The Icarus Program (Chapter 16, Part 1)

[Drethon]

Chapter 10

    “Morning gene,” Jebediah arrived at mission command, Valentina, Bill and Bob were already there. “The ground crew looks like they are just pulling out the scaffolding from the launch pad upgrades. We ready to go to space today?”
    “Good morning Jeb,” Gene looked up from his computer screen. “We were just discussing the next major contract that showed up.”
    “Great,” said Jebediah with a smile. “Time to send Val to land on the Mun, or maybe visit Minmus?”
    “This one is a little closer to home,” said Gene. “World Firsts wants us to rendezvous two ships in Kerbin orbit.”
    “Kerbin orbit?” Jebediah was incredulous. “Bob and I made it out to the Mun, why do they give us a contract over Kerbin now?”
    “This mission fits very well with our long term plans of the space program operating on mined fuel,” said Bob. “Once stations orbiting each body are refueled from mining operations, we only need to launch Kerbals from Kerbin and let them take “taxi” rockets to each of the other bodies. Rendezvous is the first step toward building stations.”
    “I suppose,”said Jebediah. “But we could just rendezvous around Minmus, picking up a lot of science along with the contract.”
    “We don’t control the contracts,” said Gene. “This contract is for rendezvous in Kerbin orbit. Maybe World Firsts wants to be involved in producing equipment for building a station around Kerbin.”
    “OK then,” said Jebediah. “What is the plan?”
    “We need to start with building the two rockets that will rendezvous with each other,” said Gene. “I don’t want to send one rocket up to wait for a week in space while the second rocket is built and launched.”
    “No kidding,” chuckled Jebediah. “Neither Val nor I want to sit in a command pod for a week. We’d go as nutty as poor Lizfal.”
    “Exactly the issue I’m trying to avoid,” winked Gene. “It will take us four weeks to build two rockets. They can then be launched close to each other so you do not spend too much time in space before the rendezvous.”
    “Perfect,” said Jebediah. “Let’s talk about the rendezvous plan.”

    This is Walter Kerman reporting. With today’s mission the space program takes a step toward establishing a permanent Kerbal presence in space. While the space program rockets bring our Kerbalnauts to the moons, and eventually to other planets, each rocket is meant for a single mission. Space stations on the other hand will provide long term habitability with comfort, food and life support… eventually.
    I have taken the time to talk with Bob about everything needed for long term space stations, and believe me, the list of needs is extensive. Many rocket trips to both the Mun and Minmus will be needed for all of the science needed to lead to long term space stations. The space program will likely leave the Kerbin Sphere of Influence, and send missions to other planets, before we have enough science to build space stations.
    Today’s mission is the first step toward these long term space stations. A space station will be much too large to efficiently, in some cases even possibly, launch in a single stage. As a result, the space stations will need to be launched in parts and constructed in space. Before parts of a space station can be assembled together, the parts will need to find each other in space. Over the past four weeks, two separate rockets have been assembled to be rolled out for today’s mission. First on the pad we have Valentina’s rocket. The rocket is a modified version of the one she first flew to orbit, an RT-10 has been added as a middle stage to increase the range of the rocket, and the upper stage now uses an LV-909 engine that results in both increased range and lowered cost. This updated rocket design is designated the Halifax class E. Jebediah will launch next with an identically prepared rocket.

    Up goes Valentina to orbit! She will orbit in the lead, waiting for Jebediah to catch up and rendezvous. Speaking of Jebediah, his rocket is being moved out to the pad as quickly as possible. Jebediah is already on board the rocket and prepared to launch.

    And Jebediah launches into space to chase down Valentina. We track the progress of the two spaceships moving closer together in orbit. Jebediah is now boosting up to Valentina’s orbit.

    And we have rendezvous! It may not look like much, Jebediah’s rocket almost not even visible, but it achieves the contract. We will monitor our astronauts return from space and break in should anything important happen.
    Additionally we have updates on Lizfal’s mission. She has successfully completed a fifteen day simulation with no mental concerns at all. While her mental state during the long simulation in the KV-1 pod has been excellent, her level of concentration steadily declined throughout the experiment. At the beginning of the experiment Lizfal had a one hundred percent successful Minmus landing rate, by the end of the experiment her success rate had dropped to fifty percent… 

    “I’m in the breaking phase, reducing velocities,” reported Lizfal. “Angle is rather shallow.”

“Altitude below a hundred meters,” Lizfal’s voice was showing some strain. “Cannot transition to approach phase yet as horizontal velocities are still too high.”
“Horizontal velocities nearing zero,” reported Lizfal. “Transitioning to approach phase. Throttling up to reduce vertical velocities and give the landing sight a quick visual inspection… Uh oh.”

    “I’m still in retrograde mode!” Lizfal exclaimed. “Kill rotation! Reduce throttle!
    “No! I’m already upside down!” Lizfal was beginning to panic. “Vertical plus mode! Come on, cut throttle!”

    “Too late!” cried Lizfal.

    “I think that is a fail,” sighed Lizfal.
    “Yes it is,” Bill’s voice crackled over the radio. “Even Jeb couldn't Kerbal together something with what is left of that rocket. You should have transitioned to vertical plus as soon as your horizontal velocities dropped out to prevent flipping if you bounced. It is not completely your fault though. Your command to reduce throttle would have saved the landing, but MechJeb blocked the command. We really need to address MechJeb locking out the controls when switching modes.”
    “I’ll make a note to look into that after my test is complete,” said Lizfal.*

…”Despite her youth, Lizfal is an extremely skilled simulator pilot,” Bob reported to us. “I feel her degraded performance over time is not an indication of her skill level, but an indication of general Kerbal psychology while isolated over a long period of time. No Kerbal will maintain optimal performance while isolated such as Lizfal has been during the test.”
Bob believes that a pressurized pod like the KV-1 will be necessary for long range missions, but the KV-1 will not be the choice due to only having room for one Kerbal. The space program will skip over the KV-1 pod and go straight to missions in two Kerbal pods as they become available. Lizfal’s mission completed successfully, even if the KV-1 pod was not chosen for use in Minmus missions.

    Gene has also informed me that the mission control building has been upgraded for one hundred and fifty thousand funds. This upgrade expands the contract offices and allows mission control to operate more contracts at the same time. Gene tells me that with the upgrade, they have accepted a number of contracts for operations landing on the Mun that will be completed later after completing the World Firsts contracts that require operation in Kerbin orbit.
    Until next time, this was a Walter Kerman report.

Jebediah Chronicles - Day 295
    Another smooth mission. The upgraded rockets included controllable flight surfaces, which provided a much more optimal ascent. Rendezvous went exactly as planned, if completely counterintuitive to normal flying. Slow down to catch up, speed up to fall behind. I would still think Wernher was crazy if I hadn’t seen everything work out exactly like he said.
Jeb

    Valentina Chronicles - Day 295
    Pretty quiet day despite going to space. The rocket flew like a dream up to orbit and had a ridiculous amount of fuel left after the mission was over. This will be an excellent rocket for running around Kerbin in low orbit. Once I was up to orbit I just had to wait around until Jeb rendezvoused with me and then head back home. Not a lot different than my first orbital mission, just a little easier to fly. Looking forward to more difficult missions!
Val

    * I don’t know how many landings I failed because I forgot to switch out of retrograde mode, or because the MechJeb window is selected and I can change throttle. By always coming in at a relatively steep angle and switching MechJeb to vertical mode when I’m dropping straight down (and always clicking off MechJeb after switching modes) results in a much more reliable landing. Lizfal, of course, did not remember to fix the MechJeb problem. I don’t think there is a way to make MechJeb work without intercepting flight commands when a MechJeb window is selected.

 

[Vanamonde]

Rescue time. 

[Drethon]

Chapter 11
Part 1

    This is Walter Kerman reporting. Kerbals all over Kerbin are reacting with concern over the news that a Rockomax Conglomerate privately sponsored rocket has suffered a critical failure. The rocket successfully reached orbit, but a suspected short circuit caused the rocket to stage early, separating the command pod from its deorbit rocket engine. Currently the Kerbal is stranded in orbit. Our team has arrived at the Kerbal Space Center where we are told the heads of the program are discussing the situation.
    “Getting to the stranded Kerbal is the easy part,” said Gene. “We have traveled much further with rockets, and we just successfully rendezvoused over Kerbin. What we can’t do is return the stranded Kerbin in our MK1 command pod or KV-1 reentry module.”
    “We have another option,” said Bill. “While Bob was working on the controllable winglets, his intern used some of the research and figured out how to improve the KV-1 reentry module design to build a larger two kerbal reentry module, the KV-2.”
    “Linus’ work was surprisingly competent,” said Bob. “But the KV-2 is too heavy. We computed replacing the MK1 pod with a KV-2 for a Mun mission, however the increased mass made the mission infeasible with the present rocket designs.”
    “Infeasible for the Mun, maybe,” said Bob. “But we can handle getting that extra weight up into orbit.”
    Bob smacked his forehead. “You are right.”
    “Excellent,” said Gene. “So the next problem, the Kerbal has less than five days of oxygen left, based on typical space suits. Can we get a rocket out there in time?”
    “We were working on the first rocket to transfer Kerbals over Kerbin,” said Gus. “We have it mostly constructed, except for the command pod. If we have a KV-2 pod available, we can still complete this rocket in four days.”
    “Linus built a prototype KV-2 that is sitting in storage,” said Bob. “Bill constructed it based on Linus’ reasonable heat shield designs. The prototype will survive a trip to space and reentry from low orbit.”
    “It may leak a little,” said Bill.
    “If we get to the Kerbal in time, they will have enough suit air to survive until landing,” said Gene. 
    “We will also need extra propulsion to counter the drag of the KV-2,” Bob was running hand computations as he was speaking. “Plus extra control fins to keep the rocket stable.”
    “We have some RT-5 boosters sitting around,” said Gus. “We could strap a couple of these onto the rocket, and we have a significant stock of control fins.”
    “The RT-5 is not strong enough,” Bob finished his calculations. “We need two RT-10 boosters to achieve sufficient orbital altitude.”
    “We don’t have any RT-10s in stock, just RT-5s,” Gus scratched his head.
    “Two RT-10s could be constructed by disassembling and stacking four RT-5s,” said Bob.
    “We have enough for that,” responded Gus. “We would need you to show us how to properly assemble them.”
    “Before I forget,” said Bob. “The one odd design feature is that Linus left out the control wheels, though it did save some weight. We will have to attach a control wheel to the pod. I have a prototype I built while designing the control fins.”
    Gus and Bob quickly moved off to the Vehicle Assembly Building while Gene turned to Jebediah. “Jeb, you were the one that performed the last rendezvous maneuver. You should fly the rescue.”
    “Got it boss!” said Jebediah.
    Bill walked in carrying his helmet.*
    “Bill, Jeb is flying the rescue mission,” said Gene.
    “I know,” said Bill. “But the rocket has two seats!”
    “One seat for the Kerbal we are rescuing,” responded Gene patiently. “If you are on board, we will have to leave you stranded on the pod.”
    “Oh,” Bill turned bright green.
    As the space program prepares for the rescue mission, we will provide more updates as the launch day arrives.
    Until next time, this was a Walter Kerman report.
    
