The Saga of Melp Base

[Whirligig Girl]

Back in March, while playtesting my Whirligig World planet mod, I had a bit of adventure. This is the story of that adventure, retold to the best of my recollection, with the help of the discord chatlogs I made during that playthrough. Please note that the Kerbmun terrain shown here is old, Kerbmun looks almost nothing like this anymore.

PROLOGUE

The Mesbin System. Mesbin has a mass of 71 Kerbins, and spins once every 1701 seconds for an equatorial gravity of 1.28 gee. Kerbmun orbits around three Munar distances out and has a mass of 1 Kerbin. Kerbmun atmospheric pressure is identical to Kerbin, though oxygen is only roughly 1/4th of Kerbin's. Troymin is in a trojan orbit permanently 60 degrees ahead of Kerbmun in its orbit. Every 14 of Mesbin's rotation periods is a "fortnight" and is approximately as long as a Kerbin day.

By this point in the Mesbin Space Program, several re-usable spacecrafts were in semi-regular use in the Mesbin System. The Troymin/Kerbmun fuel tanker was launched from Mesbin to Troymin, and brings four medium size-5 tanks of fuel (minus a bit for manuevering) to a Kerbmun space station.

Troymin Fuel Truck approaching the tiny satellite.

The fuel truck would carry fuel to the KerbMun Orbital Station (KMOS)

Which at this point was quite simple, just a few habitats, a laboratory, and five docking ports.

The Trans-Kerbmun Orbital Shuttle (TKOS) ferries up to nine Kerbals between Low Mesbin Orbit (or the Mesbin Low Orbit Space Station/ MLOSS) and the KMOS.

That orange-tanked NTR ship was the return section of a Graymun expedition that had some leftover fuel. I figured it might come in handy some day and so kept it attached to the LMOSS.

Aerobraking was necessary for the ship to work.

Getting between Mesbin's surface and Low Mesbin Orbit is done with the Mesbin Space Shuttle. Here it is, landed at home.

It can be used in single-stage-refueled-at-station mode or lifted into space on a booster. The general mission plan for exploration missions was that instead of the exploration ships and ferry ships carrying a return pod (which is fine when the air can slow you down, less so when you have to spare 2 km/s to slow down), they would simply park in Mesbin orbit, and would either catch orbital ferries down to low orbit (or if delta-v allows, park in low orbit) and then the crew would be taken down by these space shuttles.

After a successful but uneventful robotic mission to the asteroid 1 Vizea, the space program needed something really exciting. They had planned only to start exploring Kerbmun when the space station was complete and when there was a better understanding of winged aerodynamics, but they figured an ol' fashioned Flags And Footprints mission would tide the public over.

Part One: Launch and Landing of the Kerbmun Lander

The entire lander craft was the conical section at the front, which the engineers calculated would have enough delta-v combined with the engines chosen to launch from Kerbmun and enter orbit, where the crew would be taken to the KMOS and eventually ride home on a TKOS. After a near miss with the tiny low-orbiting Statmun, the crew burned their rocket towards Kerbmun. Our brave Kerbonauts: Valentina, Bob, and Virmund, were on their way.

After several aerobraking passes, among which we got a really good look at the highlands of Kerbmun, the spacecraft entered orbit.

The spacecraft's engines were hidden away by the heatshield, and would only be usable after it was detached.

Unfortunately the drag-to-weight ratio was not properly calculated--Mesbin engineers of course do not have much experience with atmospheric aerospace.

The spacecraft splashed down hard into the ocean. (Yes they're floating above the water disregard this please) Only the command pod survived.

Valentina tried to radio for help, but received no signal. Upon further inspection, it would seem that the only long-range transmitter was on the part of the ship that exploded. The astronauts were not only stranded at sea, but they were lost, unable to contact home!

What will our intrepid Kerbonauts do? What will happen to the Mesbin Space Program? Find out in the next thrilling part!

Edited August 8, 2019 by GregroxMun

[Johnster_Space_Program]

I'm liking this so far! I wonder what will happen to them in part 2. Keep it up.

[Whirligig Girl]

Part Two: Press Conference

Bahlee Kerman stepped up to the microphone in front of an audience of journalists filling the press room at the Mesbin Space Administration Office.

