The Sky is Not the Limit - UPDATE: NEW THREAD OUT!

[Royalswissarmyknife]

  On 10/20/2023 at 9:49 PM, TwoCalories said:

 No craft submissions?

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Didnt see it until now.

Would love to submit a craft if it's still open!

[TwoCalories]

  On 10/20/2023 at 11:06 PM, Royalswissarmyknife said:

Didnt see it until now.

Would love to submit a craft if it's still open!

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It's open until Sunday! Have at it! 

Edited October 20, 2023 by TwoCalories

[TwoCalories]

@Royalswissarmyknife, how's that rideshare probe coming along?

[Royalswissarmyknife]

  On 10/21/2023 at 11:13 PM, TwoCalories said:

@Royalswissarmyknife, how's that rideshare probe coming along?

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Going good-ish

I really hope I can finish it in time.

[TwoCalories]

  On 10/22/2023 at 12:11 AM, Royalswissarmyknife said:

Going good-ish

I really hope I can finish it in time.

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I've pushed the due date to next Sunday due to time restraints, meaning the next chapter won't have two missions in one, so take your time.

[TwoCalories]

No chapter this week. It's really frustrating, really. I made a whole Trinity mission to Minmus just to find out I didn't have enough Delta-V to circularize and there was no way to recover. Luckily, I had a quicksave before I launched the crew, but still, three hours of work down the drain. And to add the icing to the cake, my game crashed when I tried to reload that quicksave. As of now, I'm reloading the game so I can quickload back to that save before shutting off the PC for tonight.

I really had to pull myself up by the bootstraps to do this mission, and now it all failed and it's late at night. I probably won't make a chapter next week because I'll probably still be burned out from this.

So, this is TwoCal signing off. Sorry for the delay, and thanks for understanding.

[Maria Sirona]

  On 10/23/2023 at 4:24 AM, TwoCalories said:

No chapter this week. It's really frustrating, really. I made a whole Trinity mission to Minmus just to find out I didn't have enough Delta-V to circularize and there was no way to recover. Luckily, I had a quicksave before I launched the crew, but still, three hours of work down the drain. And to add the icing to the cake, my game crashed when I tried to reload that quicksave. As of now, I'm reloading the game so I can quickload back to that save before shutting off the PC for tonight.

I really had to pull myself up by the bootstraps to do this mission, and now it all failed and it's late at night. I probably won't make a chapter next week because I'll probably still be burned out from this.

So, this is TwoCal signing off. Sorry for the delay, and thanks for understanding.

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That would have made a good plot of rescuing the stranded crew, maybe even by the soviets

[TwoCalories]

  On 10/24/2023 at 2:16 PM, Maria Sirona said:

That would have made a good plot of rescuing the stranded crew, maybe even by the soviets

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That's an idea there, but I was strapped for time and either way, neither space program has the resources or technology for a Kerbolar orbit rescue mission.

***

Also, @Royalswissarmyknife, you have an extra week to finish the rideshare payload. I pushed it back again due to last week's chapter delay.

[TwoCalories]

Chapter Sixteen: The Far Side of the Mun - Part 1

I had to mix it up with the cover photos, okay?!

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With KASA crewed flights always making some new record or taking some weird turn, this mission was looking to be pretty routine. Trinity-6 would be another flight to the Mun, utilizing the same system as the mission before, Trinity-5. The LEM crew, Commander Casey Traille Kerman, and Irene Aver Kerman, would land on the Mun's Farside Mare, while Bob Collins Kerman would stay in the Hab in orbit.

Unfortunately, the current J-3C was incapable of propelling the full assembly to Minmus. An Extended Fuel Pallet (EFP) was in the works, but for now it was to the Mun.

Also, some exciting news: the expansions to the Kerbal Space Center are now open for business! For the past couple of years, construction has been going on behind the scenes. The extended space center still has room to grow to accommodate any future expansions, but right now there are four total launchpads, three landing pads, three different assembly buildings, several office blocks, and new dormitories and training facilities. The expansions are meant to support KASA's future plans, such as reusing rockets. The two new main launchpads, LC-39a and 39b, are also one of the notable additions. Now we can have multiple craft rolled out at once, which simplifies operations greatly, as well as making for neat publicity shots.