    * Written for the tendency for KSP to auto populate all available cockpit positions. I had missed a part on the rocket with Jeb ready to launch, went back and corrected it and Bill had popped into the copilot seat. One reason I will never play KSP without the ability to revert a flight.

[Drethon]

Chapter 11 Part 2

    This is Walter Kerman reporting. Today we are at the Kerbal Space Center launch pad once again. Jebediah Kerman is strapped into a new Halifax class F rocket, basically a Halifax class E with the MK1 command pod replaced by a new two Kerbal KV-2 reentry module, along with extra boosters and control fins to counteract the higher drag KV-2. Despite the KSC’s previous objections to naming rockets, Jebediah is calling the rocket the Aquarius*. Aquarius is the mythical bringer of water, or in this case the Aquarius is likely to bring the stranded Kerbal back to the ocean.
    The countdown hits zero and Jebediah launches on his Kerbalitarian mission. We have been allowed to move our coverage inside of mission control to observe the recovery operations. 
    “Staging the thumper,” said Jebediah. “The 909 is at full throttle but the Aquarius really feels like it is lugging right now.”
    Bob whispered to Bobak who relayed the message. “The TWR is significantly lower with the KV-2. You will need to keep a higher pitch on the rocket than you did with the Halifax class F until you gain altitude.”
    “Copy KSC, maintaining higher pitch,” Jebediah responded. The rocket continued gaining altitude for two minutes when Jebediah radioed in again. “I’m finally starting to feel the Gs increase. The Aquarius is starting to feel like a rocket.”
    “Good to hear Jebediah,” said Bobak. “You are scheduled to maintain this attitude up to an altitude of one hundred kilometers.”
Over the next hour Jebediah reached orbit and maneuvered to close on the stranded Kerbal. As the time ticked by on the operation, Kerbals wandered in and out for short brakes. Gene was just returning to mission control from a break.
    “How long until rendezvous?” asked Gene, who was munching on a snack.
    “Five minutes to the braking burn,” said the operations controller.
    “Excellent,” Gene moved to his control station. “The braking burn will get Jebediah within sight of the drifting capsule, then we just need to get the two vehicles close enough to transfer the stranded Kerbal.”
    “I don’t think this is what World Firsts had in mind when they asked us to transfer Kerbals between spacecraft,” quipped Bobak.
    “No one said we could not stack missions,” said Gene. “I am already picking up contracts for Mun landings, and I expect we will soon receive a contract from World Firsts to add to the list.”
    “The advance we expect from World Firsts should cover the construction of the Mun lander,” said Mort. Bobak snickered.

    “Braking maneuver complete,” Jebediah’s voice crackled over the radio. “I have the drifting capsule in sight… if I squint.”
    “KSC copies braking maneuver complete Jebediah,” said Bobak who glanced at Bob. Bob whispered to Bobak who nodded and turned back to his radio. “Bob says the range to the target is under a kilometer if you can see it. You just need to point at the pod and light the engines.” Bob whispered in Bobak’s ear again. “Light the engines gently, Jebediah. Bob does not want the Aquarius colliding with the stranded pod.”
    “Not that much different from landing a kerbalkopter,” said Jebediah. “I can grease the skids from a ten meter per second dead stick drop.”
    “Copy Jebediah, but we would rather you not grease the stranded pod,” said Bobak. “Just get close to it.”
    “Copy get close KSC,” said Jebediah. “You guys are no fun.”
    The displays at mission control showed the Aquarius closing in on the stranded pod, the precision of the information from tracking could only provide some limited relative separation. As the Aquarius closed about halfway to the stranded pod, it began drifting away again. After a bit of time drifting away, the Aquarius lit up the engines again and closed in again, only to start drifting away. This was repeated a third time when Jebediah’s voice came over the radio.
    “KSC, this is Jeb,” said Jebediah. “I’m trying to keep the approach slow and steady, but I keep drifting the wrong way.”**
    “Jebediah this is Bob,” Bob leaned in close enough to Bobak for his voice to be picked up. “Going slow was wrong. At your closing speed, orbital effects are greater than your closing rate. You are going to have to close in faster.”
    “KSC, this is Jeb, confirm permission to hit it!” Jebediah sounded excited.
    “Yes Jebediah,” said Bob. “You have permission to “hit it” with the rocket thrust, please do not literally “hit it” with the stranded pod.”
    “Watch this KSC!” Jebediah exclaimed. “This is how you perform an emergency landing!”
    The Aquarius’ engines increased to full throttle and the rocket quickly began closing on the stranded pod. The indicated distance to the pod dropped quickly. Around the halfway point, the Aquarius throttle dropped to near zero, the rocket flipped end for end and throttled back up.
    “Yeehaw!” exclaimed Jebediah over the radio.
    “Please tell me you are not scorching the stranded pod with your exhaust,” Bob asked over the Radio.
    “No scorching of the stranded pod KSC,” said Jebediah’s voice. “When I flipped over I thrusted down slightly to come in under the stranded pod. The Aquarius has near zero velocity relative to the stranded pod,” reported Jebediah.
    “KSC copies zero relative velocity Jebediah,” said Bobak. “Can you see the stranded Kerbal?”
    “No movement yet,” responded Jebediah, who continued a moment later. “Wait, I see a Kerbal exiting the hatch, they are moving toward the Aquarius.” Silence for a minute then, “The stranded Kerbal is outside of my pod.”    

A quiet sigh of relief went around mission control when another voice was heard over the radio. “Hello, is this a Kerbal Space Center rocket?”
    “Yes, unknown Kerbal,” said Bobak. “This is Bobak in mission control at the KSC. Can you identify yourself?”
    “This is Surick from the Rockomax Conglomerate,” said Surick over the radio. “It is good to see a properly working rocket, do you have room in there for me?”
    Gene nodded at Bobak. “Plenty of room for you Surick. Jebediah, please decompress the pod and allow Surick to enter.”
    “Copy KSC, allowing Surick on board,” Jebediah responded. After a few minutes, Surick’s transponder no longer showed up on the mission control screens, and the pod systems reported a second Kerbal on board.
    “Wow, this pod is nice,” Surick’s voice was heard over the radio. “A much cleaner, and roomier, pod than what Rockomax is using. Is the space program hiring?”
    “We can discuss possible employment when you return to the ground,” radioed Bobak.
    “KSC, this is Jeb,” Jebediah’s voice crackled over the radio. “Surick is on board and strapped in, permission to deorbit and land.”
    “Permission granted,” radioed Bobak. Over the next few minutes the Aquarius deorbited and descended until it could parachute down to the surface of the ocean.
https://i.imgur.com/YX38HWu.png
    “Come on out,” Jebediah’s voice was heard over the radio. “The water’s fine!”
    “No thanks,” radioed Surick’s voice. “I don’t trust this Rockomax flight suit not to sink to the bottom.”
    “Your loss,” splashing could be heard with Jebediah’s voice. After a minute his voice was heard over the radio again. “Uh, maybe this wasn’t a great idea. I got some science from the water out here, but the pea pod doesn’t float like a command pod, I can’t figure out how to get back on board. Mission control, I’ll need a pickup from the water before you pick up the pod please.”
    “KSC copies personal pickup Jebediah,” said Bobak. “Relaying to the recovery craft.”
    Reports from World Firsts is that the space program has achieved a new record by performing a crew transfer in space near Kerbin. Additionally a contract was completed for World Firsts to perform a crew transfer in space near Kerbin, and Vac-Co Advanced Suction Systems provided a reward to the space program for rescuing Surick from orbit of Kerbin. The space program now includes a new recruit, Surick, a pilot.
    Surick has been flying airplanes for her entire career.*** She flew propeller driven transport airplanes before Jebediah began his test pilot career. Surick was brought on as Deputy Chief of the Flight Test Operations at the Rockomax Conglomerate to help Rockomax catch up with the KSC space program designs, and was the Assistant Chief of the Kerballed Spacecraft Operations for Rockomax when stranded during their first Kerballed rocket test.
    Immediately after landing, Surick was brought to the KV-2 ground test with Lizfal. Bob and his team are excited, after the successful rescue flight with the KV-2, to see if the KV-2 will be a good match for extended time spaceflights, such as those to Minmus and beyond. Lizfal was excited to have an actual Kerbalnaut join her for this ground test.

    Until next time, this was a Walter Kerman report.