"Good evening everyone," she said, looking down at her papers, and back at the audience. A lone photo-flash went off. "Well, let me cut straight to the chase. The Kerbmun Lander 1 spacecraft has been lost with all hands in the ocean of Kerbmun. After an anomaly during the parachute deployment, the spacecraft crashed into the seas east of the intended landing site, and we lost contact with the vehicle."

Every photographer in the room began snapping photos and asking questions--"Are you certain the crew is lost?" "what caused the parachute error?" "Is the space program going to be shut down."

Bahlee held her hand up. "Calm down ladies and gentlemen," she said, shifting her notes.

"The site has been observed both with ground-based telescopes and with the photography equipment aboard the Kerb-Mun Orbital Station, and we have determined beyond any reasonable doubt that the spacecraft has been destroyed completely by the landing. The space program will be actively looking into the cause of the parachute failure, and rest assured that the lives of these brave astronauts will not be lost in vain. We will learn from these mistakes, and we will make sure this tragedy never occurs again."

Bahlee answered some more questions, before leaving the podium and walking out of the room. She slumped down into her chair in the PR office. "That was a damn nightmare," she said.

 

The space program was under heavy fire from the government. The budget for the Trans-Kerbmun Infrastructure Program was slashed in half, and it seemed like the KMOSS would never be expanded.

 

Part Three: Captain's Driftwood, err... somethingorother.

Bob took a swim, before realizing that land was far too distant to make a swim for it. Atmospheric composition turned out to be grim, with only 5% oxygen in the atmosphere, less than a quarter of what Kerbals need to survive.

Several munths later...

Captain's Log, Fortnight 92. We have grown sick and tired of our daily meal of starfish. We're running chemical tests on some of the other species that swarms around these parts. Our makeshift water filter keeps breaking down. Virmund has suggested fashioning rainwater bags out of the command module upholstery.

Captain's Log, Fortnight 96. I've been hard at work knitting together a sail from the parachutes. We can see land again near the horizon and we'd really rather like to try to sail towards it.

Captain's Log, Fortnight 101. Five days in the making and the sail is finally complete. Let's hope this "wind" thing can carry us to shore where we can set up camp.

Captain's Log, Fortnight 102. Five days in the making and the sail is completely ruined. Last night a rainstorm hit hard, and the leak in the command module let some water onto the control panel. The RCS thrusters ignited, and the rigging for the sails ignited. We have another two parachutes, this can not happen again

Captain's Log, Fortnight 103. We've plugged the RCS nozzles with non-flammable foam and sealant. We're not willing to vent the propellant, it may come in handy later. Our first attempts at sailing were nearly met with disaster as the wind nearly blew over the spacecraft--or as it must now be officially known--the seacraft. After righting the Command Module, we tried re-attaching the sails at various different positions before we found one that worked nice enough. It took us several hours attempting to figure out how to control the seacraft's direction before we managed to get it going in roughly the right direction. The land is beyond the horizon now but we know from astronomy that we have not drifted far since then. Virmund and Bob were working to try to boost the power of our space suit radios to reach the KMOS, before they burned out the circuitry. It'll take them a month to rebuild it.

My loggy-doo, fortine a hunnerd and for. Things are great but we feel a lil bit sick but its fine because we are plenty of sleeping.

Captain's Log, Fortnight 105. Our oxygen compressor masks broke. Proof that Kerbmun's atmosphere, even at sea level, does not contain enough oxygen to keep us lucid. Bob had been spending the day in his space suit, diving for fish, when he came back and realized what had happen. He locked the door and pressurized the pod with oxygen, and managed to fix our oxygen masks before we did anything stupid.

Bob's Log, Fortnight 105. Diving in a space suit is fun. Just like the sims back home!

Captain's Log, Fortnight 105, Supplemental. Bob made the "just like the sims" joke for what must be the 700th time and if he does it again he'll be diving without his suit.

Will our intrepid seafarers find shore? Will I post as rapidly a second time? Who knoooooowwwwwssssss?

 

Edited August 8, 2019 by GregroxMun

[Whirligig Girl]

Part four: Landing on Kerbmun.

