Méliès Expedition I - What should go wrong on a trip to the Mun? [image heavy]

[HeadChef]

This is my first post to this forum, so hi guys!

When 0.21 came out, I decided to do a small mission to visit the overhauled Mun, before all the major mods I'm playing are ported to the new version.

This mission however soon turned out such impressive, that I felt it was a shame not to share it with you.

There will be three chapters, each coming up as soon as I found the time to write it.

This is the first time I tried to document a mission, so I would really appreciate some feedback.

But now, have fun with the first chapter.

Méliès Expedition I

What should go wrong on a trip to the Mun?

1.To the Mun – and beyond

It's been a while, a whole week to be exact, since the start of the Méliès program, the pride of the young Kerbal Space Program. The ambitious aim of this program was no less than the first manned spaceflight to the Mun in Kerbal history.

A whole week had been spent planning, engineering, building and testing, with moderate success, the Méliès I, the most massive Kerbodore64-controlled spacecraft ever built. Named after the famous showman and film pioneer Georges Méliès, creator of “The Journey to the Moonâ€Â, this enormous craft has had the task to transport three kerbals and multiple tons of specially designed munar exploration equipment to the surface of Kerbin's nearest satellite – and back (like chief scientist Wernher von Kerman never got tired of amending).

Sure no one else than KSP's big three, the most experienced kerbonauts Kerbin has ever seen, could be sent on this historic mission:

• Bill Kerman, who is known for his enormous courage with his one of a kind let's-do-it attitude
  
• Bob Kerman, the person with possibly the highest IQ on entire Kerbin (maybe only trumped by Wernher von Kerman)
  
• last but not least, Jebediah Kerman, who has the unique ability to always get himself into trouble like no one else could, but also to get out of any sort of trouble like no one else could.
  

Now, the big day had come and, after some minutes of mental preparation (and, in the case of Jeb, emptying the first few bottles of Kerba Cola), the crew sat in their Mk1-2 command capsule, eager to leave for the greatest journey a Kerbal had ever gone on. Only Bob seemed to be a little nervous, remembering the tragic end their predecessors Orfrey Kerman, Eroly Kerman and Neillong Kerman had found on an early test flight. Although KSP's rocket engineers promised to have “taken the results of those flights into accountâ€Â, Bob had astonishing difficulties to make out any differences between those early designs and the final Méliès I. Jeb excitedly reminding him that “this thing under our butts is the biggest bomb ever builtâ€Â, didn't help at all. But now there was no way back, as the final countdown had already started.

5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... BOOOOOM!

With an ear-battering noise, the 23 engines of the 6.2 MN launch stage hauled the vessel straight into the air and, with an almost perfect gravity turn, out of Kerbin's atmosphere.

To everyone's surprise, the first hours of the mission worked out almost perfectly according to plan. As soon as the Méliès I reached an altitude of about 100 kilometers, the four liquid booster engines were shut off, the remaining fuel was pumped into the main tank and the 19-nozzle main engine was used to establish a stable circular orbit.

As soon as Bob realized the great reduction of the risk of falling back into Kerbin's atmosphere and thus following their predecessors into their fiery death, he slowly let loose that handrail that Jeb Kerman's original Space Tape hadn't been able to hold in its designated place during the ascent when Bob in agony had been cramping to it. He, while being reminded by Jeb about the billions of other “fun things that can theoretically still happenâ€Â, wasn't able to reach the button to separate that machine of hell from the rest of the rocket before Bill had already smashed it multiple times. So no less than eight Sepratron I roared and hauled the massive launch stage off the rocket and back towards where it came from.

A round-trip around Kerbin later, the three kerbonauts watched the trail of smoke caused by the launch stage burning up in the atmosphere, just when the first warm rays of light gently burst through the darkness, making the inner of the capsule glow in an almost golden color. Nearly breathless Bill and Bob agreed, while Jeb has been busy with an other bottle of Kerba Cola, that this had been the most beautiful Kerbol-rise they had ever seen. Sadly, no image can describe, what these three lucky kerbals had the unique opportunity to view with their eyes.

As Bill and Bob still have been stunned by that fantastic view, Jeb reminded them, that they would now “better forget about that icky stuff†as they “still can burn some rocketsâ€Â. Mission control agreed with him, although they chose to use some slightly different wording, so, before anyone could say any word about the next steps to to, Jeb had already fired up the nine engines of the transfer stage, smashing the kerbals into their seats and launching the rocket into a transfer trajectory towards the Mun.

