The Adventures of the JSA (PART X)

[Johnster_Space_Program]

The Adventures Of JSA II (The Successor To The Adventures Of The JSA) Is Currently Being Worked On! View It Here: https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/195832-the-adventures-of-jsa-ii-the-return-prologue/ 

The Adventures of the JSA is a multi-part series about the more interesting and cool missions in a mission report/story telling style (with occasional dialog) of my modded career, called Johnster Space Agency (AKA JSA). From unlocking new and futuristic technology like Solar Sails and even FTL Drives to exploring new and unique planets and moons, I hope you will enjoy: The Adventures of the Johnster Space Agency.

 

Table of Contents
 

Spoiler

Part 1 - The Daring Mun Rescue (Y2, D109)

Part 2 - The Mun and Merone Station (Y2, D188)

Part 3 - Sheppont's Minty Adventure (Y2, D258)

Part 4 - Sailing On Sunlight (Y2, D???)

Part 5 - Krylon and Mios (Y2, D370 - Y2, D377)

Part 6 - Meril Station: The Final Days (Y2, D419 - Y3, D?)

Part 7 - Dresolith (Y3, D75)

Part 8 - Interplanetary Valentina (Y3, D97)

Part 9 - The First Tourists (Y3, D116)

Part 9½ - Valentina's Return (Y3, D152)

Part X (10) - Jebediah X (Y3, D163)

Part 11 - Coming Soon

Part 12 - ???

 

Modlist (For Those Interested)

Spoiler

 

• 000_ClickThroughBlocker (CTB)
• 001_ToolbarControl
• B9 Part Switch
• Community Resource Pack 
• Community Tech Tree (CTT)
• Dynamic Battery Storage
• EVE (Since Part 7)
• FTLDriveContinued
• Kerbal Construction Time (KCT)
• Kerbal Engineer
• Kopernicus
• MagiCore
• MechJeb 2
• ModularFlightIntegrator
• Near Future Electrical (NFE)
• NearFutureProps
• Near Future Solar (NFS)
• Near Future Spacecraft (NFS)
• PhotonSail
• Real Plume
• Real Plume-Stock
• Smoke Screen
• Stage Recovery
• Test Flight
• TriggerTech
• XPC Revived

 

JSA's Achievements So Far

Spoiler

 

• Station in Orbit Around The Mun
• Landed A Kerbal On Minmus And Returned Them Safely
• Rescued A Kerbal From Low Munar Orbit
• Successfully Tested A Solar Sail In LKO
• Sending A Probe To Jool (Currently In Transit To Jool)
• Sending A Probe To Mios (Currently In Transit To Mios)
• Sending A Probe to Dres (Currently In Transit to Dres)
• Rescuing A Lot of Kerbals
• Space Station in LKO
• Sending A Kerbal To Interplanetary Space And Back Safely

 

But anyways, I hope you enjoy, and have a good day!

 

Edited July 25, 2020 by Johnster_Space_Program
Added Text About Adventures Of JSA II

[KerballingSmasher]

I'm excited!

[Johnster_Space_Program]

PART 1 - The Daring Mun Rescue

Sheppont Kerman: Hello, can someone hear me?

JSA Mission Control: Yes, we can hear you. What's your problem?

Sheppont Kerman: You see, i'm kind of stuck in low munar orbit in a small capsule with no way to get back home. Can you help me?

JSA Mission Control: We see. Ok, we are sending a rescue mission now.

 

After recieving an SOS Signal from around the mun, a mission was assembled to rescue Sheppont Kerman. It would be piloted by Jedediah Kerman, the best pilot for the job. Even though the rocket looked small, it had more than 4000 m/s of Delta-V.

The launch went off smoothly, and no problems happened. 

Jebediah Kerman: JSA Mission Control, this is Jeb. I just want to say that this is a pretty smooth ride so far!

After reaching orbit, the Trans-Munar Injection happened shortly afterwards.

About halfway to The Mun, Jeb did an EVA to check all the systems and make sure they were working.