Valentina on Fortnight 245. Vessel Mover was used to "simulate" the ship sailing...

Part five: Sonsby Saves

Sonsby Kerman was taking some photos of Kerbmun from the cupola in the KMOS--alone, since the space center didn't have the budget to send a pet rat up to the station, let alone a full crew.

"Hey uh, Mesbin Space Center?"

"What is it Sonsby?"

"I think I uh... I think I found something you're gonna want to see."

"Out with it man."

"So I was uh, I was using the new telephoto camera out the Cupola and--"

"What?!"

"For Tyepolbynar's sake, be patient! I found something in the sand near the site where the Kerbmun Lander was lost"

"You found... what did you find?"

"I'm faxing it to you now."

"Hey uh Sonsby..."
"Yeah?"
"What the heck is that?"
"It's uh... hold on let me send you a cropped version at a higher detail."

At the Mesbin Mission Control center, the words "holy mulch," "what the heck," and "oh my god" were exclaimed many times by many kerbals.

"Hey uh, Sonsby..."
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
"But what does 'Melp' mean?"

It took some time to figure out what had happened there. They knew that it was near the coast that Kerbmun Lander 1 had been aiming for, and they could even see a little dot on the shore--just big enough to be a command module and a parachute flapping in the wind. The massive message--the word "help" must have taken a long time.

The Mesbin Space Center senior staff hold a meeting.
 
"Alright ladies and gentlemen. We have a situation on our hands," said Director Hubert Alfonso Kermanov II, "I assume you've all been briefed on the [REDACTED]ING... HELP" message observed on Kerbmun? The rest of the staff nodded.
 
The chief rocket scientist, Billybobdin Kerman, chirped up: "Aye, we got a big job ahead of us."
 
Hubert stood up and said, sternly, "I need options, people!"
 
"I wonder if the crew of the station could signal Melp-Base," said the Chief of Ops, Annie Lan Mesman, "Somehow reflect sunlight down there during an opportune pass."
 
"They'd have to know that the crew of the base are watching," said Billybobdin.
 
Mandrake sat up, followed swiftly by Rutherford, "The station would be quite obvious going overhead."
 
Rutherford continued, "Right, if they did it pass after pass, eventually they'd see it."
 
Mandrake, "They could use the solar panels on the station. Rotate them and signal in morse using reflected sunlight."
 
Rutherford: "That's uh, if they're watching, of course."
 
Mandrake: "You know we would if we were up there."
 
Bahlee Kerman, laying back in her chair and with her legs on the table, spoke up, "by now they're probably flipping off the station every night when it goes overhead."
 
"You know I would if I were there," said the Operations officer, Annie Lan Mesman.
 
"You forget, Rutherford. The solar power module hasn't been launched yet due to the mission hold," said Hubert.
 
"The fuel truck's still up there. Maybe they could use those solar panels," said Billybobdin.
 
Mandrake: "Put the fuel truck in a low orbit, send it rotating regularly."
 
"That's good thinking," said Hubert, "I want a plan for communicating with them ASAP."
 
"Failing that, something could be re-entered directly overhead, although that might be received poorly," suggested Billybobdin, "Oh hey look, Rescue! Oh no, it exploded! In fact nevermind, this is a bad idea."
 
"We should send down a radio transmitter," said Annie, "Something uncrewed, cheap. Just enough to get them in contact. We can try those other plans while we put together the robotic lander."
 
Rutherford: "I dunno maybe they could pulse their RCS thrusters to talk back?"
 
Billybobdin: "They wouldn't have enough propellant and it wouldn't be bright enough to see anyway, hell, we don't even know if they have working RCS."
 
Bahlee: "Well they've found plenty enough rocks to write with anyway so..."
 
Hubert: "How are you going to spin this, PR-wise?"
 
Bahlee stared out blankly across the room and held her hands out, gesturing an arch, "FIRST COLONY ESTABLISHED AHEAD OF SCHEDULE."
 
Hubert: "Well, it does seem a little risky to outright say 'we're going to rescue them.'"

The Mesbin Space Center held another press conference.

This image, proof of the survival of the crew, was released. Within a few hours, the space program's funding was doubled twice.