    Jebediah Chronicles - Day 309
    Not flying to the Mun. We are ready to fly back to the Mun but we keep flying around Kerbin orbit. Still, I wouldn’t want to leave Surick stuck up in space, so the rescue mission was worthwhile. The KV-2 pod worked really nicely. Much more space on board than the MK-1 pod, and I could ride back down to Kerbin with another Kerbal on board.
    We really need to upgrade the tracking systems if we want to keep performing rendezvous. Sure I managed to get close enough to Surick for her to fly over to me with her jetpack, but I wasted a ton of fuel going this way and that, trying to get close to Surick’s drifting pod. Bob says they have plans in mind for the tracking station to be able to track orbits so we can rendezvous better. Looking forward to actually knowing where I’m going around other rockets.
Jeb

    * Apollo 13’s lunar module was named the Aquarius, and considered to be the “lifeboat” of the mission after the explosion on the service module. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_13
    ** Gemini 4 attempted the first rendezvous but was unsuccessful due to no on board radar and having to eyeball the distance, the target dumping propulsion, and other factors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_4.
    *** Career vaguely based on Robert White, an X-15 pilot, among other accomplishments. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Michael_White.

 

Edited December 10 by Drethon
Spelling

[Drethon]

Chapter 12 - Part 1

    This is Walter Kerman reporting. Today a Kerbal leaves Kerbin for the Mun. Not just to fly past and observe, but to land on and touch. Valentina Kerbin is currently sitting in the command pod of an updated Arethusa class B rocket, named the Sparrow, sitting on the launch pad. The updated Arethusa class B includes an extra fuel tank to keep the LV-T30 engine burning longer while lifting the upper stage into orbit. This greater fuel capacity is needed to provide sufficient fuel to deorbit the rocket and touch down gently on the Mun, then be able to return back to Kerbin. One thing current technology is lacking is proper landing gear. Bob says this is a priority for the science gained from traveling to the Mun, but for now, Valentina will be landing very gently on the Mun, and on her LV-909 engine bell.*

    And we have liftoff! Valentina Kerbal has started her trip. Valentina sent a message to KSC as she ascended, “KSC the MechJeb is operating really smoothly. Almost like Jeb is flying the rocket for me and I just have to tell him which way to point the nose!”. With that, we will report again during the landing of the first Kerbal on the Mun!

    Until next time, this was a Walter Kerman report.

    Valentina Chronicles - Day 323
        I’m heading for the Mun, I can’t believe it! The trans-munar injection burn just completed and I am now bound for the Mun!
        The new Arethusa rocket technology is revolutionary. Between the winglets for better control during ascent, and the radial decouplers for a significant boost in thrust on the pad, we now have rockets with nearly unlimited capabilities. On top of that the MechJeb almost lets me just sit back and watch the rocket lift into space. I’ll need to make sure I keep up with manual flight practice at times or I’m liable to forget how to fly a rocket.
I’m heading for the Mun now, but I can already feel the pull to explore the rest of the system! I just hope I can safely land the upper stage on the Mun. If I make a mistake in landing, well I only have the one engine to land with and bring me home. I hope all the sim time I put in was enough. Bob says if we can get through the next couple of missions, he will be able to design a lander with proper landing gear, as well as space for a second Kerbal to join the trip.
        All that is worry for later though. Kerbin is behind me and the Mun is ahead of me. I’ll be watching the Mun the whole way to orbit. Maybe Bob will have time to talk about what the experience was like for him.
    - Val

    * OK so the Micro Landing Strut is available. This part of the story is kind of a reflection back to my first KSP Mun landing when the struts were not available at that stage of the career.
 

Edited October 3 by Drethon

[Drethon]

Chapter 12 - Part 2
    This is Walter Kerman reporting. Today a Kerbal will stand on a body other than Kerbin. Valentina Kerbal is currently in orbit over the Mun, and we are reporting from inside mission control as Gene prepares to give the command for Valentina to begin her deorbit burn.

    Activity is beginning to pick up in mission control, let’s listen in.
    *“OK all flight controllers,” said Gene. “Valentina is going down to the Mun, or coming back home. Give me your go no go status.
    “Retro.” “Go!”
    “FIDO.” “We have no FIDO computer yet Gene, Val is figuring out the flight path, Go!”
    “Guidance.” “Go!” “Surgeon.” “Go!”
    “EECOM.” “The Mk1 pod has no life support Gene, Val’s spacesuit is Go!”
    “Control.” “Go!”
    “CAPCOM,” said Gene. “We are go for descent and landing.”
    “Valentina,” said Bobak. “You are go for descent and landing.”
    “Rodger KSC,” Valentina’s voice came over the speakers. “Beginning deorbit burn.”

    The tension in mission control jumped as telemetry showed the rocket begin dropping toward the Mun. As Valentina counted down the altitude the tension continued growing. The numbers quickly began decreasing toward the surface until…
    “Beginning breaking phase,” Valentina’s voice crackled over the speakers. As Gene had told me would happen before the beginning of the descent, altitude callouts shifted to being reported within mission control as Valentina concentrated on the powered descent.
    “Horizontal velocities nearing zero,” Valentina’s voice was strained but a display in mission control showed the descent profile closely following the plan. “Transitioning to Approach Phase.”
    “Vertical velocities dropping,” said Valentina, a slight squeak in her voice. “The Mun sure is coming up quickly.”

    “Horizontal velocity at zero and nearing the surface, entering Terminal Phase,” the rocket quickly approached the surface on the display as Valentina reported. “Under one hundred meters, descent at 25 meters per second. 15 meters per second. The surface is right here. Meep!”
    No sound could be heard from within mission control, the displays showing the rocket was on the ground. Bobak reached for his microphone when the speakers crackled.
    

    * Somewhat mangled Apollo 11 landing go no go.

Edited October 6 by Drethon

[Drethon]

Chapter 12 - Part 3
    “KSC, Valentina here,” Valentina’s voice sounded weak and shaky. “The Sparrow has landed!”*

    The quiet in mission control was shattered by a roar of cheers and applause. Over the din, Bobak’s voice could barely be heard responding to Valentina.
    “Rodger Vel… Valentina, we copy you on the ground,” Bobak’s voice was about as shaky as Valentina’s. “You got a bunch of guys about to turn pink. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot.”**

    As the noise in mission control died down, Bobak spoke up again. “Mission well done Val! Take some time to shut your systems down, and take a breather. Report in when ready for EVA.”
    “Rodger KSC,” said Valentina, she took a deep breath, audible over the radio. “I'd like to take this opportunity to ask every Kerbal listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way.”***
    A quiet din settled over mission control as controllers began discussing sensor readings, and discussed if everything was ready for Valentina to perform an EVA. The radio was silent for minutes before it crackled again.
    “Valentina here,” Valentina’s voice crackled over the radio. “All systems read as nominal. Ready to open the hatch.”
    “Rodger Valentina,” Bobak looked around the room as he spoke, all mission commanders giving thumbs up, ending with Gene. “Everyone here is happy with what we are seeing, you are go for EVA.”

    “Opening the hatch,” the radio was quiet for a minute. “I am now outside of the capsule looking down at the surface. “KSC we don’t have any… Eep!” Valentina’s voice gave a sharp squeak.

    * Mangled eagle has landed quote. https://www.archives.gov/files/social-media/transcripts/transcript-eagle-has-landed-1969-45017.pdf
    ** I think I first saw this used by Kuzzuter, now Mr Dilsby, though I can’t seem to locate the specific reference so here is his profile https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/profile/232743-mister-dilsby/, based on the quote from Apollo 11 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11.
    *** Mangled quote from Buzz Aldrin. https://www.nasa.gov/history/50-years-ago-one-small-step-one-giant-leap/

Edited October 6 by Drethon

[Drethon]

Chapter 12 - Part 4

    “Val?!” cried Bobak. “What is the problem?” Silence over the radio and in mission control. “Val?! Val report!” The silence continued for a few moments before the radio crackled.
*
    “Valentina here,” a nervous rustle went through mission control at Valentina’s voice. “I am fine, but the rocket… tipped over when I was climbing out.”
  

    “KSC copies Valentina,” said Bobak as mission control seemed to be holding their collective breaths once again. “Is there any damage to the rocket?”
    “The rocket looks fine KSC,” a quiet sigh went around mission control at Valentina’s statement. “No visible damage, but I’m not sure how to lift off now.”
    “Copy no visible damage Valentina,” as Bobak spoke a number of controllers scrambled to form a circle around Bob and Wernher. Bobak glanced at Gene who nodded back. “We are working on the issue, for now, continue with your EVA.”
    “Rodger KSC,” said Valentina’s voice. “The surface dust of the Mun is very fine grained, almost like a powder.** A small cloud blew out when the rocket tipped over. The rocket appears to have only settled an inch or two into the dust.” Silence for a few moments then. “Dropping off the rocket KSC.”

    “That’s one small tumble for <crackle> Kerbal,” said Valentina. “And one giant leap for Kerbalkind!”***
    Cheers broke out again through mission control at Valentina’s statement. I am told that celebrations are breaking out all over Kerbin. For the first time, a Kerbal is standing on another body in the Kerbol system! The first step toward greater exploration, and greater science!
    Bob rushed over to Bobak and whispered to him. “Valentina, we have a request from Bob to try out your jetpack’s maneuverability on the Mun.”
    “Val copies test the jetpack KSC,” there was silence over the radio for a couple of minutes. “The jetpack takes a few seconds to build up thrust. Near full thrust the jetpack is strong enough to lift off of the Mun’s surface. The jetpack seems to have enough thrust and responsiveness to maneuver around the Mun nicely. At least as long as the fuel lasts, the jetpack is faster to move around the Mun than walking.”
    “KSC copies Valentina,” said Bobak.

   “KSC, I have a number of surface samples,“ Valentina’s voice was heard over the speakers. “Much of the material appears to be melted byproducts.”

