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United Space Flight Agency - Mun Flybys, Docking, and a F.O.O.P.E with a purpose


B0lt

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After the grand  launchadous, the Kerbal economy was in disrepair and dozens of Kerbals are trapped in space. The Kerbin National Government decided to ban space flight. But a few Kerbals from multiple fallen space agencies decided to unite and create a new agency . Will this agency revive Kerbalkinds dream for space flight? Or will it fall down like all the rest?  Guess we'll to find out :D:                

 United Space Flight Agency

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This save decides to combine a similar photography style of @Kerbalsaurus 's beyond horizons (You should check it out it is awesome and a huge inspiration) and the goal of turning interstellar travel into the norm in a 1.5 rescaled universe. The main mods ill be using for this is Kerbal construction time, USI life support, MKS, Unkerballed start and a few more to make this a bit harder 

 

 

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Chapter 1: A rocky start 

 

On the first day of the new program the engineers brought out a new probe that they named stayputnik it was a simple test to make sure all systems are working well

A few hours later the same stayputnik probe was then strapped on using a flea solid rocket booster and was launched one day later.

The ignition was successful but one minute after the flight the probe ran out of battery and crashed a few kilometers away from the ksc causing a pr crisis. Fortunately, Walt Kerman (public relations) was able to point out that the rocket ban technically only banned having kerbals on rockets not computers saving the USFA.
 

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Day 5 
    Walt kerman announced the phoenix program which planned on proving to the United Kerbin Government that the USFA was a viable space program and a worthy investment 

 

Day 12
    Government officials gathered around some stands to watch the phoenix 1 launch. One minute later the phoenix 1 crashed a few kilometers away from the ksc. This time telemetry, thermal, and atmospheric data was transmitted back to the ksc along with a picture of the ksc a few minutes before impact. Overall, the mission was a success in proving the USFA's competence in constructing small sounding rockets but the united kerbal government (UKG for short) was yet to be convinced 

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Day 36 
    After a lot of hard work the USFA has prepared the Phoenix 2 a liquid fuel and (hopefully) recoverable rocket to once again attempt to prove to the UKG that the USFA is a viable space agency and some of the benefits of spaceflight. Right after ignition the phoenix 2 started pitching down. The engine had to forcefully be shutdown before the rocket ended up accelerating into the ground then the two drogue parachutes where deployed successfully showing that the phoenix 2 was a recoverable vessel. But because of the fact that the phoenix 2 didn't fly anywhere close to space (which is 140,000km because i doubled size of the kerbol solar system) the UKG was not convinced and changed nothing leaving the USFA to continue to tread on thin ice

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Chapter 2- Wobbly rocket woes

Day 65
    After reviewing the design of the phoenix 2 engineers realised the offset center of mass was causing this rocket tilt. After alot of thinking a new design was selected. The new design simply featured a rocket engine that can gimbal. The rocket successfully ignited but still ended up tipping over. 
 

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Day 66 
    In an act of desperation two srb's were connected to the recovered phoenix 2 rocket. Once again it tilted early into the flight.

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Day 76
    The phoenix 3 Stood on the launch pad and launched successfully but still ended up tipping over and crashing only being able to transmit temperature data

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Chapter 3 - Things are looking up!

The USFA desperate to get into space decided to listen to anyones rocket concepts so in stepped intern wverner vaun kerman. He proposed the Heracles program.

Day 100
    The Heracles 1 stood on the launch pad. The mission control ertuped in cheers as the heracles 1 reached an altitude that no other rocket has before (roughly 25km. The rocket ran out of battery before the parachutes could deploy. Despite the crash Wernher von Kerman was immediately promoted.

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Day 164
    Just as the sun rose the hercacles 2 was ready for launch. It almost broke the atmosphere reaching 70km (for refrence 1.5 rescaled kerbings atmosphere is 105km). It ended up splashing down and the temperature and pressure data was recovered. 
 

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Day 175
    USFA history was just made with the second launch of the heracles II the probe went out of the atmosphere and transmitted back the first pictures of space and temperature and pressure data. This flight discovered that even though space is closer to the sun it doesn't get hotter leaving alot of scientist's in a frenzy. Unfortunately the vessel burnt up on re entry still this success is monumental for not just the USFA but the scientific industry as a whole. Though now the USFA will take a break to improve their technologies in preparation for orbital flight

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In partnership with the Kerbin Star Watching Club the USFA is proud to present the new USFA Observatory and with this the Find Out if Other Planets Exist (FOOPE) program. This will put most rocketry construction to a halt for a while 

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Chapter 4- The greatest feats yet

 

Day 248 After a lot of hard work and inventing new technologies for this  flight. The mighty Heracles 3 stood on the launch pad. And 7 minutes into the flight the on board computer transmitted that the orbital insertion was successful and history was made. With the antenna extended the probe started transmitting temperature data, temperature and a message stating that the USFA was the best and was here to stay .

