Ceti - A History Of The Space Age On Another World

[rito]

Basic idea:

The title of this is pretty self explanatory. I will be following the history of an alien species, and in particular the nation of Lieno from the early space age to potentially the far future.

The system I'm doing this in is the galaxies unbound Tau Ceti Aquel home switch.  

 I'm just doing this for fun, so don't expect all the lore to make complete sense. 

 

The flag of the United Republics Of Lieno

Thanks to @Talverd for inspiration with "Chasing Dreams"

 

 

 

[rito]

Momentum Capsule

One of the main spacecraft i'm gonna be using here is the momentum capsule. It was the first Lieno spacecraft to take people into space, and the first crewed spacecraft to orbit Aquel.

I'm going to be starting from the discoverer program, the first crewed mission to land on Aquel's only (and very small) moon of Enki.

 

[rito]

Discoverer 1

Discoverer 1's main purpose is to test the new Scylla 2 launch vehicle, but it also carries a special payload- Innovator 1, a small probe that will flyby Enki to decide the landing site for Discoverer 3, whilst also gathering interesting information about the moon's composition.

 Ignition! 

And liftoff of Discoverer 1 at 12:07pm on Tuesday 16th June 1173.

Trans-Enki injection (please don't judge my lack of EVE my computer is awful)

Separation of Innovator 1.

And a complete mission success! Views of Enki are transmitted back to mission control with lots of clapping and cheering.

[rito]

Discoverer 2

Discoverer 2 is the first crewed mission of the programme. It will carry both the Khonshu lander and ECM to orbit around Enki, and will test important life support systems for the next few missions.

 

Ignition!

And liftoff of Discoverer 2 at 1:15pm on Wednesday 12th of December 1173.

MECO

After entering orbit, Discoverer 2 performs TRE. (don't judge me for using an rs68 as an upper stage)

The lander and ECM are released, and dock whilst on course to Enki.

The ECM, piloted by Commander Cerney, enters into orbit around Enki. The other crew member, Researcher Macbro, said "Seeing Aquel rise over Enki's horzion made me realise just how small, and how precious our planet is.".

Service module and lander jettison.Getting toasty.

Splashdown. The crew are back home safely.

 

The mission has been a complete success, and paves the way for Discoverer 3 to be the first mission to land Aquelens on another world.

[rito]

Discoverer 3 (part 1)

Discoverer 3 is the first mission to land people on the surface of another world. The mission profile is pretty much the exact same as discovery 2, but it lands this time. 

 At 9:58 AM the crew access arm is retracted

Ignition of Scylla 2 at 10:22am on March 23rd 1174.

First stage performing nominally.

Trans-Enki Injection.

Lander and ECM reorientation on route to Enki.

Capture burn. Commander Haidan and  Co-pilot Dangard settle on the decision that Haidan will be the one to first step foot on Enki.

Haidan transfers to the lander, and separates from the ECM. 

Deorbit burn. Haidan now has full manually control over the vehicle.

6km

1km

100m.

 

[rito]

Discoverer 3 (part 2)

 

Touchdown.

Haidan leaves the KLM and descends the ladder.

Commander Haidan is the first Aquelen to step foot on another world. "We came here not for our nation, but for the progress of all aquelkind." An unscripted line, that many higher-ups did not approve of.

Haidan performs several experiments during the short trip to the surface, gathering samples and other scientific data.

Because of Enki's low gravity, the EVA suit has an inbuilt thruster pack to increase mobility.

After the 1 hour long EVA, Haidan returns to the lander and ascends back into orbit around Enki.

Approaching the ECM.Docked. Haidan transfers back to the ECM and is reunited with Dangard.

Return burn.

Service module jettison.

Reentry.

And the crew is back home.

 

A complete mission success!

Edited December 18, 2022 by rito
accidentally pressed post too early

[rito]

Bad News On December 15th, 1176 Lieno's rival, Korva, successfully landed an aquelen (Jebediah) on  Enki. This is after 5 landings by Lieno, meaning that LNSA's domination of Enki is over.

Edited December 19, 2022 by rito

[rito]

Palace Orbiting Laboratory

Following Korva's landing on another world, LNSA has decided to set a goal: a permanent presence on the surface of Enki. However, due to having no experience with long term space habitation, it was decided on that a space station would be constructed before any further landings on Enki would take place. This is also the last flight of Scylla 2. 

Liftoff of The Palace Orbiting Laboratory on February 3rd, 1177.

Ascending.Separation.Station fully deployed.

[rito]

my visuals are pretty broken at the moment, and i can't figure out a fix- so i wont be doing any more of this until i figure out how to solve the issue