    “KSC, science gathering is complete. Taking a final look around before returning to the Sparrow. It’s a brilliant surface in that sunlight,” reported Valentina. “The horizon seems quite close to you because the curvature is so much more pronounced than here on Kerbin. It’s an interesting place to be. I recommend it.”IV

    * Interestingly this went pretty much as the story says in my development playthrough, a main part of why this chapter was written this way. However in my story playthrough the rocket landing was very stable and I had to manually knock it over.
    ** Mangled quote from Neil Armstrong. https://www.archives.gov/files/social-media/transcripts/transcript-eagle-has-landed-1969-45017.pdf
    *** Mangled quote from Neil Armstrong (I hope everyone actually already knows this quote at the least). https://www.nasa.gov/history/55-years-ago-apollo-11s-one-small-step-one-giant-leap/
    IV Quote from Neil Armstrong. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-moon-landing-at-50-neil-armstrong-in-his-own-words-60-minutes-2019-07-14/

 

Edited October 11 by Drethon

[Mr. Kerbin]

 

-

Edited October 11 by Mr. Kerbin
fix

[Drethon]

4 hours ago, Mr. Kerbin said:

Uh…  you mean Kerbin, right… UNLESS…..

  Reveal hidden contents

(gasp) THE KERBALS CAME FROM EARTH!

 

Yep, not always easy to catch everything that needs to be modified from a quote, thanks!

[Drethon]

Chapter 12 - Part 5
    “KSC I am returning to the Sparrow,” said Valentina. “I wanted to report that for a rocket that remains upright, we have no built in stairs, so returning to the top of the rocket could be problematic.”
    “KSC copies the lack of stairs,” Bob hurried over and whispered something into Bobak’s ear before he spoke again. “Bob tells me we need more science to figure out how to develop stairs that will handle the stresses of a rocket. For now, the EVA jetpack will need to be used to get in and out of a rocket that is not vertically challenged.”
    “Valentina copies the EVA jetpack usage,” clanking could be heard over the radio as Valentina spoke. “I have returned to the command pod. Do we have a way to get the rocket back upright so I can return to orbit, KSC?”
    “Rodger Valentina,” Bobak covered the microphone while Bob and Wernher spoke with him. “We have a new liftoff procedure for you. Use the reaction wheels in the command pod to rotate the rocket around its longitudinal axis. Once enough rotational velocity is achieved, the nose will lift up to at least forty five degrees, which will be enough to allow you to launch off of the Mun.”
    Silence was heard over the radio for a few moments. “KSC please confirm,” Valentina’s voice was incredulous. “You want me to spin a rocket like a top?”
    Bob nodded at Bobak and whispered to him briefly. “Confirmed Valentina,” responded Bobak. “Bob assures me that the reaction wheels have enough torque to spin up the rocket, and the LV-909 has sufficient structural strength to hold up to the maneuver.”

    “Rodger KSC,” Valentina’s voice was flat. “Beginning “top” mode. Rotation rate is accelerating. Closing on one rotation per second, the nose is lifting slightly. Seven hundred and twenty degrees per second, the nose is up twenty degrees.” Valentina’s voice was strained as the spinning increased in speed. “Exceeding to fourteen hundred degrees per second, nose is almost forty five degrees.

    “Engaging rockets at full thrust!” Valentina grunted out.” The Sparrow has lifted off. Going vertical and reducing rotation rate.“ The stress left Valentina’s voice as the rocket’s rotation speed dropped. “Rotation rate at zero, entering a modified vertical rise phase. Altitude passing five hundred meters. Apoapsis passing three thousand meters, beginning orbital insertion phase. Approaching ten thousand meters elevation, orbital circulation completing. Cutting engines.”

    “KSC, this is Valentina,” the radio crackled. “You should really see Kerbin from the Mun. Taking lots of pictures”

 

[Drethon]

Chapter 12 - Part 6

    The rest of the mission seemed to go textbook perfect to this reporter. No concerns were raised by Valentina or mission controllers. The Sparrow completed its Trans Kerbin Injection burn, followed later by a short correction to align the rocket for a perfect reentry. Valentina’s command pod touched down at one hour local time to a beautiful sunset.

    The KSC recovery crew is on the way to pick up Valentina and place her in quarantine. This quarantine will be enforced for four weeks due to concern by scientists that Valentina may have been exposed to potentially harmful microscopic life on the Mun.*

    Valentina will be quarantined in a Hitchhiker Storage Container that is designed for long term space habitation. The quarantine will double as a test of the Hitchhiker module. Valentina’s Hitchhiker will be hauled to the KSC so Valentina can be present for the celebrations of the first Mun landing. Helping fuel the celebrations will be the news that the mission has officially set World Firsts records for Munar suborbital flight, landing, walking, planting a flag on and returning from the Mun. Significant funds were gained for completing contracts to travel to the Mun to land, plant a flag and collect a Mun rock. Scientists will be hard at work for a long time to come analyzing the surface samples, Mun rock and materials study from the Mun, finding that Mun dust from the East Crater was pervasive throughout all of the equipment. However the celebrations will be brief. Gene tells me the contracts continue their march toward completion. The next major contract provided will require both Jebediah and Valentina to launch once their rockets are ready and Valentina has completed her quarantine.
    This reporter would like to take a moment to reflect on the history that has led up to this moment. From the earliest writings, Kerbals have looked to space and theorized how to explore all that we saw. Kissac Newton’s earliest works decoded orbital mechanics, and from there the other laws of physics defining how everything operates on Kerbin and in space were derived. As we could not step first into the stars, we first sought to take flight.
    The story of Icarus tells us of how the first Kerbal to fly created wings out of feathers and ice cream sandwiches. With his wings, Icarus traveled the lands meeting other Kerbals and helping us to learn the world was much larger than was once thought. Unfortunately Icarus continued to fly after winter ended, and in the warmth of summer his wings melted, causing him to plummet back to Kerbin. Though many benefited from learning that a melted ice cream ale is a mighty tasty beverage.
    Modern flight was often as tragic as the last flight of Icarus. Many Kerbals have given their lives to master flight. Some said that we should stop exploring flight and striving for space, that the cost in Kerbal lives is too great. But our test pilots would not have wanted that. We are a curious species, always wanting to know what is over the next hill, around the next corner, on the next island. And we have been that way for thousands of years.**
    This reporter believes the events today have proven our test pilots have not given their lives in vain. Kerbals have mastered flight, and through flight we can travel anywhere on Kerbin. Today a Kerbal has made the first step exploring a body beyond Kerbin. Looking back on today, future Kerbals will say it was the first step to mastering, and colonizing, space.
    Not to be lost amidst the news of the successful and historic Mun landing, Surick and Lizfal completed their fifteen day mission on the KV-2 pod. Both Kerbals performed optimally, flying simulations through the entire fifteen days with no loss of concentration over the missions. Surick was heard to state that Lizfal was “Very enthusiastic throughout the test and ensured my mind would never drift from the mission.”

<Inside the simulation>

    “Beginning deorbit burn,” said Lizfal.
    Surick glanced at the timer readout and Lizfal’s burn was started precisely on target. During the long simulation run, Lizfal and Surick had landed on Minmus fifty times so far. Surick knew the landing checklist so well she saw it in her dreams. It would have been easy to just daydream her way through the entire landing, if it was not for Lizfal’s constant chattering… normally. This landing simulation was somewhat unusual as Lizfal was humming softly to herself as the rocket slowed.
    “Good deorbit burn,” Surick reported as the rocket’s trajectory began to line up with the planned descent trajectory. “Clear to start the braking phase.”
    “Rotating to retrograde, setting throttle for braking,” said Lizfal, who then began singing. “This ship is taking me far away,
    “Far away from the memories,
    “Of the people who care if I live or die”***
    Surick was so startled she almost forgot to start calling out the state of the landing approach. “Twenty eight hundred, down sixty six, forward thirty nine… Thirteen hundred, down thirty eight, forward fifteen… Four twenty five, down twenty five, forward two, nearing approach phase.”

    “Transitioning to approach phase, our landing ground looks pretty good,” Lizfal reported before returning to her singing. “I will be chasing a starlight,
    “Until the end of my life,
    “I don’t know if it’s worth it anymore”
    “Three eighty, down eighteen, forward one…” Surick continued reporting the numbers, hoping Lizfal was listening through her singing. “Two twenty five, down eight, forward zero, drifting to the left a little… Eight to touchdown, down one, dropping straight…”
    “Our hopes and expectations,” Lizfal sang on. “Black holes and revelations.”

    “Touchdown!” called Surick.
    “Engine cutoff!” responded Lizfal. “Woohoo!”
    “Good landing Lizfal,” Surick said warmly. “A better profile than even MechJeb can produce so far.”
    “Thanks!” beamed Lizfal. “You know I played a recording of MechJeb’s voice from a maneuvering node, my roommate thought it was rather sexy!”
    “You don’t say…” Jebediah was the only other Kerbal Surick had heard singing while performing such precision flying. Could the Kerbol system really handle more of them? Then again, if singing resulted in such precise flying, maybe it should be part of the training program.

<The Waltar Kerman report>
    With the success of the KV-2 simulated trip to Minmus, perhaps we will see the KV-2 on a mission soon.

    Until next time, this was a Walter Kerman report.

    Valentina Chronicles - Day 325
    The first Kerbal on the Mun! I can’t hardly believe it! I always thought someone like Jebediah would be the first on the Mun. He will always be the first in space, and to fly by the Mun, but I was first to set foot on the Mun! It all still feels completely unreal, but the parades, the parties, everyone wants to meet me! Even though I get to see the parades looking out the little hab windows while riding on a float.
    The mission was not perfect. The lander is so tall and unstable, and Bob is still looking for science data to crack the use of landing gear in space. This issue needs to be addressed ASAP. Plus the lack of ladders on the lander. EVA jetpacks are all good and well, but if a Kerbal (looking at you Jeb) gets too enthusiastic and uses up their monoprop, there needs to be a way to get back up to the command pod.
    I wasn’t perfect, I need to refine my descent profile. The landing was successful, but just a little too perfect. A fraction of a second later and touchdown might have dinged up the rocket bell, threatening to strand me. The descent profile needs to start a little sooner for some built in error.
    My return burn was a little off too, used up too much delta v. I talked afterward with Bob as his return was nearly perfect. I had thought to burn in the retrograde direction relative to my orbit with Kerbin, but Bob pointed out to me how the rocket is pulled around by the Mun’s gravity, which shifts the escape velocity. I need to burn my Trans Kerbin Injection burn so the escape angle of my burn is retrograde relative to Kerbin. I’ll learn from my mistakes and keep getting better!
    Still, I’m the first Kerbal to step on the Mun!
    - Val

    * Based on the Apollo 11 quarantine procedures, that may have been pure theater to satisfy the public. https://www.space.com/apollo-11-moon-landing-nasa-quarantine-procedures
    ** Slightly mangled quote from Stuart Atkinson in memoriam of Space Shuttle Columbia. https://www.spiked-online.com/2003/03/07/next-stop-mars/#google_vignette
    *** Starlight by Muse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgum6OT_VH8.
 