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A few days public outcry forced the UKG to announce their partner ship with the USFA. In this partnership putting Kerbals in space is the goal

Day 259 The first brave kerbonauts were selected, Jebediah kerman,  Valentina Kerman, Bob Kerman, Bill Kerbin will be the pioneers of kerbaled spaceflight
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Day 265 
    Early in the morning an inline cockpit with jebediah inside  was drilled onto a hammer srb. The goal of this flight will be to replicate the effects of an actual rocket launch. The flight was successful and also set a new G-force tolerance record of 6 g's. Though Jeb did end up doing an intensive belly flop maneuver to shave of speed. All in all this flight proved Kerbals resilience and Jebs potential insanity 

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Chapter 5 - Orbital Shenanigans

Day 282 
    A new stronger launch pad was made in preparation for future missions 

Day 282
    A modified version of the Heracles III now with "hammer" Srbs (aptly named the Hearcles III/H) is sporting a CubeSat with the goal of returning a sample from space. Going supersonic before 5km shocked the bystanders just continuing to prove the USFA's superiority. 7 Minutes and 40 seconds into the flight orbit was confirmed. One day later, the re-entry burn started. At 1 Day 2 Hours and 23Minutes the first ever object from orbit was recovered.

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   Day 313
    Another Heracles III/H ready to carry another CubeSat this time with a mystery goo with the goal of another orbital recovery and studying the goo without the effect of gravity. 5m 26s orbit confirmed. 7 days 2 hours and 42 minutes into the mission the vessel confirmed touchdown

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Day 321 
    Valentina Kerman was strapped on the vomit commet. Her flight reached an apoapsis of 59km and she sustained 7g forces beat Jebediah. In an attempt to beat Jeb she also did the belly flop maneuver.

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Chapter 6- Kerbal In orbit

Year 2 Day 10
    To celebrate the new year another CubeSat with once again the goal of orbital recovery. But in an attempt to continue to keep public interest, this CubeSat was going to set an altitude record. Which was successful. The CubeSat was placed into a 524Km x 122Km orbit. 69 days 2 hours and 32 minutes in the mission the CubeSat was recovered setting the record for the object that stayed in space then returned back to Kerbin

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Year 2 Day 17
    Another Heracles III/H (Nicknamed the 'ol reliable by the engineers) loaded with (You guessed it!) a CubeSat but with a few modifications for better communications. The goal of the flight is to attempt to create wireless communication between two different posts. If this flight is successful a wireless communication network could be created connect all Kerbalkind with ease. But after noticing the fact that there was fuel left in the second stage. After consulting with some of the flight crew, the mission plan was changed to setting a new orbital altitude. In the end it reached an orbit of 1,908km x 1,712km.
 

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Year 2 Day 79
    After a lot of planning, the first flight in the viator program which will put kerbals in orbit and beyond was ready. The vessel (of course being) the Heracles III/H this time carrying the Viator payload, inside that payload is Jedediah Kerman who (Hopefully) will be the first kerbal to go to space and return. 18 minutes into the flight an orbit of 168km x 125km orbit. Jeb was allowed to unbuckle and record the effects of of being in orbit. The effect included the ability to float which broke scientist's understanding of space. 1 day and 2 hours later the recovery antenna displayed that the vessel had landed successfully

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End of one program, start of another.

Year 2 day 80 

  Today marks the end of the Find Out if Other Planets Exist (FOOPE). Though the program didn't find out if other planets exist, substantial evidence points to Kerbin not being the lonely planet Kerbals thought it was. Unfortunately, due to budgetary issues, extending this program is not a viable option. (Research bodies contracts suck:()

Year day 81

   Today, Walt Kerman introduced the Selene program, which plans to send unkerballed probes to the mun in hopes of landing on it and setting infrastructure for a Kerballed mun launch

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This is the 3 phase plan in more detail:  
 

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Phase 1 a fly by of the mun

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Phase 2 Mun orbiters

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Phase 3: Mun landings 

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Year 2 Day 84
    Even though Valentina wasn't the first to ride the Viator, she would be the first female Kerbal to go to space (and by extension in orbit) the only thing she had to say about it was "Take that jeb!"
    5 minutes and 40 seconds an orbit of 120,055m x 112,246m  was confirmed. Valentina will now stay in orbit for 6 days to test prolonged exposure to zero g's fortunately the "onion" re-entry capsule is quite roomy. 3days 14minutes, mission control decided that there was enough delta V in the Viator to go into a higher orbit of  352,020m x 281, 563m orbit. Day 6 hour 7 minute 16 Valentina was cleared for re-entry. Day 6 hour 8 minute 14 splashdown was confirmed.
 