Of course, the full-sized image couldn't be broadcast to the public... It was rather... strongly worded. I'm not sure the mods would let me show the image... PM me if you're curious...

 

How will the Kerbals be contacted? What will become of MELP base? Is "flipping off" too vulgar a reference for the forum? Find out in the next thrilling adventure in the Saga of Melp Base!

Edited August 8, 2019 by GregroxMun

[Whirligig Girl]

Part Six: Moving Mass to Melp

The VAB crew got to work assembling a few Kerbal Attachment System packages to tide the Kerbals over until a rescue ship could be launched. It would also contain equipment to convert the aircraft into a rover.

Charlene Kerman, the 7th grader in charge of the aerodynamics department--let's just say she had a bit too much free time in class playing around with paper planes--approved the wing layout with her patent-pending "does it fall over when I hold it under the wing" test.

One of the engineers remembered the safety chutes, of course. Now if it turns out the plane can't fly, there's a chance that the cargo will make it to the surface where it's needed. The plane was loaded on top of a rocket.

"You can't beat the raw power of the Liberator CCGCNTR," Billybobdin said,

"I just hope our assembly crews can beat the cancer that thing's gonna give us," Annie said.

Chemical boosters of the same type used on the Twin Boar lift the Liberator stage up into orbit.

Flying away from Mesbin.

Tyepolbynar and Shol near the Sun/Kaywell.

Inserting into orbit.

Captain's Log, Fortnight 210. Virmund has discovered another satellite orbiting Kerbmun. Perhaps they've finally found us. Or maybe it's just another scientific payload. Impossible to tell at this time.

Captain's Log, Fortnight 210 supplemental. Our space suit radios are picking up faint signals from the new satellite. We're transmitting S.O.S. on all frequencies in the hopes that they'll receive us.

See the faint red line between the aircraft and the base?

The mission control team back at Mesbin Space Center carefully lower the orbit of the aircraft to start the re-entry.

Some in the room worry that the space program was overeager to make an aircraft instead of a precisely landed capsule--a fear that is legitimized as the aircraft begins to spin up.

The fuel is pumped forward, barely stabilizing the vehicle.

Safety chutes are deployed.

Rockets fire to slow the descent.

"Our first look at the surface of Kerbmun... it looks so..."

"eerie."

"Yeah."

"Wait for the color photos to come in, I'm sure it will look much better then."

The aircraft touched down on Kerbmun, just around 18 kilometers away from Melp Base.

"Where was the flare you saw?"
"It was that way!"
"Let's go."
Valentina and Virmund are going to find the plane. Bob stayed at the base.

Virmund: "They actually managed to get that thing to fly!"
Valentina: "Not very well if they landed that far away from us."

"There's a crew compartment... was this thing manned?"
"Let's find out."

"There's no one in here."
"Oh, what's this button do?"
GRRRRRNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN-CHUNK
"Virmund, you go check what that was outside, I'm going to start looking around this module."

"Oh wow! It opened a cargo bay"
There's a manual in one of these boxes.

"Ooooh! And a proper screwdriver!"
"There's also the stuff to turn the plane into a rover!"
 

presently, the KMOS station rose above the horizon
Sonsby: "This is KMOS to Kerbmun Base, do you read?"
Valentina and Virmund sprung up to attention.
Virmund: "It's coming from inside the command pod!"

Valentina: "I'll go answer it!"
Valentina: "This is Captain Valentina Kerman of the Kerbmun Lander 1!"
Sonsby: "We have aquisition of signal, Mesbin Control!"
Valentina and Virmund hear cheers coming from the radio speakers.
Valentina: "You don't know how good it is to hear your voices."

Mission control briefed Valentina and Virmund on the plan thus far. They are to assemble the rover, drive back to the shore and the command module, and set up the habitat. They were also informed of their unofficial new designation: "Melp Base."

Val: "wait a minute, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Vir: "I don't know."
Val: "We can build a rocket out of this stuff."
Vir: "Well yes, but actually no."
Val: "Why not?"
Vir: "It'd be absurd!"
Val: "I have full confidence in you, Virmund."
Vir: "Aye captain but--can we at least build the rover first and bring the tanks and engines with us to base camp first?"
Val: "Sure, we need to go get Bob anyway."