Edited October 29 by Drethon

[Bobbejans]

i perfer the bean space program by martincitopants 

but still very cool and i wonder what the future will hold for the icarus program maybe it will be better than the bean program who knows??

[Drethon]

Chapter 13 - Part 1

    This is Walter Kerman reporting. Today two Kerbals are orbiting the Mun, not to land, but to practice rendezvous around the Mun as the space program continues working toward developing permanent space stations. This mission is using two new Magdeburg class C rockets assembled over the past four weeks for sequential launches that occurred yesterday. The class C adds much needed ladders, landing gear and science equipment to the rockets. To still be capable of landing on the Mun, given the extra weight, the class C has two additional booster rockets. Even though there will be no Mun landings on this mission, the extra range provided by the class C upgrade will provide for extra maneuvering during the rendezvous. The mission was delayed by an upgrade to the Vehicle Assembly Bay, which, once complete, resulted in the two rockets being assembled more quickly. So yesterday, Jebediah was the first on the pad.

    Jebediah’s rocket is seen lifting off from the pad. He is headed for the Mun to take up a stable orbit for Valentina to rendezvous with.

    Valentina’s rocket is seen lifting off from the pad. She will be chasing Jebediah’s rocket down in orbit above the Mun.

    Today, Jebediah and Valentina are in orbit around the Mun. Jebediah is holding a steady low orbit, while Valentina is holding a higher orbit. Once Jebediah has caught up, Valentina will burn to a lower orbit to rendezvous with Jebediah. Mission control is abuzz with activity to ensure the mission goes smoothly.

    For today’s rendezvous the tracking center has been upgraded, providing precise distances to targets at the closest approach during the orbit. Our Kerbalnauts no longer have to estimate the rendezvous by eyeball.
    “KSC this is Valentina,” a voice crackled over the radio. “I see Jeb’s rocket I am approaching, burning to zero out velocities… Rendezvous completed!”

    “Confirm rendezvous completed,” said Bobak. “Well done to both of you. Valentina, you can plan your Trans Kerbin Injection burn. Jebediah, we have updated mission orders.”
    There was a bit of a stir around mission control, it seemed Jebediah would not be returning directly home.
    “Jebediah, we have a contract to plant a flag on the Mun,” said Bobak. “Your new mission is to land in the lowlands, pick up all the science, test the landing gear out and plant a flag to complete the contract.”
    Oh my! Today will feature the second Mun landing, in addition to the rendezvous around the Mun. Just think of the science to be gathered!
    “Jeb copies landing at lowlands KSC,” came Jebediah’s voice. “Descent node planned, burn scheduled in twenty three minutes.”
    Controllers around mission control redoubled their efforts to check and recheck the landing plan.

    “Five minutes to descent maneuver,” Gene’s voice interrupted the activity. “Give me your go no go for descent.”
    Gene opened his mouth again when Jeb’s voice crackled over the radio. “Beginning descent burn!” Gene’s mouth snapped close and he glared at Bobak as if the Kerbal could transmit Gene’s disapproval to Jebediah.
    “Jeb,” Bobak choked out. “You are early on your burn, report.”
    “That crater below is smiling at me!*”, exclaimed Jebediah’s voice. “I know we need science from a midland crater, and this one is obviously friendly!”
    “Hold one Jebediah,” Bobak covered his microphone and looked over at Gene.
    “Too late to stop him,” said Gene. “Either he lands at this crater or comes home, not enough fuel to land elsewhere.”
    “KSC copies Jebediah,” said Bobak. “Landing burn for midland crater.”
    As the minutes progressed, Jebediah’s rocket descended for the Mun.
    “Horizontal velocities zeroing, entering Approach Phase,” reported Jebediah. “Wait… something is wrong… thrust is dropping.”
    “Control, Guidance, I’m seeing it too!” cried a voice. “He is coming in way too fast!”
    “The new landing gear has extra tolerance built in,” Bill said quickly. “If he can land squarely, maybe the gear can provide enough cushion.”
    “Jeb, drop your gear and land as squarely as you can,” Bobak called out. “The gear can take some of the impact.”
    “I’m coming down perfectly straight,” Jebediah’s voice was steady despite the situation. “Gear lowering, altitude nearing zero.” Static cracked over the speakers.
    “Jeb, what is your condition?” asked Bobak. “Jeb report!”
    The stunned silence seemed louder than the static over the speakers.

    *”Smiling” crater on Mars. https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Happy_face_crater_on_Mars.
 

Edited December 10 by Drethon
Spelling

[Drethon]

Chapter 13 - Part 2

    Security quickly marched the journalists out of mission control, while the controllers began to analyze the situation.
“His impact speed was way too high to survive,” said Baldes, the Guidance controller. “I checked and rechecked the numbers.”
    “The gear will hold up to a big impact on the Mun,” said Bill. “You can’t be sure Jeb did not survive.”
    “It does not matter if he survived,” said Gene. “The fastest we can get a rescue rocket to the pad is nearly a week away. He will be out of oxygen long before then.”
    “Gus has something to say about that,” Bob was hauling the head of the ground crew into mission control.
    “My crew is willing to put in emergency time to complete a rescue rocket,” Gus looked shaken but determined. “We could finish a rocket in a little under five days.”
    “I appreciate your enthusiasm,” said Gene. “But the suit oxygen only lasts five days, Jeb will have been stuck in that suit for too long, even if you can finish a rocket in five days.”
    “Doesn’t matter,” said Bob sharply. “I’m leaving as soon as a rocket can be prepared to bring Jeb home, one way or another.”
    “You are flying?” Bill gaped at Bob. “You hate flying.”
    “I am bringing Jeb back,” said Bob with finality. “Gus, get to work as fast as you can.”
    The ground Kerbal nodded and hurried off to the assembly building.
    “Do you know the cost of launching such a rocket?” Mortimer failed to grab Gus on his way out and hurried over to Bob. “The program was not built on throwing good money after bad.”
    “Bill and I each have a twenty percent stake in Jeb’s junkyard,” Bob glowered at Mortimer. “With the value the space program has put into his junkyard, I can afford to launch a rocket.” Mortimer closed his mouth and walked away shaking his head.
    “You can go recover Jebediah’s body,” said Gene sadly. “Whatever all of you may think, the government has already declared Jebediah to be lost.”

[Kerbalsaurus]

R.I.P. Jebediah Kerman (although he might be alive, Kerbals are impossible to kill).

Also, forgot to say something but I liked the pictures of all of the mission controllers playing cards and Monopoly. Those were pretty funny.

Edited November 1 by Kerbalsaurus

[Drethon]

9 minutes ago, Kerbalsaurus said:

R.I.P. Jebediah Kerman (although he might be alive, Kerbals are impossible to kill).

Also, forgot to say something but I liked the pictures of all of the mission controllers playing cards and Monopoly. Those were pretty funny.

Up to this point the story was kind of constrained by what capabilities I could unlock during hard mode. At this point I'm trying to make use of what I've unlocked to expand the story more beyond the basic missions.

[Drethon]

Chapter 13 - Part 3
    This is Walter Kerman reporting. Breaking news! The president of the Kerbal Republic is making a statement on the space program. We cut now to a live view of the MK3 office.
 
    “My fellow Kerblals, today I come to you with the gravest news.*
    “Fate has ordained that the Kerbal who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.
    “This brave Kerbal, Jebediah Kerman, knows that there is no hope for his recovery. But he also knows that there is hope for Kerbalkind in his sacrifice.
    “This Kerbal is laying down his life in Kerbalkind's most noble goal: the search for truth and understanding.
    “He will be mourned by family and friends; he will be mourned by his nation; he will be mourned by the people of the world; he will be mourned by a Mother Kerbin that dared send her son into the unknown.
    “In his exploration, he stirred the people of the world to feel as one; in his sacrifice, he binds more tightly the brotherhood of Kerbal.
    “In ancient days, Kerbals looked at stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic Kerbals of flesh and blood.
    “Others will follow, and surely find their way home. Kerbalkind's search will not be denied. But this Kerbal was one of the first, and he will remain the foremost in our hearts.
    “For every Kerbal who looks up at the Mun in the nights to come will know that there is some corner of another world that is forever Kerbalkind.”
I have several responses to this loss from Kerbals associated with, or interested in the space program.
    "In this generation, the space program embarked on a course of space exploration. Today, despite this tragedy, we remain on that course.... Jebediah is lost, but the dreams that inspired him remain with us. Those dreams are carried by the families of the Kerbalnaut, who even in grief, have urged that Kerbin go on with our space program"**
    "And don't tell me that Kerbal doesn't belong out there. Kerbals belong wherever they want to go - and they'll do plenty well when they get there."***
    "Space travel is life-enhancing, and anything that's life-enhancing is worth doing. It makes you want to live forever."IV
    With those thoughts we reflect back on the life of Jebediah Kerman. Jebediah was a precocious child, using parts from the family scrapyard to develop a turbine powered propeller driven aircraft.V The aircraft was ironically nicknamed the thundersqueek. The aircraft was more thunder than squeak as the sound waves from the aircraft caused mass chaos when Jebediah flew the aircraft into the Little Hare airport. The sound waves from the propeller turned Kerbals to odd spaghetti shapes, requiring a mass rescue event. Fortunately all affected Kerbals returned to normal soon after a brave Kerbal engineer named Bill shut the airplane down. This engineer was asked to transport the airplane to a secure location and responded with “You aren’t big enough, and there aren’t enough of you to get me in that thing again.”. As a result, the thundersqueek is currently stored in a restricted access museum built around the taxiway the thundersqueek is parked at. Oddly Jebediah seems immune to this “spaghettification” effect.