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Year 2 Day 91 
    One hour after Valentina's historic flight the first Selene probe (Which is really just a glorified CubeSat) was readied on the launch pad. 1 minute into the flight the rocket starting to tip over sending mission control into a frenzy. Quickly Gene Kerman (Guidance Officer) realised that the faring is too heavy and quickly sent a command to separate it saving the flight. 5 minutes 5 seconds orbit was confirmed. 51 minutes Trans Munar Injection (TMI) Starts. Roughly 1 minute later TMI is confirmed. 1 Day 2 hours and 32 minutes into the flight the first pictures of the Mun started being received. 

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Year 2 day 93 
    The FOOPE program is back! 

year 2 day 98
    Another Selene probe was readied this time with the goal of orbiting the Mun. Ten seconds into the flight the guidance systems failed (I forgot to turn on SAS)  and the rocket started to tip over, thankfully Gene Kerman (Guidance officer) was once again able to restabilize the rocket. 5 minutes later an orbit 160,577m x 124,077m was confirmed. 26 minutes in, TMI starts. 51 seconds later TMI is confirmed.
     
Day 1 Hour 5 Minute 23 an orbit of 160, 973 m x 16, 864m was confirmed. Selene 2 will now begin to photograph the Muns surface.

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With the money gained from these missions the USFA will take some time off to upgrade its facilities and improve on current technologies.  


 

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Chapter 8 - Three missions, three milestones.

Year 2 Day 225
    After a long break researching new technologies, the USFA needs to get back into the swing of things, so they decide to warm up by sending Jeb into orbit again.5 minutes and 41 seconds orbit was confirmed. One day later, after finishing the preparations, Jeb was ready to step out into space. He then spent the next 15 minutes shooting out jets of pressurized nitrogen, and proving that Kerbal's eye's don't explode if they go out into space. Day 232 Jeb returned back to Kerbin a hero. 

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One day later (Year 2 day 233) the selene III probe was readied on the launchpad and readied to make history. 6 minutes and 12 seconds Orbit was confirmed. 34 minutes into the flight, Mission control realised that the orbital burn wasn't actually complete and a fault in telemetry data has put Selene III on a sub-orbital trajectory and there is nothing they could do but wait and hope that this would not damage the vessel. Fortunately the vessel survived and started its TMI. Roughly one day later orbit was confirmed again around the Mun. Mission control was nervous because the lander only had 600m/s of detla V remaining. But even still they tried. And failed. At 8km the lander stage ran out of fuel. Though the mission was a failure Selene III transmitted pictures right before impact, showing that in fact the muns surface was solid.
 

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After this great embarrassment the higher ups started to review the entire Selene program and came to the conclusion that the Heracles III series of rockets just wont cut it. They needed more. So they went to the only Kerbal that has designed a functional rocket to see if he could make a better one. And of course, Werner von Kerman would deliver.

 

Year 2 Day 243 
    The even mightier Heracles IV stood on the launch pad, its first ever mission will be an ambitious one, with the goal of landing on the Mun. But Whrevener vaun kermans confidence radiates in the mission control room. 13 minutes and 50 seconds later an orbit  of 204, 835m x 184, 172m was confirmed. Less than an hour later TMI was confirmed. 1 day 5 hours and 23 minutes orbit around the Mun was confirmed. After staying in orbit and testing landing systems, Selene IV was given the go for landing. And 50 m above the ground the engine ran out of fuel. Mission control stood with baited breath hoping that the lander was still going to make it. And touchdown was confirmed! The mission control erupted into cheers and Kerbals rushing to go change their underpants. This feat renewed Kerbals awe for space travel. Even president John Kerman shows excitement for what the USFA has planned next. 
  

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Chapter 9: Maps, and Polar Orbits

Year 2 Day 262
    Another Selene lander stood atop the Heracles V ready to (once again) land on the mun. This will be the last of what the Mun lander team calls ML mk1 because there are new technologies and ways to improve the current lander design. 5 Minutes and 32 seconds orbit was confirmed. 1 Day 5 Hours and 21 minutes into the mission touchdown was confirmed (This time there were no explosions). The USFA was beginning to get the hang of Mun landings.

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Year 2  Day 267 
    Jeb was once again selected to try out a more maneuverable Viator space craft strapped on a Liquid Methane Variant of the Heracles IV Booster (Heracles IV/M).  7 minutes into the flight an orbit of  323, 235m x 155, 192m was confirmed. Jeb was able to hold positions of Prograde, Retrograde, Normal, antinormal, and radial in and out using the newly installed Orbital maneuvering system before it ran out of fuel. 3 Day's later it was decied to scrap the EVA because of some patchwork issues with jeb's suit and then the whole mission. Overall the mission wasn't exactly what the engineers were hoping for, the new Heracles IV/M booster was lackluster to their expectations and so was the "improved" Viator space craft. This resulted in a reviewing of the Kerballed aspect of spaceflight.    
 