They spent a good deal of time sorting out the boxes and bolting on the rover wheels.

Virmund: "All four wheels are attached, let's give her a test drive."

Valentine: "Such tiny little wheels..."

Valentina and Virmund clambered aboard the rover, and using internal controls, Valentina drove around to face backwards towards the shore and Melp base. Though she found it easy to drive downhill, they ran into a major issue on the upwards slope.

"I can't get enough torque to get over the hill," Val said.

"We could use the rockets," suggested Virmund.

"That'd waste precious fuel!"

"You're seriously going to try to assemble an ascent rocket, aren't you?"

"Of course! We have to get home!"

"We have to get to Bob and... uh... 'Melp base' first."

"That's true," said Val, "can you get more power into those rover wheels?"

Virmund thought about it. And so did I, thinking maybe if I edited the config file, I could get enough power.

"Wait, NO!" She said, "think smarter, not harder. Don't change the wheels, change the design!"

"What do you mean?" Asked Val.

"Instead of going back to Melp Base, we'll build a smaller rover and use that to bring Bob back... man I'm wishing we didn't let those wings fall apart when we broke them off, they'd have made a great structure..."

Virmund tried the drone core, but found it was too thoroughly attached to the rest of the rover. Instead, she unbolted the nose section of the vehicle.

Virmund took the transmitter off and put it back on the rest of the rover.

After several hours of hot, sweaty work in the mid-afternoon sun, Virmund and Valentina finished retrofitting the nose section into a functional vehicle.

It was getting dark by the time they finished.

"this is by far the worst vehicle I have ever designed," said Virmund.
"Didn't you help build the Kerbmun Lander?"
"Touche."

At this point, Val and Virmund realized they didn't have any way of controlling the vehicle. No probe core, no crew input. Virmund started messing with the electrical wires in the rover wheels to see if she could jury-rig some kind of control, but stopped when Val showed up with three chairs.

"I found these!" She said.

"Oh were they in one of the boxes?" Virmund said.

"Nope. Stripped them off the cabin."

"Perfect," said Virmund, with a hint of sarcasm. She bolted them onto the vehicle, and transplanted a few RTGs on for power.

The vehicle drove incredibly roughly. The wheels were out of plane and crooked, angled in the wrong directions, and it required constant correction to drive.

"This is so wrong"
"You know the pioneers used to ride these babies for miles"

They took the vehicle for a test drive, but drove back and stopped for the night. They left again in the morning.

"You gotta fix these wheels," said Val.

"I can't. Can't get a good angle in the structure, or I'd have to mount them to the almost foil-like outer panels."

Nearly there.

"Get in loser we're going shopping," said Virmund. Bob was astonished.

By the time they finally got back to the aircraft, Bob felt more sick than he ever had at sea.

Bob: "so what's the plan?"
Valentina: "The rocket thrusters and tanks on the aircraft they sent us can be used as a rocket. We talked it over with Mesbin Space Center, and they hate they idea. But they say they won't have a flight ready to rescue us for months."
Virmund: "I'm not sure it can be done but I'll see what I can do."

"How are you gonna make it aerodynamic?" Asked Bob.

"No," said Virmund, "Even with the ladder it's too tall to put up a nosecone. Besides, I'm not sure the nosecone will make much of a difference with the lot of us hanging off the side."

So that didn't work. It also never actually happened--Mesbin Space Center made sure of that.

Back to square one, this time with the rocket tipped over in the wind.

Now our Kerbals have a nice place to rest, but their hopes of a swift return have been ruined. How will the Kerbals manage to get home? Find out next time in the thrilling Saga of Melp Base!

[Whirligig Girl]

Part Seven: Bold Rescue

Several months had passed, and while the crew of Melp Base were glad to have a comfortable, dry vehicle to stay in, they were getting restless. They'd run out of fresh food ages ago, and were supplementing their protein cubes with alien fish and seaweed captured on fishing trips to the shore. They were sending regular updates on their status to Mesbin, and the engineers at Mesbin Space Program were hard at work developing a rescue vehicle.

