The SpiceMan Chronicles

[SpiceMan]

I've been playing KSP for a while. I play for a bit then switch to other games and come back months later.
But I've been playing since 1.2 and.... today I was watching at my screenshots and saw that there are stories behind them. 

This is not a mega mission report, but more like a bunch of anecdotes bundled together.
None of my ships are particularly awesome, quite the contrary they are just utilitarian.

 

The SpiceMan Space Program One

Aaah... the humble beginnings... when science and money is low but stupidity and courage soars.
As every space program, the SSPO (SpiceMan Space Program One) started with small rockets and tiny probes.

I'm probably struggling with the limited amount of parts one can use at the early stages on the rocket in this picture.

 

A Minmus probe preparing to land.

The Mun Base 

Eventually... funds for a Mun Station were secured. And that was the first real challenge the SSPO faced.
The plan was simple. Just drop there anything that the Kerbin Cold War dictated was needed to win the space race.

However, on a kerballed (manned) mission to the Mun something unexpected happened.
A giant rock arch was spotted while landing near one of the greater craters. Evidence of extrakerbinial life was discovered!!!

As our intrepid kerbonaut Lemlo Kerman stood on top of the rock arch, two things happened. 
First, Kerbalkind united and the Cold War ended, and efforts to conquer space were unified.
Second, Lemlo Kerman realized he had no propellant on his EVA suit for the way back to the lander...

Long and dangerous was the 4.6km walking trip back to the Mun Lander 

Including a scary episode with the infamous Mun quicksands

Lemlo smiles as he gets back to the Mun Lander.

We see him smiling in the picture because he hasn't realized yet that the Mun Lander has no ladder and, without propellant in his suit, he's just as stranded as he was in the rock arch.
After firing the spaceship designers,  the rescue mission was a success.

 

Back at Kerbin, Kerbalkind united efforts and came up with a master plan: drop connectors'n'stuff and ensamble!
It started with some living quarters and a short connector for the next module to come.

Next was the Lab Module (Heavy stuff!)

First two modules connected !!!!

Moving some connectors...

Second Living module en route.

 

Eventually mining modules, tanks, and more were added. This was the final result:

 

Here we can see a Mun Station crew replacement.

 

Emboldened by the success of the Mun Station Program, the decision-makers started twin parallel space programs:

The Eve and The Duna Space Programs

It started twin single-kerbal ships, one sent to Eve piloted by Valentina the other sent to Duna piloted by Jeb.

Well, almost twin ships... Jeb was given Gigantor solar panels because he needed to compensate.
The science data the kerbonauts took back home was not enough, but it was enough to see that the planets were very different.
Two separate probe programs were devised.
 

 

A series of mishaps happened in the Eve Probe Program.
First, ground control forgot to take in account the distance and delay in communications... So the solar panels were deployed during the Eve atmosphere entry.
After some explosions the probe managed to land thanks to the parachutes, but not on the water as the contract required. 
Engineers frantically calculated the most efficient use of the remaining electric charge to transmit the science data. But not all data could be sent.

Sadly, everyone was fired and the Eve program scrapped.

 

The Duna Program was more successful.

First, they landed the Mars Probe I successfully.

 

And then, banking on the Mun Station know-how, the Duna Roadster was sent to explore.

 

On Duna, ancient scripts of an unknown civilization talked about the mythical gold empire of El Ikerado. Linguist, historians, mythologists and satellite imagery experts tried to no avail to convince managers that no such gold existed, but they were having none of that. An ambitious plan to get rich AF was set in motion.

The first step was to set an outpost, and so the Ike Space Station was planned.

The Ike Space Station

After the astounding success of the Eve Program, the kerbals were rehired and put in charge of the Ike Space Station Program.
Since everybody just cared about the gold, people forgot to take pictures. So there's no record of the planning stages. 
Almost everything we have are pictures of the Ike Space Station in recent times.

We do have a picture of the first module to arrive, though:

 

The final Ike Space Station

 

Most people cared about the gold, but Bill Kerman -an engineer- cared about science!!!
So he convinced upper management to give him a double Ike-Duna mission. 
Two landers were sent. One to the Ike Space Station and another to orbit Duna.

An engineer is very useful in Duna missions because they can repack parachutes, and the same parachutes can be used for both Duna and Kerbin entry.
These are his pictures:

Heading to Ike after undocking from the Ike Space Station.

 

Planting a flag on Ike.

 

After refueling at the Ike Space Station, he transferred to Duna.

 

 

EVA'ing to the Duna Lander II.

 

 

Bill Kerman looking for the parachute to repack after a successful lithobreak.

 

Bill Kerman celebrating that you can load saves in this game.

 

 

Sadly, the SpiceMan Space Program One is on halt, as all Kerbals -even kids- are at Ike mining for gold now. Bill Kerman is waiting for the fad to end while at the Duna orbit without fuel.

 

Edited November 15, 2019 by SpiceMan