The Trinity-6 Hab/LEM takes off!

A better view of the expanded space center.

The launch went to plan and the payload and J-3B was positioned in a roughly 100km orbit.

The Trinity-6 CSM successfully docked to the Hab, and after one orbit pressurizing the modules and checking out ship systems, they set out to the Mun.

Flip...

...and burn!

Trinity-6 made it to Retrograde Munar Orbit, though without as much margin as would have been liked.

***

Casey gently pushed himself off the rim of the CSM-Hab docking hatch and into the LEM's cabin, with Irene following him in.  Bob glanced at his watch.

"We're good on time. Undocking will be in exactly fifteen minutes," he said to Casey.

"Roger that," Casey said. They were silent.

"You know, I had this weird dream the night before launch," Bob said.

"What happened?" Irene asked from inside the LEM.

"It was more of a nightmare, really," Bob responded. "Well, in the dream, this mission's destination was Minmus. Our flight went smoothly, until we found out we didn't have enough Delta-V for circularization. We tried our best to save the mission, but we failed."

An awkward silence filled the cabin. Eventually, Casey said, "Well, it's just a dream. Besides, this mission is pretty routine. I'm sure nothing out of the ordinary will happen."

Only a couple seconds later, CAPCOM radioed in, instructing the crew to begin undocking procedures. Casey closed the hatch, ending their short conversation. Bob, or many people for that matter, would ever know it, but this mission would change everything.

  Reveal hidden contents

Hello, all! I found myself with some free time today, so I pulled of this mission. Well, part of it, at least.

So, a couple of things. After this chapter, it'll be the last call for craft submissions (actually, this time), with more info here. Also, this is the first chapter in which I used Steven's TUFX! I really love it, and it'll probably be my main config from now on.

I hope you enjoyed this week's chapter! This'll be the start of a new @̵̧͋̀̇̉͆̀͂͛̊@̵̡̢͙͔͇̪̪̥̯̗͚̠̱͕̗̯̙̆̄̈́͊̿͋̌̅̇̀͑̈́͆̽͛͋̆̚̕͘͘͝͠ͅ@̷̡̫̯͖͍͛̂͗̆̾̕͠@̵̨̢̧͈̹̯͉̠̹̹͍͔̲̳̳̄̇̿̔̃̀͆̾̊̑̀̍͛͛̄̕͜͜&̵̡̡̛̛͔̙̩̳͕͔̟̻̹̥̜̭̣͈̠͚̪̠̓́̎̅̋̑͂͆̾̾̅͋̋̓̕#̸̪̙̯͇͉̋͠#̸̡̡̭͎͙͈͓̝͚̦̻̻̿̍̂͒̓̊̋͐͒͋̓̑͋͗͛͜͜͝ͅ$̶̗̦̗͇̯͛́̑̏͑́̅͊̈̑̎̈͑͜ͅ/̸̢̧̘̻̝̺̩̼̠̫͉̹̳̥͌̐͂͊͗̒͂̆͆̒̀͆͑̀̀̈͑͘̕̚͜/̴̨̧̙̘̬̭̠̲̞͕̬͎̟̬̦̐̍͐̏̐̉̊̅̾̈́̿̄̎̊̉̊̃͘͠͠/̸̡̹̠̪͍͈̺͔̹̝̯͙͙͉̾͗̐̀̐̈́̓̑̃͋/̵̨͇͕̪̠͉͆́̊͗̏̾͐͂͑́͛̓̋̓́͛͘/̴̨̣̻̟̭͖͎̮̮̼̩̝͕͇͖̹̙̺̥̱̀͂̔̈́̓̂{̷̨̛̟͉͉̙͖͔̥̣̮̲̺͕̟͚̮̱͈̪͓̰̇͛̑̚͜͜͝{̶̨̧͕͔͙̞̥̙̻̟̱̫̩̟̼̖͚̲̖̅̅̇̓̑ͅ[̶̗͈̣͎̪̺̥̖͉̰̙̼̳̗͍̘̰̉͆͛̀̆͌]̷̢̡̢̤̙̼͎͖̤̦̖͍͋̈́̈̏̐̇͛͑̊̋͂͒̐͌̚͘͘̚͠ͅ  that I think you guys will enjoy!