The KerbMun Rescue Rocket (KMRR) was a step up from the Liberator-powered rocket that had been used before. This time, it used seven Liberators. The rescue rocket lander was chemical powered, since Kerbmun's surface (and the environment around the inhabitants of Melp Base) shouldn't be irradiated any time soon.

Wait hold on.

WAT

JOHNBALD WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE

DID YOU SNEAK ON BOARD?

Well we can't abort now, you'll just have to hecking die I guess.
it's your own fault Johnbald
I'll try to make sure you're parked in a stable orbit but I can't make any promises Johnbald
It would be easier if you stayed in the capsule Johnbald.
 

Johnny's in hot water now.

Johnbald crawled back to the pod while the KMRR was coasting to apoapsis
he's gotta get out of the pod now.
someone will rescue him eventually
or maybe he'll be a rescue contract for some other space program.

he claims he was just napping
like the last four times we've caught him in capsules

Burning to Kerbmun.

Entering Kerbmun orbit.

 

We had to use the nuclear booster to deorbit, but we didn't want to deorbit the booster, and it has no control of its own. So instead we set it to low thrust while the lander was detached, and the booster flew off to escape velocity in the other direction. It managed to get onto a sundive.

After the KMRR was landed successfully, the crew of Melp Base set target, finding it to be 30 km away. One heck of a drive for the rover.

They set off.

"it happenin," said someone in the back of the mission control room.

Just a hundred meters or so out, one of the rover's wheels finally gave out. It was a reasonable walk to the rocket.

"So this is it, huh?"

Bob knew, of course, it was very much Virmund who was tired of Bob's jokes. Please try not to think too hard about how the airlock gets to the crew cabin...

And the fuel ran out in the upper stage exactly as the vehicle entered stable orbit.

 

But how will our Kerbals get out of their tiny little box and back to Mesbin? Find out next time!

 

 

 

[Whirligig Girl]

Part Eight: Out Of Gas

Since there was no Trans-Kerbmun Orbital Shuttle at the station, one had to be launched from Mesbin.

Valentina: "It's so good to see another Kerbal's face!"

Jedtop: "Anytime, m'lady"

Valentina: "nevermind :v"

The TKOS was entirely out of fuel, so the crew of the Troymin Fuel Truck needed to rendezvous with the ship to refuel it. But by the time the fuel truck reached the TKOS, the delta-v was concering. There would be enough to get the TKOS back home, but it would mean the fuel truck wouldn't be able to make it back to Troymin, meaning a whole new fuel truck would have to be launched to replace it.

now kiss.

The unfueled fuel truck only has 700 m/s. Mission control was plotting a return for the TKOS when one of the engineers on the fuel truck project stopped them. "Wait, I have an idea," she said.

"The fuel truck has enough fuel to take the TKOS with us to Troymin. We can refuel both ships on Troymin, and then send the TKOS back home from there!"

The genius plan was carried out, as wobbly as the docking port was.

departing Kerbmun

Arriving at Troymin.

Even in the low gravity of Troymin, the wobbling of the docking port caused some serious issues for the stability of the lander.

It wobbled back and forth so much it threatened to knock the whole spacecraft over.

But eventually it stabilized, and the mining/refining process began.

Virmund was happy to be in the company of the engineering team aboard the fuel truck, though Bob was bored during the month or so it took to refuel the TKOS, and if Valentina had to deal with one of Jedtop's unwanted advances one more time she'd make sure he went on an EVA with a leaky suit.

Part Nine: Finale.

Finally the TKOS and the fuel truck were full of fuel and could go on to accomplish their respective duties. The TKOS undocked and set course for Low Mesbin Orbit.

A much-needed powered gravity assist from Kerbmun lowered the orbit.

But even so, the TKOS had slim fuel margins. During the decelleration into Low Mesbin Orbit, the TKOS ran out of fuel, 120 m/s shy of slowing down relative to the Low Mesbin Orbiting Space Station.

Terrible fuel margins even from a Troymin launch  did not bode well for the TKOS program.

As the LMOSS crew watched the TKOS fly off into the distance, Jebediah Kerman watched, and knew exactly what to do.

I knew this thing would come in handy.

It took half an orbit to catch back up with the TKOS, but when they did, they knew they were on the last leg of the journey.

Valentina and Bob were relieved to see their old friend Jeb, and Virmund was mildly starstruck--even as an astronaut.

