For All Who Came Before - April 20th, 2020

[DMSP]

Table of Contents
March 6th, 2020 - OT-101
April 20th, 2020 - Athena III Ahead

 

 

 

March 6th, 2020 - OT-101

“We’re go, flight!”

The last callout echoed over headsets and control stations across the nation. Many keen viewers listened in on radios, many more on televisions, waiting for the moment that would decide the future of the program. For all watching, the clear blue sky was something almost more compelling. At the launch site, the rocket’s backdrop of the Mun was even more incredible. On the launchpad of the Kolonian Space Center, a 23 meter high vehicle, the first of its kind, sat, held in place by 8 small holding towers near the engines of the lifter. The rocket, known to most as the Casa I, had the callsign OT-101. High upon the lifter, a cone shaped capsule sat, a boilerplate for what was yet to come.

Procedures had started 3 hours ago, and with final checks done, all those running the mission prepared for launch. Speaking through scattered confirmations at mission control, Flight Controller Lukza Rouvic checked his screens, and, after a moment’s wait, began the terminal launch procedures.

“Final countdown begins on my mark,” for a few seconds, tense silence cut across the control room, with only the sounds of computers processing data coming from the activating sensors on the lifter filling the air. “Mark!”

“10 seconds.” All who wanted to listen now tuned in. Eyes were glued to television screens across the country. Controllers stared at their monitors, and readings beginning to pour in.

“5 seconds.” Aboard the Casa I, a series of commands activated further code. Systems went to full power, and the turbopump aboard the shining star of the rocket, a massive KR-2, began to spit fuel.

“3!” Guidance switched to internal command aboard the boilerplate Athena Capsule.

“2!” The four RE-I5s engines bordering the core went to full power.

“1!” Fuel pressures reached critical point across the central lifter.

“Ignition!”

For a moment, the rocket was enveloped in a giant cloud of white and grey smoke. Spitting out all the way to the top of the lifter, water vapor and rocket exhaust obscured every visual observation of the Casa.

Then, from above, reaching for the skies, the cone of the Athena shone through. In seconds, the fiery plume of the 5 engines, most prominently the brilliant one leading off behind the KR-2, cleared the dust. As the speed of the vehicle increased, the Casa shook above the power of the KR-2,  the trail of fire behind it proving the engine worked, and might just be enough to power the space program for decades to come.

As OT-101 flew towards space, it left behind a crowd of flight controllers cheering like they had when Valentina Zruskova had breached the edge of the atmosphere. Those in mission control would not know until later in the day, but seeing the Casa rise into the heavens did another thing - It left behind a nation filled with awe and with pride. As the Casa pushed into orbit, the years of trailing the Rocketry Organization of the Bosak States were forgotten, and for a moment, OT-101 had taken back the upper hand.

 

On a podium close to the administration building at the KSC, President Alois Sklenár rose to speak to the nation. With a view of the VAB and R&D facilities behind him, the cameras made their countdown, similar to the launch just a few short hours ago.

“People of Kolonia,

For 300,000 years, Kerbals have looked towards the heavens above. Though stars changed through the millennia and the pinpoint colors of planets danced through the night, one thing has always stayed steady in our skies: The Mun. Visible from all of Kerbin, and perpetually engraved into the minds of all its people, that monochrome sphere has been a target of dreamers and believers for as long as we’ve been able to do both. 200 years after the attempts of Karl Lobček to visit our nearest neighbor in the darkness of space, the world can know that Kolonia made the first step out once again.

Today, the Kolonian Space Program achieved something unparalleled by any other organization in history. On the heaviest launch vehicle ever to take flight, the heaviest engine to ever ignite propelled OT-101, the program’s first test of the Casa 1 Launch Vehicle, into orbit. On it sits technology that is nothing but a testament to the achievements and the capabilities of Kolonian industry and its corporations, who, amongst other things, have also brought the newest and most advanced space capsule into orbit. The launch of OT-101, from now on, will be named Athena I. Today, the Athena program begins, and under a new name, will lead Kolonia forward to a future in the stars.

I am proud to lead this charge into the future, yet, we must accept the reality that this future may not be ours if we let ourselves slack after this achievement. From now on, Kolonia and its people must realize that we are in a fight for the heavens above us, and if we do not progress faster than the adversaries that our on our heels, we will surely fall behind.

That is why, today, on March 6th, 2020, I dream that we will have a Kolonian on the moon by the end of 2024. Like those before us, we will follow this path to the future with a steady hand and the ideas of our people in heart. Today, we stand united under this dream.

Farewell, and goodnight.”

Once again, the nation erupted into applause. For Kolonians, it was a night of celebration. For Bosaks, it was to be a day of defeat. Many were, in the early morning light, able to see the massive glint of the Casa I in orbit, shining down on them like a beacon calling from the heavens above.

For the leaders of the ROBS, it was a beacon that would not be left unanswered.

Edited March 20, 2020 by DMSP

[KerballingSmasher]

Wow...so is there any chance I'm missing some lore packages here? It seems that there's already a background to it! Any chance you could explain, or will it all be explained in due time?

[DMSP]

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

Wow...so is there any chance I'm missing some lore packages here? It seems that there's already a background to it! Any chance you could explain, or will it all be explained in due time?

Nope! First chapter. I have a lot of the world-building for this story based off of some of my stories of old, but as you said yourself, all will be explained in due time.

[Angelo Kerman]

This looks like a lot of fun!

[DMSP]

13 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

This looks like a lot of fun!

I'm sure hoping it will be. It's been way too long since I last gave KSP a roll, gotta hope I still have the "skill" in me!

[DMSP]

April 20th, 2020 - Athena III Ahead