Jebediah Kerman: The view from up here is great! Kerbin looks nice from afar.

The Munar Insertion burn occurred on time, and put Jeb in a similar orbit to Sheppont's Scrap.

Not too long after, he was only a few kilometers away.

Sheppont was happy to be rescued, and thanked Jebediah as he got into the rescue craft.

Sheppont Kerman: Thanks for rescuing me Jebediah! I'm glad I don't have to be in that small capsule anymore.

Jebediah Kerman: Your welcome! How about we get home, and then you can join the JSA as an astronaut.

As the TKI (Trans-Kerbin Injection) Burn happened, they saw a nice kerbinrise.

A few hours later, they safely splashed down into the ocean.

Sheppont Kerman was now part of the JSA Astronaut Corp, and the JSA was given a good amount of funds for the rescue. Unlocking Solar/Photon Sail Technology would hopefully not be too far away now!

Edited August 5, 2019 by Johnster_Space_Program

[Johnster_Space_Program]

PART 2 - The Mun and Merone Station

After the successful rescue of Sheppont Kerman, JSA got a contract to construct a station around The Mun. While there was already a mun station, it was small and was really just 2 capsules stuck together with some solar panels. The new mun station would be called Merone Station, and some new rescued kerbalnauts were assigned to the mission.

It was a fine morning on the day of launch, and the crew was feeling good about it.

Hadster Kerman: I can't wait to lift off, this station is going to be good!

To protect it, the station was housed inside a fairing, which would be detached once a certain altitude was reached.

JSA Mission Control: 3... 2... 1... Liftoff! Liftoff of the Merone Station to The Mun!

Once high enough, the fairing was dropped and revealed the station (with docking ports on both sides, for future expansion).

After entering orbit, the crew prepared for and did the TMI Burn

Doodnand Kerman: Mission Control, the burn is going well!

After the burn, they checked to make sure they were on the right trajectory

The coast to The Mun was relatively uneventful, but the crew did enjoy the view of seeing kerbin shrink as they approached The Mun

One of them decided to do an EVA check and made some remarks about what they were seeing

Hadster Kerman: The view from up here is nice, everything on the station looks intact. As for kerbin, I can see the home continent where the JSC is!

A few hours later, the Munar Orbit Insertion (MOI) burn went without a hitch

As the station was put in its final orbit, a nearly circular one around 62km from The Mun, the contract was seen to be completed

JSA Mission Control: Good Job Team! The crew is planned to stay on the station for a while, and after that we will send a craft to bring them back and send a new crew out to take their place at Merone.

Jasen Kerman: Hey, I can see kerbin out the window!

Hadster Kerman: Man, that sure is a pretty kerbinrise.

Now with the Merone station in orbit around The Mun, JSA looked to see if anyone wanted them to build a kerbin station. And sure enough, there was one.

The contract was accepted and the construction of the kerbin station was started. There are also JSA plans to put a Kerbal on Minmus in the near future.

[Johnster_Space_Program]

PART 3 - Sheppont's Minty Adventure

The JSA was doing well so far. They had rescued someone from munar orbit and also put 2 space stations around The Mun. But it was time to start looking beyond The Mun, to the second, smaller moon of Kerbin, Minmus. The mission, codenamed "Minty Sheppont" would hopefully land the first kerbal on minmus and return them back to kerbin safely.

It was launch day. Sheppont Kerman got into the capsule, and prepared to lift off. If this mission was successful, solar sail technology could start being researched with the amount of science they would get from this mission. Sheppont Kerman was ready, and the countdown started.

JSA Mission Control: 5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1.. Liftoff!

Sheppont was pushed back into his seat as he felt the acceleration from the powerful engines. Booster separation was good, except one of the boosters didn't stop firing when it was supposed to and almost hit the rocket.

Several minutes later, Sheppont was in LKO and did an EVA to check and make sure everything was working.

JSA Mission Control: You are go for Trans-Minmus Burn.