    Recognizing Jebediah’s genius, the Rockomax Conglomerate contracted Jebediah to test fly various airplane designs. One notable test flight was the high altitude record with the RC-25 Fruitbat.VI The Fruitbat was designed for airplane racing, and dominated the unlimited class with its massive acceleration and speed. Jebediah was able to achieve an altitude of 40 kilometers, a record that would not be exceeded until Jebediah himself flew into space in a rocket.

    Jebediah also holds the record for the highest airspeed in an air breathing aircraft. The G-70,VII sponsored by Goliath National Products, was developed for rapidly transporting ivory truffles around the world on the one day of the year they become edible. Jebediah was able to push a stripped down version of the G-70 to 1171 m/s, or approximately mach 3.4.

    Even with the loss of our greatest test pilot and astronaut, the space program will continue forward, exploring onward and continuing to advance science.
To honor Jebediah, the space program is being renamed. Many of you may remember my previous report discussing the story of Icarus who was lost while trying to reach the stars. As Jebediah was lost just like Icarus, the space program will forever be known as the Icarus Program.
    Until next time, this was a Walter Kerman report.

    *Based heavily on the Safire Memo that President Nixon would have given if the Apollo 11 landing had gone horribly wrong. https://www.archives.gov/files/presidential-libraries/events/centennials/nixon/images/exhibit/rn100-6-1-2.pdf
    **Modified quote from Dick Cheney on the loss of the Columbia. https://www.mariannedyson.com/columbiaquotes.html
    ***Wernher von Braun. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/9183788-and-don-t-tell-me-that-man-doesn-t-belong-out-there
    IV Ray Bradbury. https://quotefancy.com/quote/898002/Ray-Bradbury-Space-travel-is-life-enhancing-and-anything-that-s-life-enhancing-is-worth
    V The thunderscreech, called the “Mighty Ear Banger”, was an attempt to develop a turboprop/jet hybrid to launch from aircraft carriers. Unfortunately  the designers chose to use a supersonic propeller with only one speed, supersonic, and propeller thrust was controlled by changing the propeller pitch. The supersonic propeller made the aircraft, possibly, the loudest ever built. It was so loud the shockwaves knocked a man down, caused nausea, headaches and seizures. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyG7Xxw2YXU
    VI Based on the altitude record with a Mig-25 https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/world-record-how-one-russian-mig-25-fighter-reached-123523-feet-74286. I could have Kerballed a higher apoapsis with just jet engines but I was trying to make an equivalent to the Mig-25.
    VII The G-70 was initially built to replicate an XB-70 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_XB-70_Valkyrie, but with KSP stock parts it kind of became a hybrid with the B-58 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_B-58_Hustler. The top speed is more equivalent to an SR-71, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_SR-71_Blackbird, than an XB-70 however.

 

[Drethon]

Chapter 13 - Part 4


    Bob sat on top of the newly constructed Magdeburg class D. Gus’s crew had done an amazing job, completing the rocket in four and a half days, adding extra boosters and the KV-2 reentry module to the base class C rocket. Yet Jebediah’s oxygen would have run out earlier today while the rocket was being assembled, even if he survived the landing. Still, it was Jebediah, he had survived so much, Bob could not believe he could possibly be gone.
    The countdown and launch went by in a blur. Bob’s fear on his previous flight replaced thoughts of Jebediah. The rocket continued on its trajectory for the Mun and an intersection with Jebediah’s crash location. A retroburn sent Bob and the rocket on a descent for the Mun. Soon Jebediah’s crashed rocket came into sight.

    “I see the rocket KSC,” said Bob as he continued descending. “Entering terminal phase… Touchdown... Jeb’s rocket is in pretty bad shape from what I can see. The landing gear is scattered in all directions, the rocket engine is crushed and the command pod appears to be broken off from the rest of the rocket. I cannot see what condition the pod is in as it is blocked from sight by the fuel tank. *

    “I am shutting down systems and preparing EVA to find Jeb. I… GAH!” Bob’s shocked exclamation seemed to echo across space between the Mun and KSC.

    * You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to get the proper velocity to crash a rocket that goes to pieces, but doesn’t kill the Kerbalnauts. The crash in the Lizfal sim was during my first run to get portraits during the crash, and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get the pod to survive when the rest of the ship broke up again to get screenshots without the HUD. Also the landing gear seems to be as tough as Bill says, I had to photoshop in broken landing gear.
 

[Drethon]

Chapter 13 - Part 5
* 
    “Hi Bob!” crackled Jebediah’s voice over the suit comms as he looked in through the KV-2’s view port. “Have a good flight?”
    “I… you…” Bob stammered. “Ebbeh… how?”
    “I’d love to discuss more with you but I used up most of my air walking over here,” said Jebediah, knocking on the window. “Permission to come aboard?”
    “Y… yes!” Bob exclaimed and quickly worked to depressurize the pod and open the hatch.
    “I hope you have some extra O2 bottles,” said Jebediah as he climbed in.
    “The KV-2 reentry modules are pressurized, remember?” responded Bob. “Just give it a few minutes.”
    “Oh right,” said Jebediah. “My mind is a little fuzzy on this air right now.”
    After a short time, Bob removed his helmet so Jebediah followed suit and took a deep breath.
    “Ah,” said Jebediah with a smile. “That air is much better than what was left in the suit.”
    “How did you have any air left in the suit?” asked Bob. “You should have run out nearly a day ago.”
    “The crash wrecked the rocket engine, but also exposed all of the piping,” said Jebediah. “I was able to tap into the oxidizer lines.”
    “That was liquid oxygen,” protested Bob. “The temperatures are so cold it would instantly freeze your lungs!”
    “The main engine was destroyed,” said Jebediah. “But the turbopump was untouched. I used it to create a flame and carefully preheat the oxygen to something I could breathe.”
    “How did you seal the connections?” asked Bob. “Something like that should have leaked all of your air into space.”
    “You would be amazed what you can do with the mystery goo,” grinned Jebediah.
    “I…” stammered Bob. “You… that’s impossible!”
    “Yet I’m here,” winked Jebediah.
    Bob’s mouth stopped working and he settled for giving Jebediah a very awkward hug between their suits, inside the pod.
    “Well put your helmet back on,” said Bob. “I need to go out and finish the mission contracts your crash interrupted.”
    “Already done,” said Jebediah. “I planted the flag before I jetted up to the pod, and the samples are on my suit.”
    Bob paused. He wanted to explore the Mun, but he also just wanted to get away from the crash and see Jebediah standing on Kerbin. “Then we can launch at any time.
    “I’m flying us home!” Jebediah exclaimed.
    “You have been breathing rocket fuel for the past four days,” protested Bob. “You are not in any condition to fly home!”
    “I’ll figure it out,” said Jebediah with a wide grin. ”I’m a pilot!”
    “Not of this rocket,” grumbled Bob.
    “I’m the pilot!”
    Bob shook his head as he started strapping in, in the copilot's seat.

    * Warning, this reference contains minor spoilers to Plan Kappa https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/topic/119520-plan-kappa-a-ksp-graphic-novel-jeb-is-back-in-chapter-53-well-kinda/. To avoid being spoiled, read Plan Kappa through chapter 15.

I believe I originally thought of this gag from Kuzzter’s (Mr Dilsby’s) Duna Ore Bust chapter 4 completion

https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/topic/110096-duna-ore-bust-a-ksp-graphic-novel-complete/page/7/. However, given that I didn’t put this down on paper until long after Parkaboy’s Plan Kappa chapter 15 end https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/topic/119520-plan-kappa-a-ksp-graphic-novel-jeb-is-back-in-chapter-53-well-kinda/page/8/, I’m going to just say I’m copying Parkaboy here.

 

On 11/1/2024 at 12:05 PM, Kerbalsaurus said:

R.I.P. Jebediah Kerman (although he might be alive, Kerbals are impossible to kill).

Also, forgot to say something but I liked the pictures of all of the mission controllers playing cards and Monopoly. Those were pretty funny.

Kerbalsaurus basically called it, this chapter was about how it often seems to be impossible to kill Kerbals, and in particular Jeb, at least when mods like Kerbalism are not installed.

Edited November 7 by Drethon

[TwoCalories]

On 11/7/2024 at 4:04 AM, Drethon said:

   * Warning, this reference contains minor spoilers to Plan Kappa https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/topic/119520-plan-kappa-a-ksp-graphic-novel-jeb-is-back-in-chapter-53-well-kinda/. To avoid being spoiled, read Plan Kappa through chapter 15.

Plan Kappa reader spotted in the wild

[Drethon]

Chapter 13 - Part 6
 
    This is Walter Kerman reporting. Today we come to you with momentous news. Against all odds, Jebediah Kerman has survived his crash on the Mun and Bob Kerman’s recovery mission has brought them both back from the Mun. As we speak, the rocket bearing Jebediah and Bob is burning through the atmosphere to return the astronauts safely to Kerbin.

    And Jebediah and Bob are safely standing on Kerbin’s surface! I think it will be a race to see if the recovery crew, or local mobs of Kerbals, will arrive first to greet our returning heroes. I expect the celebrations to last for some time.
    World Firsts is reporting new records of a rendezvous near the Mun, and the rescue mission is being counted as a crew transfer near the Mun. The original rendezvous and rescue mission have completed contracts for rendezvous near the Mun, crew transfer near the Mun, planting a flag on the Mun and gathering science data from the surface of the Mun. Samples gathered from the Midland Crater seem very dusty, unlike the melted samples from the East Crater, though not conducive to making snowmen. Significant science was recovered, including material science and mystery goo experiments on the Mun and surface sample from the Mun.
    Until next time, this was a Walter Kerman report.