This is TwoCal, signing out! Also, happy Halloween!

 

 

Edited March 3, 2024 by TwoCalories

[TwoCalories]

Since we already had a chapter this week, the next chapter will be next weekend instead. As alluded to by the cliffhanger, this chapter will be big.

I least, I think it is. Hopefully you agree.

[Kerbalsaurus]

We here at Raptor Aerospace have a brand new, grand new satellite to present to KASA. Behold, the Munar Observational and Scientific Satellite, or MOSS!

While small and basic, this satellite will hopefully provide some scientific gain for KASA. Warranty void if it does not provide scientific gain. This is certainly a step up from our little sounding rockets in the middle of the dessert, and if selected, Raptor Aerospace will be happy to be working with KASA and hopes to be a long time partner of the KASA program!

Artist's rendition

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KerbalX link: https://kerbalx.com/Some_KSP_Player/MOSS

Edited November 5, 2023 by Kerbalsaurus
Typos and such.

[TwoCalories]

  On 11/5/2023 at 1:07 AM, Kerbalsaurus said:

We here at Raptor Aerospace a brand new, grand new satellite to present to KASA. Behold, the Munar Observation Scientific Satellite, or MOSS!

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We at KASA are ecstatic to have received our first definitive craft submission! Even if Raptor Aerospace is not selected for this mission, we still hope to work with you in the future. 

[TwoCalories]

New chapter ETA is tomorrow.

[TwoCalories]

Chapter Seventeen: The Far Side of The Mun - Part 2

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On that day, February 9th, 1971, Trinity-6's LEM "Antares" touched down on the Mun at Farside Mare.

Irene Kerman raises the flag.

An aerial view of Farside Base, with science experiments, solar panels, and equipment boxes laid around.

Casey takes a short hike from the landing site to collect some rock samples.

Several improvements were made to the new LEM design from Trinity-5. Extended life support kits were one of them, allowing the crew to spend extended periods on the surface. KASA hoped to be able to use the design further, when the time came to colonize the Mun.

Another improvement was the removable supply boxes. To ease up operations, the supply boxes that carried the surface experiments could be removed by an engineer and set down onto the surface, so the crew didn't have to go back and forth from the experiment site to the lander as much.

Casey and Irene would spend two days on the surface, gathering samples and running experiments over the course of two EVAs.

***

The next day, Retrograde Mun Orbit-

Bob sat in his seat in the CSM-Hab, which the crew had named "Kitty Hawk". Despite being bright outside, it was technically nighttime, by the clock he was following. He wouldn't be going to sleep very soon, however, as he had to stay up and analyze the last of the photos from the Hab's visual scanner.

To make the best use of the CSM pilot's time while they waited in Munar orbit, the KSC scientists decided to attach some light scanning tech the Hab module. It wouldn't compromise the Jovian-5's weight restrictions, and it helped to augment the scanning data from the designated ScanSats.

Bob rehydrated some coffee with the water dispenser and mixed it up. While he did so, he glanced now and then at the photos rolling in on his screen like a slideshow. To keep himself entertained, he tried to spot the landing sites of the prior Trinity missions (i.e. Trinity-3 and Trinity-5). He spotted Trinity-3 quite a few times but was yet to see Trinity-5 due to the Kitty Hawk's orbit being slightly inclined.

Now Bob was sure he would be able to find Northwest Base on his visual scanner. But as he calibrated the scanner to get a clearer image, something else caught his eye. It stood out among the Mun's gray plains. Bob thought it might be some kind of visual artifact on his screen, but the anomalous object moved with the terrain as the pictures continued to roll in.

Bob could barely see it, though. Curse these grainy cameras! He rushed to start recalibrating the scanner to get a clear image.

It was much clearer now. He only managed to snap one more photo before the anomaly zoomed out of sight as the Kitty Hawk went along its orbit.

Soon, the day's scanning was finished. Bob transmitted the resource scans, and then the visual scans. Bob was about to transmit the photos of the "anomaly" but then stopped. Instead, he transmitted them on the auxiliary comm channel, where only a select batch of mission controllers could see them, and most importantly, without the media knowing.

