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

TheEpicSquared

By TheEpicSquared
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TopHeavy11

TopHeavy11

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On 9/13/2016 at 2:11 PM, TheEpicSquared said:

Unfortunately schoolwork has prevented me from getting any KSP screenshots done, so no updates today.

Wait...if KSP is teaching you rocket science...then isn't it technically school?

On 9/13/2016 at 2:11 PM, TheEpicSquared said:

We've broken the 2 page barrier!

Congrats! I'm glad your KSP story has come so far! I'm gonna go ahead and like every story comment on this thread as a gift to you!

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TheEpicSquared

TheEpicSquared

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CHAPTER 4: STATION SCIENCE

 

The StarDust station hadn't seen action in some time. That was about to change, with the addition of a new module: the science module.K55xuMc.png

It housed state-of-the-art science instruments designed for studying just about anything, from temperature to quantum fluctuations. It would be launched atop an SB-2 (Station Builder 2) rocket.Y2Zk4Vx.png

The fairing did look a bit odd, but since the payload was so thin, there was no reason to have a large fairing. It would only add unnecessary mass. When StarDust was in the correct place for a rendezvous, the rocket launched.Ee63YPX.png

The gravity turn went perfectly.xQ8NqsU.png

Stage separation was nominal and so was fairing deployment.CRpbID9.png

The rocket's computer also plotted a good rendezvous and guided itself in towards StarDust.WpbZoow.png

600m from the station, the science module detached from the second stage and docked. [Unfortunately I was so focused on docking with immense lag that I forgot to take screenshots. Whoops :P]. The station did look considerably better with the new module attached [You can see it at the top], especially with SpacePlane1 docked at the side.rQq33gY.png

Unforunately the crew currently at the station, Jebediah, Bill, Bob, Valentina and 2 others who's names have been forgotten, were not very good with science. That meant a new crew would have to be sent up using SpacePlane1, consisting solely of scientists (and maybe a pilot to control the spacecraft). Additionally, Dave Kerman, head of the IKSP, had issued a challenge. The expensive Vector engine on the main fuel tank should be recovered. He didn't care how, as long as the funds that the Vector used up were returned to him.

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Well, this chapter was shorter than I had hoped. I originally wanted to get the new crew up to the station AND start on the Duna Research Program, but today I was plagued with bugs, Krakens and phantom forces :mad:. Hopefully the bugs will subside and I'll be able to get more stuff done in future. 

Stay tuned! :) 

PS. By the way, I will stay on 1.1.3 until my most important mods update to 1.2, namely TweakScale, KJR, KER, RealPlume, SpaceY, SpaceY Expanded, Kerbal Krash System, SXT, Planetary Base Systems and quite a few others that I can't remember right now.

 

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TopHeavy11

TopHeavy11

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On 9/17/2016 at 9:37 AM, TheEpicSquared said:

2) rocket.Y2Zk4Vx.png

Did you really need that whole thing to launch a 2.5m payload? Forget 7.25m boosters! I've launched stuff like that with a 3.75m booster to a MUCH higher orbit than what your Stardust Station is positioned in! All in all, though, I like the sleekness of the design. 6/10

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TheEpicSquared

TheEpicSquared

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7 minutes ago, TopHeavy11 said:

Did you really need that whole thing to launch a 2.5m payload? Forget 7.25m boosters! I've launched stuff like that with a 3.75m booster to a MUCH higher orbit than what your Stardust Station is positioned in! All in all, though, I like the sleekness of the design. 6/10

Well, I have 3 rockets specifically for launching station components: the 3.75m SB-1, the 7.25m SB-2, and the SB-3, the three core version. SB-1 was too small for the job, so since I couldn't be bothered to build another rocket, I used a reliable booster that I knew would lift the module.