The Space Shuttle had been rolled out to the pad in advance of the return of the TKOS, and Doodman Kerman was at the helm.

There would be no messing around with the SSTO-refuelable version of the ship--the launch vehicle would be used instead. More reliable, if much more expensive.

The nuclear ship carried Jeb, Val, Bob, and Virmund to meet the lander. Jedtop stayed in space.

As the lander finally touched down---oops

Well it hit the ground a little too hard and bounced, but managed to get back down safely.

And finally, the crew were back down on the ground of their homeworld, Mesbin. They would be reunited with their families and friends underground. Virmund and Bob promptly spent a month away from each other, and Val and Jeb caught up. It would be a long time before the Melp crew would fly in space again (by choice of course).

 

I wish I could say that the space program did end up successfully setting up a Kerbmun infrastructure and base, but since the save file was lost, we may never know.

Edited August 8, 2019 by GregroxMun

[Whirligig Girl]

I hope you enjoyed The Martian: Wet Edition.

While playing this mission I realized I was so glad that I'd made Whirligig World. The complexity and specifics of this rescue would have only worked in this specific planet pack, and I think it was while flying one of the TKOSes that I was just so immersed in this world that I'd built. I felt like I was really a part of a very alien space program.

Also KAS/KIS is amazing. I highly recommend it so you can try to pull of crazy antics like the crazy rover or the makeshift space rocket.

Edited August 8, 2019 by GregroxMun

[Speeding Mullet]

Like every good story this was full of nearlies, maybe's, might just works, and a fist full of derring-do.  thanks for taking the time to put it into mission reports .

I've often toyed with the idea of installing a planet pack once I was over the stock system.  That still hasn't happened but i'm interested in any recommendations!

SM

[Whirligig Girl]

6 hours ago, Speeding Mullet said:

Like every good story this was full of nearlies, maybe's, might just works, and a fist full of derring-do.  thanks for taking the time to put it into mission reports .

I've often toyed with the idea of installing a planet pack once I was over the stock system.  That still hasn't happened but i'm interested in any recommendations!

SM

Whirligig World will really drastically change your KSP experience, especially in career mode. Probably more so than any other KSP planet mod.

If you're looking for something a bit more familiar, Alternis Kerbol Rekerjiggered is great. It rearranges and modifies every single planet in the stock game into something new, and for instance, changes Kerbin to orbit Jool.

UnchartedLands is a good mod made by KillAshley that is not being maintained by him right now, but you can get a working version from my fork on github. It changes all the stock bodies to something new, and entirely procedurally generated, but keeps the home system layout a little more traditional (if you can call three moons traditional)

New Horizons also moves Kerbin to orbit a gas giant, but it doesn't change the stock bodies as much aside from moving them, and it adds many new bodies. Again it's not being maintained but you can get it from my fork on GitHub. (Though NH predates AKR, it does not predate the original Alternis Kerbol for KSP0.23 made by NovaSilisko, which my AKR is a continuation of. Playing an old version of NH is what made me want to get into planet modding and update the original Alternis Kerbol.)

Seven Worlds of SLIPPIST-1 (which is in need of a compatibility update) replicates a semi-realistic stockalike version of the TRAPPIST-1 exoplanetary system, putting your space program on the fourth planet.

[KerballingSmasher]

Mell (heh, pun) done on rescuing your Merbals! Is this now going to be Whirligig World canon?

[Geschosskopf]

On 8/7/2019 at 10:49 PM, GregroxMun said:

I hope you enjoyed The Martian: Wet Edition.

I did, very much.  This was a ripping yarn!

I'm also quite glad to see a version on Mesklin (from Hal Clement's A Mission of Gravity) in KSP.  That was one of my favorite SF books back when I was 1st getting into that genre back in the 70s and I've always wanted to see somebody build a KSP version of it  

[Whirligig Girl]

7 minutes ago, Geschosskopf said:

I did, very much.  This was a ripping yarn!