Sheppont: Ok! Starting burn now!

JSA Mission Control: Ok, Trajectory is looking good. See you in a week or so.

Sheppont Kerman would not return to kerbin for some time, as it would take around 5 days to get to Minmus.

On the way out, Sheppont saw an interesting sight with The Mun and Kerbin.

On day 2 of the mission, Sheppont saw Minmus through the window for the first time

A few days later, he was approaching the minty moon

Shortly after entering Minmus SOI, Sheppont did another EVA to do a visual check on the spacecraft

Sheppont Kerman: Wow, Minmus is starting to get big, and I can make out some surface features

As he was going behind Minmus, the MOI burn was done

He completed the first part of the mission, doing an EVA in Orbit. Now, he would have to land and plant the flag.

The touchdown was successful, and some people in Mission Control even cheered after the landing.

Now, Sheppont would do an EVA, collect a surface sample, and plant the JSA flag into the surface. But first, he went over and looked at a nearby boulder.

On the way back to plant the flag though, he tripped on a rock and slid several hundred meters down a hill in the low gravity.

Sheppont Kerman: I don't like this, I just want to stop sliding!

When he finally got back to the lander, he planted the flag and decided he had spent enough time on the surface.

After reaching orbit, he did the TKI burn and a few days later prepared for re-entry

The re-entry was a little rough, but the ocean splashdown was a great conclusion to the mission

Sheppont Kerman was now seen as a hero throughout all of kerbin after the successful mission. With the new science gained, the JSA could finally start developing and experimenting with Solar Sails...

Also, it is said the JSA is planning to send probes on interplanetary missions and that some codenames for these possible missions have already starting appearing. One of the probes, codenamed "Green Jewel" is said to already be on its way to another planet, but it is unknown where it could be possibly heading at this time.

 

[Johnster_Space_Program]

PART 4 - Sailing On Sunlight

After finally unlocking solar sail technology, the JSA decided they would do a test flight with a solar sail and see how well it would do. Out of 3 possible solar sails they could currently test, they chose a gold photon sail, since it seemed it was the best one to test.

The Solar/Photon sail, codenamed Aliot, would be launched into LKO on a rocket. It would then deploy its sail and try raising its periapsis and apoapsis using just photons of sunlight from Kerbol.

The launch put the solar sail into a nearly circular orbit around 100km above Kerbin.

Now in Low Kerbin Orbit, the solar sail deployed its large gold sail and an attempt to raise its orbit began.

At first, not much happened. Then, it started accelerating fast. It was deorbiting itself and it looked like it was going to burn up in the atmosphere!

Then, it started accelerating again, but in the opposite direction and in less than a minute was past escape velocity.

It was now going to enter an eccentric solar orbit, which was at an angle from the rest of the Kerbol system

The test had proven successful, and showed that a solar sail could be used to quickly escape the kerbin system and enter into interplanetary space.

At the moment, this would be the closest JSA had to FTL Drive Travel, which was quite interesting. Further testing of solar sails might have to be done first though to see if it is possible for one to escape the Kerbol system entirely. Also, it has been confirmed that a probe codenamed "Green Jewel" is infact heading to another planet, which seems to be the gas giant Jool and its system of moons. 

[Johnster_Space_Program]

PART 5 - Krylon and Mios

With the successful solar sail test, JSA decided it was time to send out another interplanetary probe. A transfer window for Mios, a recently discovered ringed planet between Duna and Dres, was happening soon, and it was suggested to try and send something to explore the Mios system. In the end, the plan was this: Launch the Kerbin Station, and send a probe to Mios.

The station (named Krylon) was launched first, which had 2 recently recruited pilots onboard. Everything went fine, and the station was ready to be used.

Now it was time for the Mios probe to launch, which was named Almios.

The launch went fine, and after entering LKO, it was a few days of waiting before the time to transfer happened

The Trans-Mios Burn was planned, and the probe was put on a trajectory that would flyby the planet.