    Jebediah Chronicles - Day 358
        What a mission! I really expected the end when plummeting toward the Mun. The thrust dropping to freefall really felt like falling into oblivion. It was a shock when the rocket settled to a stop. The impact wasn’t even that hard, mostly absorbed by the landing gear and rocket bell, just all the tumbling after the initial impact. Then as I became aware I was still alive, the realization followed almost immediately I was stranded without enough air.
        I was very fortunate that all the equipment I needed to survive was still working. Just a little engineering trickery that still has Bill scratching his head. Though the first couple days the air from the oxidizer tanks sure made me loopy, or maybe it was just being stuck on an airless rock with no idea when help might arrive.
        I can’t believe they renamed the space program to the Icarus Program in my honor. Now that they’ve changed the name they refuse to change it back, even if something like the Phoenix Program seems more apt.
        I came to realize something while stuck on the Mun. I was sitting there with a bunch of science gathered from the Mun, but no one might ever recover the science. The science we can gather, the advances in technology we can produce from the science, the ability to settle Kerbals further into the Kerbol system, all of it is worth more than one Kerbal. Even if this program is the end for me, I will keep exploring as far as I can so those who come after me can go even further. I have to reapply myself, focus on the mission at hand and no goofing off. For science! …and maybe still some goofing off.
    - Jeb

    Bob Chronicles - Day 358
        Jeb is alive! Who would have thought! No one else could have made it through this, only Jeb. Yet his survival was mostly luck, or Jeb’s streak of having back luck getting him into bad situations and then lucking out of the same situation. We cannot keep depending on luck, we need to engineer redundancies into the system.
        Rockets with a single descent and ascent rocket need to go away as much as possible. If we use one rocket for descent, and another for ascent and/or return, the ascent rocket can at least get the Kerbals back into space on a failed descent. All rockets with Kerbals onboard should have redundancies wherever possible. Then any rocket that does not need Kerbals on board should be automated and can have reduced redundancies.
        Eventually another rocket will fail. We need to at least be able to say we gave the Kerbals on board every chance to survive the failure.
    - Bob

 

OOC: So there are not really any planed out sections to the story, but you could kind of call this the end of book 1.  The Icarus Program has learned how to travel to space, and overcome some difficult situations. Now they will begin to work toward living in space. Additionally the crew will begin expanding in this chapter with more Kerbalnauts with unique personalities and goals.  Feel free to comment about what you like, or don't like, about the story.  I've got drafts of quite a few chapters after this, but I am always happy to back fill the story. After Mr. Kerbin asked about Lizfal, I expanded her next couple of sections a bit more than I had originally.

Regardless, I'm having fun writing this story and hope you all are having fun reading it!

[Drethon]

Chapter 14
 

    “The agenda for today’s meeting is to discuss the safety of the space program,” began Gene. “While Jeb survived his recent mishap through ingenuity, and apparently some engineering trickery,” Gene nodded at Jebediah who smiled back, Bill just glowered at them both. “We need to come up with methods to ensure a Kerbalnaut can survive long enough to be recovered.
    “To start with I propose a fleet of rescue rockets,” Gene opened up a presentation showing a group of new rockets. “The fleet will be composed of three new rocket types, the Halifax class F MK II Rescue type to rescue Kerbals in low orbit around Kerbin, the Arethusa class B MKII Rescue type to rescue Kerbals in high Kerbin orbit and the orbits of the Mun or Minmus, and the Arethusa class C MKII Mun rescue type to rescue Kerbals landed on the Mun or Minmus. Thoughts?”

 
    “Reasonably efficient designs. It looks like each rocket is designed to rescue a single Kerbal, thus the use of the low drag MK1 Command Pod is very practical,” said Bob. “Good use of our new probe cores to minimize the overall weight of the rocket by not requiring a Kerbal pilot.”
    “We will have no problem building one of these each week,” said Gus.
    “Which brings me to my next point,” said Gene. “Before we head out on Kerballed missions again, we need to build enough of each model to be able to rescue any Kerbals that become stranded.”
    “My companions working for Goliath and Rockomax tell me their companies are sponsoring their own space missions,” said Wernher. “They are tending toward bigger is better missions. As many as six Kerbals on a rocket, with two making the trip to the Mun or Minmus, with one Kerbal landing.”
    “So to start with,” Gene ticked off numbers on his fingers. “We want six Kerbin orbit rescue craft, two Mun slash Minmus orbit rescue craft and two Mun slash Minmus lander rescue craft.”
    “Hang on a moment,” said Bob as he scoured the rocket designs. “The Kerbin rescue ships are planned for low orbit?”
    “Yes,” said Gene hesitantly.
    “We only have the transmitter in the tracking station,” said Bob. “We can update the probe’s orbit every time it passes over the KSC, but if the Kerbal we are rescuing is in a bad orbit, we cannot guarantee communication with the probe during rendezvous.”
    “Oh mulch,” said Gene. “You are right. How can we fix this?”
    “If we launch three additional probes to higher orbit we can build a communications network,” said Bob. “Three probes orbiting above 600 kilometers would do it. Removing the command pod from a Halifax class F MKII, then adding appropriate antennas, should be appropriate.”
    “OK so we need to start with three communication rockets,” said Gene. “You are still developing solar power prototypes for our rockets,” Gene looked at Bob who nodded. “So we need to rely on fuel cells for now. They will run for a little under ten days, as a result any rescue operations will need to be completed within this time. If we do not need a rescue mission any time soon, we can retrofit these rockets with solar power, once we finish developing them, so the communication rockets can support multiple missions.” Gene made some notes. “Adding three comm rockets to the bill.”
    “Speaking of the bill,” Mortimer poked into the discussion. “How are we paying for these rockets? We have no contracts for rescues.”
    “We don’t need contracts!” Walt bounced in. “Rescue missions will do wonders for our reputation! More reputation! More contracts! More profits!”
    Mortimer glanced over with a slightly disgusted expression. “You are proposing we pay for these rockets in hopes that we will get contracts as a result?”
    Walt nodded enthusiastically.
    “Not just that,” said Gene. “We also protect our largest investment with these rescue rockets, our Kerbonauts.”
    “Fine,” Mortimer waved his hands in the air. “Go throw money at a bunch of rockets we may never use.”
    “We will get started on construction right away,” said Gus. “We have more than enough space for that number of prebuilt rockets.”
    “Good, we have our first action item to improve survivability,” said Gene. “I’ll open the floor for other ideas.”
    “To reduce the time between failure, we can engineer into the rockets improved reliability or redundancy,” said Bill. “Or both, if we have funds to burn.”
    “I suggest we add redundancy,” said Bob, who put a rocket design on the display. “We are deorbiting, landing, launching and returning to Kerbin all on a single stage. By the time we launch, the stage has a large amount of empty fuel space. I propose a backward rocket design…”

    “You want me to fly a rocket backward?” Jebediah stared at Bob.
    “If you would let me finish,” said Bob, Jebediah shrugged. “The rocket is designed backward from a mission perspective. The final stage is the correct size to launch from the Mun and return to Kerbin. The second to last stage is the correct size to transfer the first stage to Mun orbit and landing. The remaining stages are designed to launch the rocket into low Kerbal orbit.”
    “Why not separate stages for flying to Mun orbit and landing?” asked Bill.
    “That is an option,” said Bob. “But this design places the tanks that will be emptied while transitioning to Mun orbit on a radial attachment to be used as a wider platform for the landing gear.” Bill nodded to Bob’s statement.
    “So if the transfer and landing stage fail at any point,” Valentina was looking closely at the rocket schematic. “We still have the launch stage for redundancy.”
    “Exactly,” said Bob. “In the worst case, a failure just before the landing burn, the last stage will have enough delta v to at least return to a stable Munar orbit, or land a bit more gently than Jeb did, to await rescue.”
    “I like it!” exclaimed Jebediah.
    “I do as well,” said Gene. “It will take some time to design and begin building this new rocket. Our next Munar mission may still have to use the design Bob used to rescue Jeb. Jeb, Bob, you will be up next for a landing given your familiarity with the rocket. Any problems with flying it?”
    “I have concerns,” said Bob. “But Bill found the cause of Jeb’s failure and the fix looks sound. Any problems with the rocket should be new problems, and likely less catastrophic, or at least less likely for the failure to occur.”
    “I’m good to go,” Jeb sat up. “When do we fly?”
    “Not soon,” said Gene. “We have thirteen rockets to assemble, which will take a week each, now that we have upgraded the Vehicle Assembly Building. Once those are finished, we can start building the new Mun lander.”
    “Aw come on,” said Jebediah. “We can make it to the Mun and back again in one piece.”
    “Sorry Jeb,” said Gene. “You are just going to have to make do with flying airplanes for a while.” Gene looked up at Jebediah. “Though we should create some new simulations for piloting remote rockets. You should get some practice on those simulations.” Jeb nodded at Gene who looked at some notes. “One last proposal. If we need to launch our rescue fleet on an operation, we will have a temporary communications network to take advantage of. If we add two probes designed to fly around Minmus to the bill, we could complete this new contract to fly by Minmus, along with the other operations. Do we want to do this?”
    Nods all around the table, except for Jebediah who looked glum.
    “OK then,” said Gene. “We have a lot of construction work to do.

Edited November 14 by Drethon

[Drethon]

Chapter 14 part 2

    “Thanks for bringing me along for your flight Jebediah!” Lizfal was positively beaming. “I’ve wanted to learn to fly all my life!”
    “My pleasure,” grinned Jebediah. “I’ve seen your simulation flights, you are a natural. And call me Jeb.”
    “You got it Jeb!” Lizfal looked out at the ground moving past. “I can’t believe I’m being flown by the greatest test pilot!”
    “Speaking of airplane testing, we should see what this airplane can do” Jebediah pushed the stick hard over and the horizon suddenly became a rapidly spinning line. Lizfal grabbed out for anything to help hold her in place as the airplane rapidly changed orientation.

