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It's The Wrong Red Moon... Adventures of an Alternate History!


Kimera Industries

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  On 9/20/2023 at 2:48 AM, Kimera Industries said:

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Deorbit burn. Trial and error to get close to the Baikerbanur Kosmodrome.

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Ha, this is funny- before I tried the Trajectories mod, everything was trial and error via quicksaves. Trajectories isn't perfect, sometimes over or under-compensating, but hey- fewer quickloads are required. 

Edited by Kimera Industries
Whee! Page 2!
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"The day has finally come. We have finally caught up to the USSR. Our modifications to the Saturn V have been finished quicker than anticipated, and the Russian N-1 for their Korolev 5 mission needs another month at least until it is ready, our sources say."

This Saturn V is like no other. It is much stubbier and shorter than any other Saturn V and is in fact called the Saturn V-C. The decreased length is a result of the substantially less fuel required for a Minmus mission. The crew has been trained for a mission almost as long as Gemini 7, as their only chance to get out and stretch will be the landing. The crew module has been reorganized for more interior space and the design will be kept for future Apollo missions. The Lunar Lander, Aquarius, is simpler, just a single stage now.

April 11, 1970, 19:13 GMT:

Apollo 13.

Launch: 

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Dmitri leaned over and switched off the television set. Pirating that broadcast had technically been illegal, but no one at MISE cared. 

He stood up and said, "Comrades, we've had a stroke of luck here. I want all of you working overtime to get this mission ready, you hear me?"

A chorus of agreements followed. "Da," was the general consensus.

"Good. We've been given a miracle here. Don't waste it."

Edited by Kimera Industries
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Randomly, I decided to set the launch of the Saturn V-C mission in January of 1970. I realized that this would be modifying history and that this mission needed a name as it was stealing from a real-life Apollo mission. As I googled an Apollo launch timetable, I decided to settle for whatever mission launched first in 1970, and lo and behold- by sheer coincidence, it was Apollo 13! I guess even in alternate histories that mission is cursed.

This is where the timelines really start to diverge, and as time goes on it will get more pronounced. This is just the first example of the Soviet side modifying the history of the American side, as up to this point the goings on of MISE haven't had a visible effect on NASA. This will be interesting for me to have to think about NASA's side as well, and I will sprinkle in their rival missions once in a while. Alternate Space Shuttle? Yes, please!

Early NASA Concept for a Post-Apollo temporary Lunar Base, using all... |  Download Scientific Diagram

Here's a spoiler of what's to come- the Zdaniye modular base system!

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NASA Accident Investigation Committee

Apollo 13 incident

Summary

Due to the shortening of the fuel tanks, a smaller weight of fuel was available for the F1 engines. The turbopumps could still get all the required fuel, but the unexpectedly low tank pressure caused them to overcompensate. Insufficient testing failed to reveal this problem, but in all 4 outer engines, the thermometer detected an increase in temperature from the increased fuel flow and throttled down accordingly. However, during testing, the thermometer of the center F1 was damaged. Rushed inspections did not discover this and the engine assumed it was at a nominal operating temperature when in reality the heat was increasing beyond the capacity of its regenerative cooling, and the engine exploded. The Saturn continued nominally for almost a minute, but it had been leaking fuel and losing tank pressure. Eventually, a particularly large concentration of fuel reacted with the exhaust from the other F1 engines, resulting in a large thermal expansion. The loss of vehicle structural integrity afterward tripped the abort system, and the crew was pulled to safety.

Conclusion: In any further Saturn V-C launches, special attention will be paid to fuel transfer and engine temperatures.

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Korolev 5 Crew Transport

The Korolev 5 mission is ready. The crew, not so much.

Before every MISE mission, the crew gets one week of resting and quarantine. Procedures are reviewed, jokes are cracked, and the crew generally has a good time. The problem is, the location of this getaway retreat- erm, psychological healing location is on the southernmost island under the influence of the USSR. The lower latitude, coastal location, and dormant volcano make it very warm, approaching tropical temperatures during the summer, but it is very far away from the MISE facilities. As a result, the crew is transported from the island usually the day or two before the launch.

