.gE6HZwi.png

aJHdjBJ.png

Some seconds later, the first stage separated and the second stage Rhino ignited.AmyFsAD.png

eAJbOJk.png

Fairing separation was successful.cOWWOSD.png

Soon, orbit was reached, fairly monotonously. 

As planned, the transfer maneuver did include a Vall and Laythe encounter.gbcgHYU.png

The second stage started the burn.5IaSxBO.png

It ran out of propellant before completing the transfer, so the ion engine on the spacecraft continued.GHZ6m9v.png

gMrmERv.png

The burn was completed successfully, resulting in first a Vall flyby 850 kilometers above the surface (the Vall lander would be detached some time before closest approach), and then a Laythe flyby with a periapsis of 60 kilometers, just 10 kilometers above Laythe's atmosphere (the Laythe lander would use the atmosphere to aerobrake, before landing on the second pass.p8TjOUJ.png

The first part of this mission was complete.

***

With two successful missions, Hardfield should have been able to relax.

But he couldn't. Something was bugging him. The Hybridium had said "something big" was coming. Hardfield couldn't stop fretting about this. What could it be? He hadn't told Caldos about it, for whatever reason.

However, nothing much had happened. He was beginning to wonder if it had all been a bluff.

A frantic knock at his office door snapped Hardfield out of his thoughts.

"Come in!"

"Sir, you've got to see this, sir!" Lodfurt exclaimed. Without waiting for a response, he slapped a picture onto Hardfield's desk.OEPA6KB.png

"What is it, Lodfurt? I don't see anything unusual."

Lodfurt pointed to the outermost ring. "We just picked up this... thing with the Kerbol Space Telescope. It's clearly some type of celestial body..."

"An asteroid?" Hardfield asked.

"No, it's much too massive. We have no idea what it is! We can only assume it's a rogue planet of some sort, that made its way into our system."

Just then, an intern bolted into Hardfield's office. "Mr Lodfurt, more images just came in!" Trembling a little, the intern continued, "I think you'll want to see these... they just came in from the Kerbol Space Telescope..."

Another picture was put on the desk.pPzeZDz.png

"By SQUAD... it's..."

"Oh, Hardfield... you have no idea what you just got yourself into..."

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greenTurtle1134

greenTurtle1134

Posted
Posted
On 4/2/2017 at 3:40 PM, The Raging Sandwich said:

Yay, Kargantua!

Before people suggest that Kargantua could be the cause of the gamma-ray burst - no. No. We settled that the gamma ray burst was predicted by someone observing an unstable blue giant. The supernova happened several billion years ago, and will happen in a few years on our light-cone. The gamma wavefront is still barreling toward Kerbin from a few light-years out. Besides, a hypernova at Kargantua's orbit would probably destroy every planet in the system.

Mystery not solved. Kargantua might gravitationally distort the pulse, though...

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KAL 9000

KAL 9000

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Posted
9 minutes ago, greenTurtle1134 said:

Before people suggest that Kargantua could be the cause of the gamma-ray burst - no. No. We settled that the gamma ray burst was predicted by someone observing an unstable blue giant. The supernova happened several billion years ago, and will happen in a few years on our light-cone. The gamma wavefront is still barreling toward Kerbin from a few light-years out. Besides, a hypernova at Kargantua's orbit would probably destroy every planet in the system.

Mystery not solved. Kargantua might gravitationally distort the pulse, though...

And if it gets close, it'll eat everything.

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