Before the burn had ended and while jeb has been in a sort of ecstasy, caused by the joy of the rocket's immense power pressing the blood out of his brain, Bob seemed to have an idea. The fear of death seems somehow to be always an inspiration to him, so he babbled something about “using the Mun's gravity to slow us downâ€Â. While Mission Control was insistently warning him not to make changes to the flight plan, not again after that ComSat disaster, he decided that “the one who has the rocket's joystick in his hands is the one who flies the rocket†and pulled off his small “course correctionâ€Â.

Having some hours off until the crew would hit the Mun, it was time to unpack the equipment they would need later on the munar surface. Bob has been somewhat concerned about ejecting the escape tower that would've hauled the MK1-2 capsule out of danger if something went wrong. Jeb however reminded him, with a surprisingly rejoice in his face, that “this wouldn't help us now anywayâ€Â. As soon as this was out of the way, the Méliès I command module was separated from the rest of the rocket, turned around by 180 degrees and then re-docked, nose forth, to the Méliès I Munar Exploration Module inside the rocket's payload area.

For the fact that this presumably complex maneuver went on without any complications and within only a few minutes, as has been to be expected, many parties claimed their responsibility. While Bob always speaks of his “sovereign rocket driving skillsâ€Â, Mission Control somewhat agrees with him, claiming to have assigned that task to “the only kerbonaut who wouldn't blow up that thing into a giant fiery mess whenever he comes to fly a spacecraft – well, most of the timeâ€Â. Wernher von Kerman on the other side insists into the “obvious fact†that his “new, improved rocket stabilization system along with the improved reaction control system of the Méliès I†would be the real hero here.

After the short, unavoidable discussion on who was the most important person in the Kerbal Space Program, the payload fairings and the transfer stage were blown away, so the Munar Exploration Module has been seeing the light for the first time since its packaging down in the vehicle assembly building.

With all those separation charge explosions gone off, it suddenly became mysteriously quiet in the command capsule. Only the fizzling of Jeb opening another bottle of Kerba Cola shortly broke the silence while the three kerbals, watching Kerbin become smaller and smaller in the far, realized that they were now departing to a journey much further away from home than any kerbal had ever been before.

For the next two hours, Jeb's continually been nerving the others with what he would do as soon as he landed on the mun. He seemed to have some very special affection to the Méliès Mk1 Munar Exploration Roving Vehicle they were carrying alongside the landing equipment. In the middle of the tenth explanation of how far the rover could theoretically jump in the Mun's low gravity (Bill and Bob already were pondering how long a kerbal would survive outside the rocket), Jeb suddenly fell silent. Surprised by this unexpected reaction, the others both turned around to the command capsule's small window – and immediately altogether lost their breath.

The sight of the first Kerbin-Kerbol-eclipse ever witnessed, had even stunned Jeb - something that, like Bob remarks, doesn't happen very often. Jeb's been so stunned that he even dropped the bottle he had just opened, spilling thousands of floating bubbles of Kerba Cola all around in the command capsule. I will save you the decent discussion Bob immediately started while Bill was enjoying playing with floating bubbles of Kerba Cola. In the confusion of the mess, Jeb caught a glance to the flight computer's display in front of him, that just had beeped to announce the entry into the Mun's sphere of influence. It turned out that Bob's plan of “using the Mun's gravity to slow us down†had worked out pretty well. Maybe a bit too well.

Before Bob could even start his attack of panic usual in such situations, Jeb had already made the genius proposition of dropping “all that crap we are carrying†and using one of his “pocket boosters†to ride down to the munar surface. With Jeb waving a Sepratron I in front of Bill's face, the following few minutes of Méliès I's radio log got spammed by personnel of Mission Control nervously talking at Bill that choking kerbonauts was not a good idea while being three men in a three-men craft in space - and wouldn't help at all. Completely ignoring Bill's reactions, Jeb came up with his next glorious proposition. If they had to die anyway, why not have some fun in their last minutes? As he already reached for throttle control, Bob, just recovering from his downtime, saved his claim that his calculations were correct and the craft must have been slower than expected, as he realized that Jeb's wasn't a bad idea at all. A series of short, harsh pro-grade burns could make the craft fast enough to swing around the Mun in a short distance – better than attempting to swing right through it. Almost surprised by Bob not, as usual, disagreeing with him, Jeb joyfully pulled the lever up for the first boost.

With the risk of crashing, now into the Mun instead of into Kerbin, out of the way, the next problem became obvious. With their current, now much too high speed, Méliès I would never be able to reach the planned stable munar orbit at an altitude of around 60 km that would be required for a safe landing and later return from the surface. At least not without burning an immense amount of fuel. Fuel that was needed for the return home. On the other hand, if they wouldn't slow down, they would be catapulted directly home to Kerbin, losing any hope to get to the munar surface in the near future. In short, a decision had to be made: would they now abort the mission, having to suffer Jeb's ranting about cowardly giving in for “not even closely significant reasons†for the next hours of flight, or would they proceed the mission and risk never coming home again.