Also, I like over-eningeering things :P 

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TheEpicSquared

TheEpicSquared

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Update:

To make the transition to 1.2 easier and quicker, I'm going to introduce a plot twist. The next chapter (the last in 1.1.3) will include the launch of the reusable version of SP-1, but will unfortunately not see the beginning of the Duna Research Program. 

Also, since this series has been broadening out from just showing off big things, I'm considering changing the name of the series form KSP Megastructures to... something else. I don't know what yet :P 

If any of you have any ideas I would gladly appreciate them! 

Oh, and by the way, the next chapter should come out by Saturday or Sunday, providing that schoolwork (aka "the evil one") isn't too time-consuming. Let's see: science lab report, English essay, math test, French test, Swedish test, social studies test.... :P 

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TheEpicSquared

TheEpicSquared

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CHAPTER 5: THE END

With the science module securely attached to StarDust, it was time for a crew of 4 scientists, a pilot and an engineer to fly up there and do science. The crew, Expedition 2, were to fly the SP-1-R - the reusable version of the SP-1. The orange tank, along with the expensive Vector engine, were to be recovered on this mission.

As StarDust approached overhead, SP-1-R, carrying Expedition 2 of the StarDust station, lifted off.Lz3ah3s.png

As usual, the Vector operated at 50% thrust, allowing the two Kickback SRBs to do most of the work. Soon, the boosters ran out of propellant and were jettisoned, and the Vector engine throttled up to full power. F2iAYJz.png

The ascent went boringly to plan, and soon the craft's apoapsis was at the pre-planned 100km. It was time to jettison the booster. It would fall back to Kerbin and hopefully land upright, allowing recovery teams to pick it up and send it back to the KSC for the next mission. Meanwhile, the actual spaceplane would circularize its orbit.

The booster was jettisoned soon after the craft exited Kerbin's atmosphere. WBQCyXf.png

When the spaceplane hit apoapsis, it circularized normally. iCqEoCC.png

With the spaceplane safely in LKO, focus was switched back to the booster stage. It jettisoned its fins as they would only hinder the already dangerous reentry profile. C4VDk4F.png

The booster oriented itself skywards as superheated plasma enveloped it. XHLHuyD.png

The extensive amount of radiator panels somehow managed to keep the craft from overheating, and it pointed retrograde as it slowed down from near-orbital speeds to a more reasonable 250m/s. Of course, this drastic decrease in speed was due mostly to the Vector engine and not the atmosphere. As it ignited its engine for the last time, mission control prayed it would have enough fuel...ejMDt0H.png

The booster was slowing down, but would it slow down in time? cAOWxnc.png

The entire mission control erupted into cheers at once as the cameras showed the booster safely on the ground, its landing legs keeping it upright despite the slight slope. nN9JF8e.png

With the booster safely down, it was time for the spaceplane to rendezvous with the StarDust. But before mission control could issue an order, something terrible happened.

 

A kovernment kerbal had, under instructions by the Kerbin Military, infiltrated the space center as the booster landed, and had planted a small bomb, intended to destroy a portion of the space center. However, it ended up destroying much more than that.

The KSC's experimental hyperdrives had been stored underground directly below the bomb. When the bomb detonated, the vibrations disturbed the highly unstable experimental plasma fuels underneath the ground, which promptly detonated and started warping space and time in the underground facility. The resulting explosion wiped out the KSC in a matter of milliseconds. FZkkulK.png

But it didn't stop there. The simply huge power of the plasma fuel warping space and time meant that nothing could withstand the devastation.

Of course, the crew of Expedition 2 didn't know this. But onboard, the instruments went completely dead. Everything was black, the fuel readings messed up and the view out the windows went black. SVU8a5l.png

Slowly, the universe was being destroyed. Expedition 2 went first, then StarDust. Then the commsats in the Kerbin system. Chunks of the universe were disappearing, and with them the stars, planets and potentially life within them. In a matter of seconds, the entire universe was an endless, black void. black-screen.png

The Universe was no more.

 

 

END 1.1.3

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Edited by TheEpicSquared
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