It wasn't close enough though, so a maneuver of around 14 m/s was planned in a few hundred days which would bring Almios much closer.

Now with a probe on its way to Mios and the Kerbin Station contract done, the JSA could focus more on other missions. The next interplanetary mission, which will be a probe to Dres, does not currently have a name. The JSA is currently allowing the public to submit a name for the probe, which you can do Here

[Johnster_Space_Program]

PART 6 - Meril Station: The Final Days

It was a rainy summer night. The JSA officials met in mission control to hold a press conference. At the conference, they were talking about the status of Meril Station, the first munar station launched over a year ago.

At the end of the conference, they decided the best course of action would be to finally de-orbit the aging station and crash it into the mun, making Merone Station the new station for munar operations.

When asked why by the public they were going to crash it, this was JSA's statement:

"The reason why we are crashing Meril Station into The Mun is for these reasons. First of all, the station is over a year old and in that time only one person stayed on the station. Second, the Merone Station is a big improvement from Meril and has some newer technology that Meril doesn't have, like retractable solar panels and bigger docking ports. Lastly, Meril Station is in an eccentric orbit that could possibly put it on a collision course with other spacecraft currently in munar orbit. In the next few days, the de-orbiter craft will be launched, and a few days after that, will be the End of Mission and Impact for Meril, putting an end to its service." - JSA Mission Control Manager

The following day, the plan for the course of action was revealed, and this is how the mission would go:

The de-orbiter craft was prepared, and a few days later launched towards the mun and a rendezvous and docking with Meril Station.

A mid-course correction was done during the TMC (Trans-Munar Coast) to correct the inclination

A few hours later, the spacecraft arrived and entered orbit around the mun

The rendezvous was carried out shortly after orbit insertion

A few days prior, the crew member onboard had been evacuated to Merone Station, and now Meril was empty

No problems happened during docking, and the lights were automatically turned on inside the station one last time

The de-orbit burn would put the station on a trajectory that would impact a large crater

After 396 days of elapsed mission time, Meril Station finally met its end with the de-orbit burn and impact into the crater

As the last images of Meril Station before impact came in, mission control felt nothing but feelings of sadness

With Meril Station having done outstanding work, it was sad to see it finally go. But it had paved the way to Merone Station, and without it, Krylon Station also would of not been constructed and launched. Also, some name submissions for the Dres Probe have started coming in, one of which is Regolith, another being Dresire.

What will happen next? Find out in part 7 of...

The Adventures of the Johnster Space Agency

[Johnster_Space_Program]

PART 7 - Dresolith

After the de-orbit of Meril Station, there was some good news. The Dres transfer window was happening, and it had already been chosen to send a probe to Dres.

After asking the public to choose a name for the probe, JSA chose the name "Regolith", which someone had submitted. Regolith was readied for launch.

It wasn't that cloudy when the launch happened, and if anyone is wondering why are there suddenly now clouds when there weren't any in the last part, its because I finally got EVE.

The orbit insertion was good, and everything was going to plan. The probe deployed its panels and antennas, and prepared for the TDB (Trans-Dres Burn)

The burn happened on time, and sent the probe on a trajectory that would bring it near Dres, but not encountering it.

A correction maneuver about 48 days after launch would bring Regolith to encounter Dres. 

Now with 3 probes on their ways to planets in the Kerbol System, JSA's exploration of the Kerbol system was going to plan. Over the next few hundred days, more probes will be launched to planets during transfer windows. JSA also might try and send a manned expedition to Duna, if the technology can be researched by the time the Duna window happens.

What will happen next? Find out in part 8 of...

The Adventures of Johnster Space Agency

[KerballingSmasher]

OOOOOh... who suggested "Regolith"? That's really good!

[Johnster_Space_Program]

PART 8 - Interplanetary Valentina

After sending out some interplanetary probes, JSA figured it was time to send a kerbal to interplanetary space and back, to prepare for a crewed mission to duna, which would spend many days in interplanetary space on its way to duna. Valentina Kerman would be the pilot for the mission, and a plan was made.