As Bill and Jeb were still ranting at each other, Bob, in an unusual flush of bravery, told Mission Control to continue the flight. The immediate discussion, which Bob opposed with that they “are here now, talking of flying home we can laterâ€Â, disappeared in the noise that came up when Jeb brought his “pocket boosters†up again.

For the benefit of everyone's mental condition, the craft now entered the dead spot behind the Mun and Mission Control suddenly fall silent. With the pretty weird feeling of all three of the crew agreeing, for what was probably the first time ever, the crew calmed down and enjoyed the glory of the giant silverish shimmering sphere in the middle of nothingness approaching them.

While being in complete darkness behind the Mun, Jeb was dying to initiate the first of two burns that would establish their circular orbit. After Bob constantly reminding him that “ten minutes more or less†actually “do matterâ€Â, he almost ripped of the thrust control lever when he finally got Bob's go.

With Kerbol, still with Kerbin in front of it, slowly rising above the horizon, the radio connection to Mission Control also came up again. This brought up the next topic of discussion, as now it had to be decided who would pilot the Méliès I Munar Exploration Module down to the Mun. Additional complications were introduced by Mission Control admitting that the mission instructor forgot to inform the kerbonauts about that the Méliès I Munar Exploration Module had only two seats, so one of them three had to stay up in the command module. You can imagine the enthusiasm when Mission Control announced that they had designated Jeb to execute the landing maneuver.

With this decision being set, Bob volunteered to stay in the command module, in “a safe distance to whatever mess those morons will produce down thereâ€Â. Before he could even transmit his decision to Mission Control, Jeb had already, and in an amazingly short time, made his way through a clutter of dripping fuel lines and cables hold together by Jeb Kerman's original Space Tape into what Bill likes to call “the sardine canâ€Â. Soon after Bill had followed and after much less time than Bob had calculated it would take to go through the entire safe-start-up protocol of the Méliès I Munar Exploration Module, the docking port was jammed shut and with a silent “HUMM†the vehicle came loose, immediately starting its descent towards the silver, shiny surface.

As expected, the sardines soon lost contact to Mission Control, due to their can's short-range communication device. For the entire stay, Bob would be the only other kerbal they would have direct contact with. Sure Jeb hadn't payed any attention when the mission instructor had announced the exact coordinates of the landing site and sure he also wasn't paying attention when Bob now announced them again. He just decided to be “spontaneousâ€Â, as they would “certainly find a nice spot when coming downâ€Â.

While Bill, due to the roaring of the engines, didn't understand any of Jeb's “really important facts†on “how much boom this baby has†and what all “cool stuff†you could do with it, which admittedly was conveyed by the fact that Bill actually didn't pay any attention too, Bob wondered over the fact that the Munar Exploration Module seemed to be descending much faster than he had calculated to be any good for it.

Suddenly, Jeb was disturbed by the big alarm signal over his head howling up, tinting the can into a claustrophobic red light and even predominating the noise of the engines. Spotting the big, red, flashing fuel dispenser symbol on the flight computer's display, he informed Bill that the mission's “now gonna be funâ€Â. Unable to get his eyes of the altitude meter, this time Bill didn't even feel the urge to slap Jeb's face.

900 ... 800 ... 700 ... 600 ...

The constantly roaring noise of the engines behind the psychedelic whining of multiple alarm sirens had already turned into an increasingly irregular stuttering.

500 ... 450 ... 400 ...350

While Jeb's been reaching for the bag of Kerba Cola bottles he had deposited in the lander, Bill couldn't longer hold back his screams. His yells however could hardly be heard against the deafening riot of the engines that now had taken on the sound of a bunch of old mixers and hair dryers.

150 ... 120 ... 100 ...

Silence.

[IcarusBen]

Did they... Die? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[HeadChef]

Did they... Die? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Who knows?

There are still two chapters coming.

[Geschosskopf]

Man, you write a great story! Really brought to life my impression of how the Big 3 Kerbals actually behave inside their rockets . Great cliff-hangar ending, too. Can't wait for the rest.

Very cool rocket designs, too. How'd you get 19 engines under 1 stage?

[HeadChef]

Thanks for the nice words. I'm glad you like the story.

How'd you get 19 engines under 1 stage?

The 19 nozzle engine is actually a single part from the NovaPunch pack.

For the upper stages I used parts from the AIES Aerospace pack. These are actually single engines that can be clustered in any way one likes.

[Geschosskopf]

Ah, thanks. Sort of "procedural engines" to go with procedural fairings?

[HeadChef]

It's event simpler. The engines are radially attachable.

If you attach them to the bottom of a fuel tank, you can even use the symmetry options to build nice clusters.