May 26, 1970, 8:30 VLAT: 

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Just a fun little showcase of a fraction of the possibilities of the Airplane Plus mod.

Coming up next- the moment we've all been waiting for- the first crewed mission to land on Minmus, Korolev 5!

Edited by Kimera Industries
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Korolev 5

A majestic rocket, taller than any crewed rocket launched before it at Baikurbanur, sits gleaming in the faint summer sun. Slowly, the crew make their way to the top.

Countless tests. Countless inspections. The rocket is ready. The crew is ready. Ground control is ready.

May 28, 1970, 9:45 MSK:

"Korolev 5, we are go for launch."

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"Phase 1 success! We are ready for Trans-Minmus Injection."

"Ugh, TMI."

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"Phase 2 complete- begin landing procedures."

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"Phase 3 success! Kerbals are about to set foot on Minmus for the first time!"

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"We have fulfilled our immediate goal, but let us not forget our long-term goal: Living amongst the stars!"

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"Hello, Kerbin."

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"Touchdown! The crew is safe!"

Later that day, the director of the space program gathers everyone to make an important announcement.

"Comrades, we have done the impossible, and the government has recognized our efforts. The space program is being rebranded as the Kerbal Soviet Space Program, or KSSP! MISE will become the head department of the KSSP and funding is through the roof!"

The Soviets have etched a chapter of triumph amongst the stone of history. Much more is to come, and I can't wait to show you!

And thus concludes

Chapter 1: Discovery

Edited by Kimera Industries
Trimmed down.
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  On 11/23/2023 at 7:50 PM, Kerb24 said:

This story is evolving in strange and interesting ways. Keep up the good work!

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Will do! I really appreciate the support because these missions are very long to do all in one go, and editing them for these posts takes quite a while.

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  On 11/23/2023 at 8:02 PM, Kimera Industries said:

Anybody know how to make a poll/ voting thing without making an entirely new thread?

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If you edit the original post, it will show a "poll" option at the top. It'll then give you a new interface that allows you to create a poll, or several polls. It gives you options like adding a name, questions, etc.

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  On 11/23/2023 at 9:19 PM, TwoCalories said:

For the poll: I think we should continue with expeditionary missions before continuing to the Minmus station. So that'd look a little like the early Apollo missions, exploring the surface and such, maybe with a small rover.

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So, option 2?

The challenge is to keep it interesting and not redundant in its missions because that's why people lost interest in Apollo- it all felt the same to them. I might end up skipping some missions, (or at least mission numerals), e.g. go from mission 1 (which has interest for being the first) to, say, mission 4 (which has interest for doing something new.) The plan is:

Skip to Korolev 7, the first to use a rover

Skip to Korolev 10, the first to land in the Minmus highlands

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  On 11/24/2023 at 2:44 PM, Kerbalsaurus said:

Just asking, how did a fighter jet attacking a Russian civilian airliner not start WWIII?

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@Watermel00n is right about it being kept very quiet, as both sides realize that the reveal of this information could cause *the end of the world.* The American fighter is also part of a group in the military that believes that attacking the USSR is the only solution, and several officials with those beliefs simply turned a blind eye to the long-range, armed fighter heading for the Soviet Union. And to be fair, the Russian jet isn't exactly a civilian airliner. It's got missiles and afterburner, with a radar designed for combat. This is all as a precaution, mind you, but it still has those.

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The name of the lander is the LIG "Feather." A lightweight, 2-person Minmus lander capable of landing under its own power, deploying a rover, and holding cargo for surface science, its name in Russian is Legkiy Geolander, or "Lightweight Geolander." A project that may be scrapped with the introduction of the Zdaniye modular base system was the LUG lander, the Lunnyy Universal'nyy Gruzovoz, or Lunar Universal Cargo Carrier. But I like that name, so it may stay.

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