Like before, the launch went well and in a few minutes Valentina was in LKO.

The interplanetary return mission plan was this:

A burn would be done so the spacecraft would enter into interplanetary space, and after about a month or two, would return to Kerbin's SOI and re-enter the atmosphere, bringing Val safely back home.

The burn was successful, and Valentina would return after spending a long duration in interplanetary space. It would prepare future kerbals for even longer durations they would spend on the way to Duna, and as Valentina prepared to be the first kerbal to leave Kerbin's SOI, another planetary transfer window was coming up.

What will happen next? Find out in part 9 of...

The Adventures of Johnster Space Agency

[Johnster_Space_Program]

PART 9 - The First Tourists

Hello, there was something I wanted to talk with you about...

JSA Director: Yes, what's that?

You see, I like where the JSA is heading, but WE should start expanding out from where we currently are, by doing something new.

JSA Director: Ok, like what?

How about... Tourism?

After the contract had been signed, a rocket was prepared for the two tourists. They just wanted to go to LKO and back, which seemed like it would be easy enough. This mission would open the door to more tourists, and expand upon what JSA was currently doing.

It was another great launch, and some conversations were had between the eager tourists and the pilot.

Roddos Kerman: I've never flown on a rocket before, but I've always wanted to kerbin from space!

Saming Kerman: Yes, you will get to see kerbin from space soon. Just as soon as we get into orbit.

After reaching orbit, their Travel Itinerary's were checked, and the orbit around kerbin part of the contract was complete

Hadbal Kerman: Wow, this is a breathtaking view of kerbin, I've never seen it like this before!

Saming Kerman: Good to hear. Can any of you make out patterns in the clouds from this height? I'm going to just quickly go outside and take a look. Stay here.

Saming Kerman: Its too dark to make out any patterns of the clouds. I might as well just get back in and prepare for re-entry.

After taking a look outside, it was time to do the de-orbit burn. JSA monitored the burn closely, and not too long after, they were on their way home.

Through the heat of re-entry, the tourists had this to say about what they were seeing outside.

Roddos: Ooh, I can see a lot of sparks outside the capsule, I hope none of them hit us!

Hadbal: Looks pretty neat, its amazing how well that heat shield is doing at protecting us from being burned at 1000's of degrees.

After the re-entry, a recovery team was sent out with helicopters to recover the crew after they splashed down.

With the contract now complete, JSA was open to tourism! Hopefully some more tourists would want to go to LKO and back, and possibly even to The Mun or Minmus. As they celebrated the success of the mission, something else in the background was going on. Lets just say... Jeb "might" need some help.

What has happened to Jebediah? Find out in part 10 of...

The Adventures of Johnster Space Agency

 

[Johnster_Space_Program]

PART 9½ - Valentina's Return

After spending almost 2 months in space, and a month or so in interplanetary space, Valentina was finally returning to Kerbin. This mini-part documents her approach and splashdown on Kerbin after safely returning back home.

VALENTINA'S LOG: Day 50

"I have just recently entered Kerbin's SOI again after spending over a month in interplanetary space. Finally I had some time to stretch my legs and take an EVA outside the capsule to look at kerbin, which, even though it still looks quite small from this distance, I can tell it is getting bigger."

VALENTINA'S LOG: Day 53

"Each day kerbin grows larger in the window of my capsule. It now looks a few times bigger than it was in my previous log from Day 50. Now i'm starting to wonder, what has happened since I was gone? Has anything interesting happened?"

VALENTINA'S LOG: Day 55

"Today I saw something unique for the first time outside. It was The Mun rising from behind Kerbin. I guess I would call it, Munrise?"