I'm also quite glad to see a version on Mesklin (from Hal Clement's A Mission of Gravity) in KSP.  That was one of my favorite SF books back when I was 1st getting into that genre back in the 70s and I've always wanted to see somebody build a KSP version of it  

Oh man you've only just learned of Whirligig World? You gotta play it some time, I think it's right up your alley. And for sure Mission of Gravity is the inspiration (Whirligig World is the name of Hal Clement's essay on how he designed Mesklin). I'd love to see a Whirligig World Travelling Circus some day--the name alone is just perfect.

18 hours ago, Kerballing (Got Dunked On) said:

Mell (heh, pun) done on rescuing your Merbals! Is this now going to be Whirligig World canon?

"Hell done?"  

Also they're called Mesbinites (play on the bug-like "Mesklinites" from Mission of Gravity), not Merbals. Merbals are probably the folks in Laythe Space Program  (Under da sea...)

As for the canonical status... well it's part of post-space-program history, which means it can't fit into the lore, since that means any player who DOESN'T fly this mission will be breaking the lore . WW History "ends" with the founding of the space program, since after that, it's the player's job to worldbuild--with their own missions. So it's no more canonical than @Ultimate Steve's Conquering Whirligig series. (Well, his "Typoball" nickname for the planet Tyepolbynar did become canon...)

And, well, let's just say, there is a little token of pseudo-canonicity (akin to mentioning "Typoball" in the planet description) of this mission coming in the next patch.

 

[KerballingSmasher]

2 hours ago, GregroxMun said:

Hell done?

... It was supposed to be a twist on Well done... but... welp... er...

 

heh... I screwed that up a little bit...

[Geschosskopf]

4 hours ago, GregroxMun said:

Oh man you've only just learned of Whirligig World? You gotta play it some time, I think it's right up your alley. And for sure Mission of Gravity is the inspiration (Whirligig World is the name of Hal Clement's essay on how he designed Mesklin). I'd love to see a Whirligig World Travelling Circus some day--the name alone is just perfect

Well, it's definitely on the list of future projects

As I understand things, several scientific look-sees at the design of the planet in the years after the book was published decided the equator would more likely be a sharp ridge than a rounded edge, but that would make finding a home for KSC rather difficult  

 

 

[Whirligig Girl]

17 hours ago, Geschosskopf said:

Well, it's definitely on the list of future projects

As I understand things, several scientific look-sees at the design of the planet in the years after the book was published decided the equator would more likely be a sharp ridge than a rounded edge, but that would make finding a home for KSC rather difficult  

 

 

The reason for the lens-shaped equator (which I think would have had a level peak big enough to build the KSC) was because of internal differentiation and the extremely dense core Mesklin would have had to have. Mesbin has an even denser core, with no mass in the mantle at all, because KSP uses a point-source approximation. So really, Mesbin should have some kind of lens shape rather than an oblate spheroid, but finding out the exact shape would require using some modelling that I don't have access to cognitively or practically. So it remains an oblate spheroid for the time being. And as a result, the ground slopes incorrectly in the middle latitudes, whereas on a real oblate spheroid, the centrifugal force and gravity produce a perfect level (aside from hills and mountains that would already be there) along the whole surface of the ellipsoid.

[Geschosskopf]

35 minutes ago, GregroxMun said:

The reason for the lens-shaped equator (which I think would have had a level peak big enough to build the KSC) was because of internal differentiation and the extremely dense core Mesklin would have had to have. Mesbin has an even denser core, with no mass in the mantle at all, because KSP uses a point-source approximation. So really, Mesbin should have some kind of lens shape rather than an oblate spheroid, but finding out the exact shape would require using some modelling that I don't have access to cognitively or practically. So it remains an oblate spheroid for the time being. And as a result, the ground slopes incorrectly in the middle latitudes, whereas on a real oblate spheroid, the centrifugal force and gravity produce a perfect level (aside from hills and mountains that would already be there) along the whole surface of the ellipsoid.

Well, it's certainly good enough as-is.  Instantly recognizable to those familiar with the inspiration and capable of providing a new and different game experience  

I hope it motivates others here to read A Mission of Gravity.  

Edited August 10, 2019 by Geschosskopf

[Tw1]

On 8/10/2019 at 2:07 AM, GregroxMun said:

Merbals are probably the folks in Laythe Space Program  (Under da sea..

I definitely need to do something with this thought some day