To the Mun and back again - a tale of pride, fuel lines, and monumental ovesight!

[tntristan12]

Finally got around to creating my own version of the Apollo missions. A clean save meant starting over my exploration of the solar system from scratch, so before I download Kethane and update my existing designs I decided it'd be fun to go back to basics and just to a good ole fashioned Mun landing! I commissioned the Munar Mission Package project, which began with the Mk. I. That didn't turn out so well... For one thing, it couldn't make orbit. For another, the escape system didn't work. I began the Mk. II from the lander and worked my way out.

The lander, which is itself designated Thelanderer Mk IV-a, is a thing of beauty! I decided to go for the double-staged approach: I had the descent stage and the ascent stage. All told, I think she came out looking very much like the real-world LEM. Take a look!

After some brief testing, the launch vehicle quickly took shape. I built and tested an escape tower, which works pretty darn well, and looks shiny. With that, it was time to head to the Mun!

The mission itself went off without a hitch. My manual flying tested the wiggle room of the spacecraft, having been built with Engineer Redux. The margins were solid. A stage was practically dry whenever it was time to dump it, but I never felt pressed for fuel. Future tests with mechjeb revealed that the spacecraft was slightly overengineered, but not by much. Anyway, the spacecraft went up, up, and away. Once in orbit, Trans-Munar Injection put me on a nice free return trajectory. I uncovered the lander and docked the CM with it ever so beautifully.

And then we were there...

I transferred over the crew into the LM, and detached. Our target was a large, equatorial canyon on the far side of the Mun. There would be no radio contact from the site - any messages to Mission Control had to be relayed through the still-orbiting Command Module. If anything went wrong, the crew would be on their own. It was tense, as the ground rose up and the canyon walls towered overhead there was little way of assessing the grade of the land below. At touchdown, the lander tilted at a weird angle but stayed on its feet. The crew got out and celebrated, planting a flag on the site and naming it "Beggar's Canyon."

After the initial celebration, the ground crew set about taking ground samples, assessing the terrain, and taking pictures for the Kerbals back home. Once the command module had made a full orbit of the Mun, Bob and Jebediah piled back into the lander and pressed the big red button to start the ascent stage.

*TSSSSSSSS*

Bob: "What just happened?"

Jeb: "Nothing."

Bob: "Then why aren't we moving?"

Jeb: "Because nothing happened..."

Bob got out to investigate, and noticed something that the engineers, the contractors, the support staff, and the flight crew, and most importantly the omnipotent god who controls their every movement failed to notice...

Somehow, the fuel line connecting the ascent stage's tanks with the engine never got connected... All four of them... With no way to light the ascent stage engine, no spare fuel lines to connect them with, and no prospects for returning home, Bob and Jebediah piled into the lander and waited for rescue. Alone in orbit, Bill headed home to a bittersweet arrival on Kerbin.

Hopefully soon I will have a successful mission report to submit, once they have been safely returned! Hope you enjoyed it.

Edited August 2, 2013 by tntristan12

[jwenting]

not even a handpump? Poor kerbals, stranded.

[Tw1]

Opps. Poor Bill.

That was exactly what Michael Collins feared.

That after a disaster on the Moon, he'd be "The Astronaut Who Came back."

[tntristan12]

MISSION UPDATE!

After the engineering debacle that stranded Bob and Jebediah on the surface of the Mun, there was a massive public outcry against the suits at Munstak Industries, and the Kerbal Space Center. Picketers camped outside the gates, as eggs and other rotten fruit was lobbed at executives and flight engineers alike. Babies were left abandoned in the streets! Really, it was horrible. It wasn't long before MI:KSC released an official statement that a rescue operation was underway.

After making sure that the fuel lines were actually attached this time, Bill Kerman set out solo a newer, modified version of the Munar Mission Package. The experimental Mechanical Jebediah Unit (or MechJeb, as it is well known amongst the flight engineers who built it) was attached to allow for the lander to land remotely, freeing up both seats in the ascent stage for Bob and Jeb.

Because the technology was still experimental, Mission Control decided it would be smart to include a live pilot who is high on courage and low on stupidity to monitor its performance and take over manual control if necessary. If MechJeb botched the landing, Bill would have to take over remotely from the CM. This required an interesting contingency: because the mission planners had decided to explore Beggar's Canyon - inconveniently placed on the far side of the Mun - the lander could not be controlled remotely from mission control in the event something went wrong. In order to make sure Bill had the most time possible to react to anything that went wrong, the lander performed some brief maneuvers to place it just on the cusp of the CM's horizon. At the next passover, MechJeb took control and landed the ship perfectly. How perfectly? This image should speak for itself:

Needless to say, our two survivors didn't have to walk very far...

And this time, the ascent stage separated just as it was supposed to and off they went!

Unfortunately, no pictures are available of the rendezvous and docking with the CM, or the flight back home. The ascent stage performed as required and Bill was once again joined happily with his two comrades, whom he had not seen in several Kerbal days. The reception on Kerbin was much warmer than the last - with orange soda and snacks a'plentiful. The picketers packed up and went home - the baby that somebody had carelessly left on the runway was returned to its mother, and life back home returned to normal...

...But back on the Mun, the story was already etched into eternity. Future visitors to Beggars Canyon will take note of the strange sight there, that tells the story of pride, fuel lines, and monumental oversight.

Thank you for reading!

Edited August 2, 2013 by tntristan12

[LameLefty]

That was an excellent tale, well-told. Bravo, sir!

[Tw1]

Yeah! They made it home! Nice story.

[Kaleb]

Nice! I enjoyed reading this. Interesting, though, you can see the missing fuel lines still attached in the VAB, but then they're missing in flight. Must be gremlins (kremlins?).

[-RanZ-]

Oversights make for fun rescue missions... sometimes!

[tntristan12]

Nice! I enjoyed reading this. Interesting, though, you can see the missing fuel lines still attached in the VAB, but then they're missing in flight. Must be gremlins (kremlins?).

Or worse yet... Gremlins from the Kremlin. The Soviets are sabotaging my spacecraft!

[Majorjim!]

or worse yet... Gremlins from the kremlin. The soviets are sabotaging my spacecraft!

lol

456789

[Duxwing]

The Mun landing is a hoax! Those pictures were taken on a sound stage: look at the way the dust gleams off Jebediah's helmet! WAKE UP, SHEEP!

So good that conspiracy theories about it can be written with ease. Bravo!

-Duxwing

[tntristan12]

The Mun landing is a hoax! Those pictures were taken on a sound stage: look at the way the dust gleams off Jebediah's helmet! WAKE UP, SHEEP!

So good that conspiracy theories about it can be written with ease. Bravo!

-Duxwing

It's funny you should mention that, because there are some rumors circulating around KSC that Jeb had eaten Bob for food when the snacks ran out, so they smuggled up body-double for Bob in secret and brought him back for the publicity.

Or depending on who you ask, the engineers at mission control did not realize that the MechJeb unit they'd purchased would allow the lander to be piloted remotely. They say that Jeb killed Bob with his bare hands when they accidentally sent Bill to the surface, meaning only one Kerbal could come back alive...

But of course these are all baseless rumors and both Kerbals came back unharmed. :3 (or that's what Mission Control wants you to think!)