***

One day later, Farside Base-

Antares takes off from Farside Base just as the sun rose on the Farside Mare.

On the way to the rendezvous with Kitty Hawk, the Antares performed a hair-raisingly close flyby of the surface (a little over 8km!)

Moments before docking.

Along the way home, Bob shared his finding with the other two crew members. None of them really had time to think about it, as they had to finish their mission first, but the thought of it was always in the back of their mind.

The crew tested the new "skip" reentry maneuver, where they dipped out of the atmosphere and back in. This would allow for future missions to achieve a more precise landing.

Trinity-6 splashed down safe and sound and were shortly brought aboard the recovery carrier.

***

Two weeks later, the Kerbal Space Center-

Val, Bill, and Bob were standing around outside of The Outpost, the KSC's local dive bar. Since KASA's seven Kerbonauts, as well as KSC staff, visited the bar frequently, it came to be known as KASA's unofficial "watering hole".

"So, Bob," Bill asked, "what did end up happening to those photos?"

"I'm not really sure," Bob said. "The KSC admin called me up personally, and I told him how I stumbled across the 'anomaly'. He told me it was just a visual artifact, which I thought was a bit odd, since it stayed in one spot on the terrain the whole time."

"I heard some government agents came by to visit the archives," Val commented.

"Hmmm," Bob said, "it's probably just a coincidence."

The trio then heard a car driving down the road. It was Jeb, pulling up in his car (a Corvette, of course). He opened the door and walked up to the Kerbonauts gathered at the bar.

  Reveal hidden contents

Fun fact: a lot of astronauts around that time drove Corvettes. The Mercury astronauts, and later Apollo astronauts, were given discounts so that they could lease the newest model for only a dollar (ten dollars today) a year. According to an article, corvettes "were fast, affordable, and gave them the sense of danger they so badly craved when they weren't undergoing their rigorous training."

"Sorry I'm late," Jeb apologized, "I was attending the status conference."

"It's alright," Bill said. There was an awkward silence.

"They've cancelled the program," Jeb said grimly. "No more flights to the Mun and Minmus until further notice."

"WHAT?!" Bill exclaimed.

"How could they do that?" Val said angrily. "We only did one flight to Minmus! And what about all the plans for Munar colonization-"

"They'll be left to gather dust in some warehouse," Jeb replied sadly. "But it's not all bad. The Director still has some plans. And we still have the leftover Trinity tech, or at least the tech the government didn't take away-"

"What?" Bob asked.

"I... don't know why," Jeb admitted, "but the space program isn't done. The Eve and Duna transfer windows are coming up, so we'll be able to send out the first interplanetary probes. Linus and the other scientists a cooking up plans for a space station around Kerbin. And Wernher has this crazy idea for a new orbital crew vehicle!"

"Maybe you're right," Bill said. "And maybe one day, we'll return to the Mun. But for now, it's time to focus on our home."

***

D̴̍ͅȧ̵̧ț̵̊ę̵͊:̶͑͜ ̵̗͖̀U̴̜͎̾͂ń̴̢̳̀k̵͓̤̈́n̶̛͕ǫ̷̝̈́ŵ̴͎̀n̷̥̜̎̊,̶̱̠̓̚ ̶͙̇̽ͅĽ̶̥̞̾ŏ̷̪̖̚c̵̖̾ͅa̸̟̍̇t̴̹͆̕î̷̫̎o̴̠̓n̸̗͇͂̚:̴̛͈͊ͅ ̷̡̣͐U̸̬̅n̴͖̜͌̉k̴̮͓̃͊n̵̪̄o̶̳̅w̴̻̑n̶͙͋͑:

"Do you have the tapes?"

"Yes, sir. All three."

"Good. No matter what, the public must not know."

Author's note:

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Hey, all! I hope you enjoyed this week's chapter! This update was a bit more story-based than previous chapters, and I'm kind of hoping to incorporate more story and dialogue like this into future chapters as well. Let me know what you thought of this week's installment! Also, for those of you who are wondering, The Outpost is added by Caerfinon's mod of the same name, which is linked right here.