    “How is this relevant to learning to fly a rocket?” squeaked out Lizfal.
    “A rocket pilot needs to maintain spacial awareness at all times,” Jebediah leveled out the aircraft. “And any pilot needs to know how to identify and recover from exceeding the vehicle's limits, especially when flying a new prototype.”
    “Wait,” asked LIzfal. “Is this a prototype aircraft?”
    “Yep,” grinned Jebediah. “First time we have flown this model.”
    “Wouldn’t it be better for me to learn on a well tested airplane?” asked Lizfal.
    “None of the existing airplane models are space rated,” said Jebediah. “If you are going to be a rocket pilot, you should learn on space rated aircraft like this prototype.”*
    “Is this an SSTO prototype?” asked Lizfal.
    “No oxidizer to light up a rocket on board this one,” responded Jebediah. “But all the parts will be used in future SSTOs.”
    “Wow,” breathed Lizfal.

    Jebediah pushed up the throttle and pulled the stick back. Lizfal was pushed deep into her seat as the aircraft rapidly gained altitude. As the aircraft started losing airspeed, Jebediah kicked the rudder, throwing the aircraft into a spin.
    “So how is your spacial awareness?” asked Jebediah as the airplane fell from the air. “What is the aircraft doing?”

    Lizfal forced her lunch back down and quickly scanned over the instruments. “Uh, we are dropping around forty meters per second and yawing to the left at about three hundred and sixty degrees per second… Ulp.”
    “What is the recovery technique?” asked Jebediah, the airplane plummeting through fifteen thousand meters.
    “Recovery… recovery…” Lizfal searched her memory as her brain screamed at her that they were going to crash. “The PARE technique. Power to idle, ailerons to neutral, opposite rudder and elevator down.”
    “Perfect,” smiled Jebediah as he took his hands off the controls. “Show me how.”
    “Me?” squeaked Lizfal. “On my first flight?”
    “I’ve seen you recover from worse in simulations,” said Jebediah.
    “My stomach isn’t trying to escape through my mouth in simulations!” protested Lizfal.
    “Well you better treat this like a simulation,” said Jebediah, crossing his arms. “I’m not recovering the aircraft.”
    Lizfal’s stomach leapt again in a way that had nothing to do with the airplane movement. She took hold of the flight yolk, centering the controls and at the same time reducing the throttle. Then she eased in right rudder and pushed the yolk forward as the aircraft dropped through ten thousand meters. As Lizfal performed the recovery maneuver, Jebediah began singing.
    “I’m learning to fly around the clouds,” sang Jebediah. “But what goes up, must come down!”**
    “I never heard that song before,” Lizfal said as the aircraft slowed its rotation and began to accelerate in its dive. “Who wrote that?”
    “Ever since I flew the longest duration flight I hear music in my head while flying,” said Jebediah as the aircraft dropped through five thousand meters, the rotation stopped and Lizfal increased the throttle and pulled back on the flight yolk. “I don’t know where it comes from.”
    “I like it,” the brief singing calmed Lizfal’s panic a little. The aircraft leveled out at three thousand meters.
    “A little slow on the recovery,” said Jebediah. “But otherwise a textbook spin recovery.” Lizfal beamed. “That covers the spin recovery test for this prototype, now you can land us back at the KSC.”
    “Me?” Lizfal asked.
    “I’m not landing the aircraft,” winked Jebediah.
    “Meep!” squeaked Lizfal. She targeted the KSC runway and banked the aircraft to a heading for the runway.
    “So you and Bob are working on science together?” Jebediah asked.
    “Bob has me looking into the Geiger counter readings from different spaceflights,” Lizfal focused on maintaining a steady heading while they talked.
    “I haven’t grown an extra arm so it can’t be too bad,” quipped Jebediah.
    “You haven’t been out in space all that long,” said Lizfal. “And still your radiation exposure is rather high. We need to work on better shielding for long term spaceflight.”
    Lizfal activated the radio to communicate with KSC control. “KSC control, this is Kilo-Lima-three-eight-X-ray, I am ten kilometers east and inbound for landing at runway two seven.”
    "Kilo-Lima-three-eight-X-ray, this is KSC Tower,” the response came after a few moments. “Landing approved at runway two seven."
    “How long term are we talking?” asked Jebediah.
    “Months to years,” said Lizfal. “Reaching Eeloo will take more than four years. Also we’ve found that there are bands of high radiation in orbit of Kerbin. We will be using the magnetometers on the space probes you are launching to better map these radiation bands and place stations where Kerbalnauts will receive minimal radiation.”
    “Very interesting,” said Jebediah. “Though of more immediate interest, what is the appropriate approach altitude for our present distance from the runway.”
    “Altitude.. I.. Oh,” Lizfal blushed. “About seven hundred feet lower than I am. Should I descend?”
    “Diving for the runway is frowned upon,” said Jebediah. “Knowing when to go around and make another approach is the mark of a good pilot, not forcing a bad landing.”
    “OK,” Lizfal raised the flaps, increased the throttle and began climbing away. Then she activated the radio again. “KSC control, this is Kilo-Lima-three-eight-X-ray. Requesting permission to go around and perform a landing at runway zero nine.
    "Kilo-Lima-three-eight-X-ray, this is KSC Tower,” the response came almost immediately. “Landing approved at runway zero nine. There is no inbound traffic to KSC, so take what time you need to go around and land at runway zero nine."

    “Rodger KSC Tower,” Lizfal flew out past KSC then banked back around to approach KSC from the opposite direction to come in on runway 09.

    “You are a little right of center,” said Jebediah. “Airspeed and altitude look good.”
    Lizfal adjusted her heading slightly and continued the approach.
    “Looking good,” said Jebediah. “Right down the slot.”

    The aircraft touched down gently and Lizfal slowed to a stop. She locked the brakes and turned off the engines before exiting the cockpit, climbing down the ladder and dropping to the ground…

    …somewhat literally. After a few moments Jebediah walked around and helped her back up.

    “Sorry Jeb,” Lizfal’s voice quavered slightly. “I guess I’m not much of a pilot if I fall apart like this.”
    “You did fine,” Jebediah winked at Lizfal. “Even some of the best pilots collapse when they get to the ground after a touch mission. It doesn’t matter what happens to you on the ground, it matters what you do in the air.” Jebediah grabbed Lizfal’s shoulders and looked her in the eyes. “Despite your anxiety you recovered a prototype aircraft from a spin, then proceeded to fly the same prototype back to base and land it. I knew you had what it takes to be a pilot.”
    “Really?” Lizfal could not help beaming.
    “Really,” said Jebediah.

    * So I haven’t yet unlocked much for planes, so anything in the story for a while (until the chapter reports unlocking plane parts for testing) are experimental prototypes and non spaceworthy airplanes.
    ** Learning to fly by Tom Petty. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5BJXwNeKsQ
 

Edited November 17 by Drethon

[Drethon]

Part 3
 
    This is Walter Kerman reporting. We have an emergency in space! The joint Golliath/Rockomax space mission has met with catastrophe. Our network of telescopes and radio receivers has witnessed the craft's destruction while beginning the trans Munar orbit burn, leaving four Kerbals stranded in various low Kerbin orbits, and one Kerbal ejected into Munar orbit. The landing craft survived the explosion, but later crashed into the Mun while trying to loop back to Kerbin.
    We have heard the Icarus Program and the KSC have already begun mobilizing for some unknown operation, which given the timing, seems likely to be related to the accident. We are currently en route to the KSC and will provide updates as we are able.

    We have arrived at the KSC where Gene Kerman has agreed to give us a brief interview. Gene, the KSC appears to be preparing for multiple launches. Is this in relation to the Goliath/Rockomax disaster?
    “Yes it is Walter,” said Gene with a deeply serious expression. “After nearly losing Jeb during his Mun landing, the Icarus Program constructed a fleet of probe operated ships, designed for rescuing one or two Kerbals from one of our missions. We assembled a fleet of these rescue probes for mass rescue operations when we heard the missions the other space programs were preparing.”
    You have enough capacity to rescue all of the stranded Kerbals?
    “Yes Walter,” responded Gene. “We have had some time to prepare rescue operations, and our fleet of rockets is being prepped and brought out to the launch pad and will be able to handle this situation.”
    Jebediah popped his head in the office and asked, “The Mun rocket is completed, can I fly to the Mun today?”
    “No Jeb,” said Gene. “You and Val are remotely piloting the rescue rockets.”
    Gene left the office to return to preparing the rescue operation, dragging Jebediah with him. You heard it here first folks, Project Icarus’ management had the foresight to prepare rescue operations to the level of the one being mobilized today. We are fortunate to have an organization with the altruism to plan for the needs of Kerbals beyond those on their own program. Our crew is no longer allowed to film inside of mission control after Jebediah’s crash occurred live on air, however we will remain on site at the KSC to provide updates as they come in.

    Over the past day, two rockets have lifted off and the third is on the pad, ready to launch. Upon this third rocket reaching orbit, we are told a full communications network will encircle Kerbin. With the network in place, a rocket will launch every hour as they are rolled out to the pad as quickly as possible by the KSC ground crew. The first rocket will head to the Mun to rescue the Kerbal stranded there. Next the second rocket will head to the Munar orbit rescue. Finally over a period of four hours, four more rockets will launch into low Kerbal orbit. Each rocket will be fully automated with a probe core operating the rocket, providing remote control back to the KSC for precision maneuvers. No Kerbals have to be risked on the rescue operation, if the rocket is lost on the way to a rescue, a backup rocket can be rolled out and launched.
    Never before have Kerbals launched so many rockets in such a short period of time. Prior to this operation it required days between launches, with the exception of the few rendezvous operations which launched only two rockets each. The Icarus Program has truly taken space operations to a new level with this recovery mission.

And there it goes! The final comm satellite heading into orbit. We will provide updates if anything goes wrong with the remaining launches. Otherwise we will report in when the rescue rockets rendezvous with the stranded Kerbals.