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Year 2 Day 276
    Another Heracles IV was rolled out with a new OctoSat with a Radiar altimeter to gain altimetry data of Kerbin. The flight profile will attempt to go into a polar orbit, which is something that has never been attempted before. After a very instable and stressful flight the OctoSat was placed in a polar orbit and began its scan of Kerbin. 
 

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Year 2 Day  291
    Another Heracles IV was rolled out with another OctoSat with a multispectral scanner to create a complete map of Kerbin. Both this satellite and the other OctoSat are apart of a new program named Spectra. The goal of this program will be to map out every celestial body. This program is essential for finding a spot for a Kerballed Mun landing. 

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Altimetry, Biome and a visual map of kerbin

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Altimetry map

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Biome map

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Visual map

I love ScanSat! 

 

I will be slowing down my posting schedule from 3-5 times a week to 1 or 2 times a week. 

Edited by B0lt
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Chapter 10 - Failures and Mun maps 

Year 2 Day 305
    A heavier Selene probe was readied on a Heracles IV booster with parachutes attached to the SRB's (Heracles IV(PSRB)).  Unfortunately due to the way the SRB's separate there was no way to attempt booster recovery, netherless Selene VI presses on. Though 3 minutes into the flight Selene V ran out of battery and ended up crashing into the surface deeming it the greatest failure. 

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Year 2 Day 312
    Deciding to go back to what works and keeping things heavier that 1.5tons to a better booster that is in the works. Another Selene lander was readied. 5 Minutes into the flight an orbit of 141, 751m x 130 860m was confirmed. 26 minutes TMI was confirmed. Though right before landing, it ran out of fuel, crashing into the surface.

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year 2 day 233 
    After these two major failures the publics view of USFA was not good. Hoping to at least gain the love from the scientific community, a spectra altimetry probe was readied to go to the Mun. 5 minutes and 43 seconds later an orbit of 134,097m x 133,110m was confirmed the most circular orbit to date! 35 minutes into the flight, a much more precise TMI burn was confirmed. 3 hours into the flight a minor course correction burn was done so that Spectra III will arrive at the Mun on a polar trajectory. 3 days later (I missed) a polar orbit of 287, 132m x 263, 540m was confirmed. Spectra III will now begin to build an altimetry map

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year 2 day 238
    Five days after spectra III spectra IV was readied to also go to the mun. 4 minutes in 30 seconds an 152, 902m x 135,247m. 27 minutes into the flight tmi was confirmed. 6 hours into the flight an orbit of 263,681m x 208,370m.

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Visual map

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Altimetery

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Biome

A major announcement.

Year 2 Day 240

Walt Kerman has announced the Iter program which will put Kerbals on the Mun by the end of year 3 and Minmus by year 4. 

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My posting schedule is going to change to once a week because I want to take more time to improve the quality of the series, to those who have followed along this far thank you for the support, it means the world to me:D

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  • 4 weeks later...

That was...

an experience

I have a back log of like two or three chapters that will come out weekly (I need a break from ksp)

And since I heard the license for the forums is going out soon and what just happened I will also be working on backing up all of my posts in case of a grand migration 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Chapter 11 - Mun Flybys, Docking, and a F.O.O.P.E with a purpose

Year 3 day 90 
    Foope program was complete, scientists have found a large blue planet named Urlum and a moon orbiting around it named Polta completely shattering Kerbal's view of space around Kerbin 

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Year 3 Day 95
    The new Iter space craft was finally readied for launch with Valentina Kerman chosen to fly the craft on an improved version of the Heracles IV. At a later press conference Valentina was asked "If the mun looks the same as it does kerbin, why waste money landing on it?" and Valentina responded, "Because there could be cheese on it and who doesn't want more cheese?".

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Year 3 day 107
    Now it was Jeb's turn to try out the Iter space craft. With the goal of an attempted docking wither Iter III.

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Year 3 day 108 
    Once again Valentina was readied in another Iter space craft. She will be the other spacecraft that will attempt to dock with Iter II

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Iter II & Iter III docking posses
    Iter II started by raising its orbit to 226,216m x 216, 056m. Deciding that Iter III would be the one to do most of the maneuvering, Val had to do very precise and complicated maneuvers. 1 day 3 hours and six minutes Valentina and Jeb saw each other and would now start station keeping until sunrise. 25 minutes later it was time for docking.  And after too much fiddling Iter II and III were docked! After a quick game of konnect 4 Valentina went out on an EVA to make sure that every thing looked good. 4 days later they were ready to return back home.  

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