That's it for this entry. See you next week or so!

-TwoCal

 

Edited March 3, 2024 by TwoCalories

[Maria Sirona]

Holy heck

[TwoCalories]

I'm not sure if any of you notice, but I do edits to previous chapters behind the scenes sometimes. I just finished revamping the first chapter, particularly the part explaining the Great Kerbin War. I highly recommend you read Chapter One again, and tell me what you think.

[Kimera Industries]

Excellent work. You have some crazy graphics mods installed and I love the story. Fun dialogue and potential.

[TwoCalories]

  On 11/20/2023 at 1:39 AM, Kimera Industries said:

Excellent work. You have some crazy graphics mods installed and I love the story. Fun dialogue and potential.

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Thank you!

[TwoCalories]

@adsii1970, I think the TOTM title tag has disappeared again. When I encountered this before, you told me to tag you in the thread that had the issue, so that's what I'm doing.

[adsii1970]

@TwoCalories - You reset your thread's prefix when you edit your tags. That's why it disappears.

 

 

[TwoCalories]

  On 11/21/2023 at 2:34 AM, adsii1970 said:

@TwoCalories - You reset your thread's prefix when you edit your tags. That's why it disappears.

 

 

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Thanks! That's good to know.

[TwoCalories]

Today, I'm hopefully going to redo the "A Different Perspective" interlude (I really wasn't happy with the rushed vessels even when I posted the interludes), and then a new chapter will come out soon™️.

[Kimera Industries]

  On 11/22/2023 at 8:20 PM, TwoCalories said:

Today, I'm hopefully going to redo the "A Different Perspective" interlude

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Just read through it and a few quick words about the rocket accidents: (Having worked on WoRM I've learned these things) Since Russia launches basically in the middle of a wasteland, none of their rockets have had flight termination systems. If something goes wrong, the rocket crashes into the desert and no one is hurt. (Well, in theory) Russia (and China) are a bit more lax about safety regulations, so there's not much concern about what happens if a rocket crashes into a populated area. In China's case, this happens often since the downrange of their launch site is populated.

Still a great story, and it doesn't really matter anyway since this is an alternate history in an alternate solar system, but it's interesting to remember that different countries can have vastly different design philosophies which hugely affect how they look at things, and neither one is really wrong because their ideas work for them.

Edit: Still need craft submissions? I know you said there was a last call and stuff but it looks like just that one so far...

Edited November 22, 2023 by Kimera Industries

[TwoCalories]

  On 11/22/2023 at 8:53 PM, Kimera Industries said:

Just read through it and a few quick words about the rocket accidents: (Having worked on WoRM I've learned these things) Since Russia launches basically in the middle of a wasteland, none of their rockets have had flight termination systems. If something goes wrong, the rocket crashes into the desert and no one is hurt. (Well, in theory) Russia (and China) are a bit more lax about safety regulations, so there's not much concern about what happens if a rocket crashes into a populated area. In China's case, this happens often since the downrange of their launch site is populated.

Still a great story, and it doesn't really matter anyway since this is an alternate history in an alternate solar system, but it's interesting to remember that different countries can have vastly different design philosophies which hugely affect how they look at things, and neither one is really wrong because their ideas work for them.

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Ah, okay. I do know that Russian and Chinese rockets tend to lack FTSs, but I just forgot for some reason. I'll keep what you said in mind when reworking it, though.

  On 11/22/2023 at 8:53 PM, Kimera Industries said:

Edit: Still need craft submissions? I know you said there was a last call and stuff but it looks like just that one so far...

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Yeah, as long as you can design and submit it before... maybe Friday? The due date isn't really definitive, but the date can only go backwards.

[Kimera Industries]

  On 11/22/2023 at 9:15 PM, TwoCalories said:

Yeah, as long as you can design and submit it before... maybe Friday?

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I'll work something out. Simple probe from the startup company Kimera Industries, putting them on the path to greater success and recognition. 

The requirements say it must be capable of insertion into Mun/Minmus orbit, does that mean you'll put it on a flyby and it gets into orbit itself? Or that it must do the burn for a flyby all the way from LKO?