VALENTINA'S LOG: Day 56

"Tomorrow is the day. Tomorrow is when I am finally going to re-enter and hopefully splashdown in the ocean. I had some time today during the preparations to look outside. Kerbin is now looming large in the sky, and I caught a glimpse of the home continent where KSC is all lit up during the night"

VALENTINA'S FINAL LOG: Day 57

"This will be my last log before I splashdown and get recovered. I'm writing this as I am re-entering the atmosphere. I just want to say... this sure has been one amazing journey, though I don't know if I want to do it again. I might just let others be the first on Duna, its ok if its not me."

JSA Mission Control: We have just lost contact with Valentina duing re-entry. The last thing we heard was that she was about to pass out from G-forces. I hope she can regain consciousness in time to deploy the chutes. 

As luck would have it, she was able to deploy the parachutes in time and had a nighttime splashdown that was not too rough near the KSC.

Now that Valentina had shown that a kerbal could enter interplanetary space, spend a long duration there, and return to kerbin, JSA was confident they could send a crewed mission to Duna and back. Also, an SOS signal from around Minmus was recently picked up saying: "Rescue Me Please!" which seems to be coming from Kurt Kerman. JSA will send a rescue mission for Kurt as soon as possible.

Edited August 11, 2019 by Johnster_Space_Program

[Johnster_Space_Program]

I hope you have been enjoying this series so far! I will try and make Part X (Part 10) something special, if possible.

[Johnster_Space_Program]

If Part 10 turns out good, I might let people decide what I should do in Part 11.

[Johnster_Space_Program]

For those wondering, I plan on releasing Part X tomorrow. I've already finished taking all the images for it, I just need to make the report of what happened.

[Johnster_Space_Program]

PART X - Jebediah X

After the success of Valentina's mission, JSA decided it was finally time to tell the world what had happened to Jebediah Kerman. Well doing a part recovery mission, it turns out that he forgot to check how much Delta-V he had and was now stranded in Kerbin Orbit.

As he was approaching periapsis, a mission was assembled to go and rescue him on the way out when he was at apoapsis. For now, Jeb could only wonder if he would finally be rescued after spending almost 140 days in space, a new record for time spent in space.

The rocket looked like an R-7. It was an robotic mission that would get Jeb at his apoapsis, or furthest point in orbit from kerbin.

The launch went well, and the boosters detached as they were supposed to.  

First, a large burn was done to change the inclination to match that of Jeb's Ship

Then, after reaching orbit, a maneuver was planned and executed that would bring the spacecraft close to Jeb's ship. 

Another maneuver that would take place 40 minutes later would be done to bring the spacecraft closer to Jeb.

As the spacecraft left LKO, some nice shots of kerbin were seen.

About 4 hours into the mission, it was approaching Jeb's spacecraft.

Jeb looked out his window and saw that the rescue spacecraft had arrived not soon after.

At first, it was thought that Jeb should EVA to the other craft, but in the end it was decided that due to extra fuel, and since Jeb had a claw, the spacecraft would "dock" with Jeb's craft and use its engines to put both vehicles on a sub-orbital trajectory.

The "docking" went successful, and the periapsis was lowered to below 70,000 meters.

In a few hours, Jebediah would be back home!

About 1000k from kerbin, it was decided to separate the service modules of each craft.

As he approached Kerbin, Jeb was getting excited to finally return home after 140 days!

The re-entry was rough, but it did survive the heat and flames.

A sigh of relief was had when the parachutes opened about 1000m above the water.

As a test, the other capsule was detatched and fell faster than Jeb's Pod was, even though it only had one parachute instead of 3. 

Both capsules successfully splashed down next to each other, and Jebediah was finally back!

With Jeb now back, a new plan could be started. It was codenamed D.E.M.A.L. and would be assembled over several launches in LKO, before being ejected in a burn to its destination. Some interesting transfer windows were coming up, and it was time to try and send a kerbal to another planet.

I hope you have enjoyed this special part, and I hope your also excited for what's next! But...

What will happen next? Find out in part 11 of...

The Adventures of Johnster Space Agency

[KerballingSmasher]

Niiiice... here, have some REP

[Johnster_Space_Program]

I plan on hopefully releasing Part 11 soon, still deciding what it should be about.