2001: A Space Koydessy

[Akagi]

Hello and welcome to a Kerbalized recreation of the novel version of Kubrick Stanley's movie 2001: A Space Odyssey! This version has some minor differences from the movie:

1. Bop Explorer, the equivalent of Discovery 1, was launched before the discovery of the Bop monolith
2. The first monolith is found on Kerbin, then there's one on the Mun, which sends a radio broadcast to the one on Bop which the Bop Explorer explores
3. In place of life-support shutdown for the three asleep crew members of Discovery 1, the hatch to the Mk3 Passenger Module opens up and dumps all but 4 crew into space.

Chapter the First

Spoiler

"Takeoff of the Bop Explorer in T-minus 5... 4... 3... 2... 1.... Clamps away!"

"Come in KSC, this is Val. We have cleared the tower... that we don't have!"

"Hey Bob, what's that big thing over there?"

"Come in KSC, this is Bob Kerman. Bill just noticed a weird big thing 1.2 km north of the launchpad while he was watching the ascent radar!"

On a bright, sunny morning one day, the Bop Explorer lifted off from the KSC. Its massive payload was thrusted into the sky with the new Nebula II carrier rocket.

"KSC, this is James Kerman. I can confirm we have first stage seperation!"

"Come in crew of the Bop Explorer, stand by for Astrophage engine ignition!"

An hour later...

"KSC, we have entered orbit!"

 

On the ground...

"Wait a minute, what's that?"

"The thing that Bill saw!"

"But... who made it?"

And so it began...

Edited April 6, 2022 by Akagi

[Maria Sirona]

Koydessy doesn't mean anything, but i really like the story and idea! The fairing blocks all windows tho

[Akagi]

11 minutes ago, Maria Sirona said:

Koydessy doesn't mean anything, but i really like the story and idea! The fairing blocks all windows tho

I detached all the fairings. For the next posts, I'm going to roll it around to show windows.

[Maria Sirona]

The fairings were not detached when Bill saw the monolith

[Akagi]

43 minutes ago, Maria Sirona said:

The fairings were not detached when Bill saw the monolith

...oof

it was radar then

bill's manning radar

next post this afternoon

*pats self on back*

@Maria Sirona fixed

[Akagi]

Chapter Two

First half:

Spoiler

"Wehrdin?"

"Yes, Lanny?"

"Why did it take you two whole days to think of poking the monolith with a stick?"

"Well, you see, we needed to make the missile."

"MISSILE!?"

"Yes, it's that I-beam."

"The drill just... goes right through it!"

"Wehrdin, we should back up to shoot the missile at the monolith."

"Lanny, I need to climb it first!"

"It's like there is a solid wall right there! I can't go any farther! Also, Lanny, back up a bit."

"Why?"

"Retract the drill, too. Ready the missile!"

"Okay, this should be good!"

"Stand by... Fire!"

"Wait... what?"

"The Monolith! It blocked the shot!"

"Ow, what's that?"

"There's this... ringing in my ears!"

 

TAMPERING DETECTED

INITIATING SELF_DEFENSE.PRGM

INCOMING ROUND DETECTED

SHIELDS ON

INCOMING ROUND DEFLECTED

SENDING TRANSMISSION TO SUPERIOR

SENDING...

SENDING...

SENDING...

BROADCAST COMPLETE

Second half next morning, I don't have much time

[Maria Sirona]

Wow

 

[Abel Military Services]

Best Kerbal novel ever! @Akagi

[Akagi]

Thanks @Abel101126! The bit at the end of part 1 of chapter 2 is the monolith sending a message to its superior on Bop.

[Akagi]

@Maria Sirona if you look closely enough at the first screenshot in chapter 1, you can see that THE PAYLOAD FAIRING IS TIPPING!

I had to scrub a previous launch because the fairing was tipping at a 45-degree angle!

[Maria Sirona]

Oh my, yes it is!

[Akagi]

I've been working on this, so expect the next post

soon.

[Akagi]

Chapter 2.5

 

*CLUNK*

"Come in KSC, the lander has seperated!"

*KA-CHUNK*

"KSC, we have docked!"

"Val! The Astrophage engine! It's... gone!"

"Uh-oh..."

"Hey Bill, you know that radar signature?"

"Mhm?"

"They've expiramented on it. It's called a monolith, and it's solid, seems to have a defense shield, and... Radio message!"

"▀▖┗▛▄▖▜▚┣ ▜▚┗┣┗┫┓┏┓ ▛▄▖┅┗▖. ┣┗┏▛▄▖▜┏┣ ▚ ▖▞┣┗▖┗┣. ┣┗▖┃▀▚▗┏┏┓. ▖┛▀┗▞┃┏▄ ▛┏┗▄▖▜▚┣ ┅▖┗━▖ ▖┓┫▞┣ ▚ ▛▄┅┗▖ ▚ ▖▞┣┗▖┗┣ ▚┛▘▞━"

"What?!"

Edited April 10, 2022 by Akagi

[Akagi]

@Davi SDF @Maria Sirona @Abel101126 @Watermel00n @Kerb24 Chapter 2.5 is done!

[Watermel00n]

Did the monolith steal the engine?

[Akagi]

2 hours ago, Watermel00n said:

Did the monolith steal the engine?

In fact, I had to relaunch and cheat to rendezvous a replacement lander, because the first one had no SAS. During that 30-minute exercise of swearing in three different languages while trying to dock two massively different ships together, I wound up colliding accidentally with the Astrophage engine.