Munstak Industries Empire 2.0 - Operation Wealthy Mun [STATUS: ONGOING]

[tntristan12]

Hello all! It's been a while, but I'm finally ready to try to put together my own ongoing series of mission reports. This is sandbox mode with many mods installed, including MechJeb, Deadly Re-Entry, Kethane, KAS, RemoteTech 2, Infernal Robotics, and other good stuff. I've got a backlog of mission reports that I'm planning on putting here over the next couple of days, and then I'll be drafting them up as I go along. I have a long term goal in mind and I may end up turning it into more of a story than an ongoing mission report. Stay tuned!

Anyway, my mission log is as follows:

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1) Operation Crew Flight - The quick and (relatively) easy development of a Single Stage to Orbit 7-kerbal crew shuttle (a.k.a. Crew to Orbit Transfer Shuttle, or COTS).

--> Mission 1: Take COTS into a 75 kilometer circular orbit above kerbin with a crew of 7, and return it safely back to the Kerbal Space Center.

--> Mission 2: Take COTS into a 150 kilometer circular orbit above kerbin with a crew of 7, simulate rendezvous and docking maneuvers, and return it safely back to KSC.

2) Operation Munolith - Radio transmissions have picked up strange readings from a point on the surface of the Mun. Crew of three sent to investigate: Bill Kerman, Bob Kerman, Jebediah Kerman.

--> Mission 1: Achieve orbit around the Mun with Joolean II lander and command module. Deliver lander module to the site codenamed "Mun Arch Alpha" to investigate strange radio signals. Return to Kerbin for debriefing!

3) Operation 'Can You Hear Me Now!?' - The launching and precise placement of a network of unmanned communications satellites providing 360 degree communications coverage of Kerbin's sub-polar regions, and the ability to transmit signals through interplanetary space.

--> Mission 1: Launch satellite codenamed Lotusflower Ke-01 into kerbistationary orbit at longitude 45 degrees ahead of Kerbal Space Center.

--> Mission 2: Launch satellite codenamed Lotusflower Ke-02 into kerbistationary orbit at longitude 90 degrees ahead of Lotusflower Ke-01.

--> Mission 3: Launch satellite codenamed Lotusflower Ke-03 into kerbistationary orbit at longitude 90 degrees ahead of Lotusflower Ke-02.

--> Mission 4: Launch satellite codenamed Lotusflower Ke-04 into kerbistationary orbit at longitude 90 degrees ahead of Lotusflower Ke-03.

--> Mission 5: Position long-range comms station and high-orbiting observatory in a 50Mm orbit just past Minmus. Take pictures of the Solar System and report findings back to KSC.

4) Operation Halcyon Point - The orbital construction of a permanent refueling depot in low Kerbin orbit. Also functions as an orbital command station, and research lab. Will serve as the stepping-off point for all interplanetary operations.

--> Mission 1: Place FLT-2880 Modular Fuel Unit 00 codenamed "Keystone" in a 150km orbit above Kerbin.

--> Mission 2: Dock FLT-2880 Modular Fuel Unit 01 alongside Keystone.

--> Mission 3: Dock FLT-2880 Modular Fuel Unit 02 alongside Keystone, immediately opposite MFU 01.

--> Mission 4: Dock FLT-2880 Modular Fuel Unit 03 alongside Keystone, forming a right angle to MFU 01 and MFU 02.

--> Mission 5: Dock two Specialized Corner Units "a.k.a. 'flying' buttresses" at the junctures between MFU 01-03, and MFU 02-03.

--> Mission 6: Dock FLT-2880 Modular Fuel Unit 04 alongside Keystone, forming a right angle to MFU 01 and MFU 02

--> Mission 7: Dock two Specialized Corner Units "a.k.a. 'flying' buttresses" at the junctures between MFU 01-04, and MFU 02-04.

--> Mission 8: Dock Kethane Storage and Processing Unit beneath the Modular Fuel Unit base of the station.

--> Mission 9: Dock Combined Access and Power Generation Arm codenamed "Smart Strut 01" to MFU 01.

--> Mission 10 [uNPLANNED MAINTENANCE]: Undock and remove faulty Kethane Storage and Processing Unit, and replace with a working one.

--> Mission 11: Dock Combined Access and Power Generation Arm codenamed "Smart Strut 02" to MFU 02.

--> Mission 12: Remove temporary communications antennae and power generation bulb, and replace with Combined Laboratory and Communications Unit.

--> Mission 13: Dock Universal Habitat Unit 01 to CLCU.

--> Mission 14: Dock Universal Habitat Unit 02 to CLCU.

--> Mission 15: Dock COTS with space station and transfer crew of 6 into Universal Habitat Units 01 and 02, and return it back to Kerbin.

----> The crew roster at the time of completion of Halcyon Station is:

------> UniHU 01: Bill Kerman (supervising officer), Ferdan Kerman (chief science and medical officer), Chadmore Kerman (station attitude supervisor)

------> UniHU 02: Bob Kerman (supervising officer), Dandun Kerman (orbital traffic control and debris management specialist), Ferdred Kerman (communications and unmanned operations officer)

5) Operation Wealthy Mun - Place manned and unmanned mining assets on the surface of the Mun to extract Kethane and bring it to Halcyon Point.

--> Mission 1: Place Kethane scanning satellite in a polar orbit around the Mun, to scan for deposits over the course of one week.

--> Mission 2: After deciding on an ideal Kethane deposit, send an unmanned rover to scout for possible landing sites and mark the chosen site for future missions, designated Kethane Site Alpha.

--> Mission 3: Deliver Universal Habitat Unit Mu-01 (unmanned) to site.

--> Mission 4: Deliver Mobile Kethane Drilling Unit (unmanned) to site. Begin drilling operations in advance of crew arrival.

--> Mission 5: Deliver SSTO Kethane Delivery Shuttle (unmanned) to Munar orbit.

--> Mission 6: Bring a crew of 3 to orbit around the Mun using the Joolean II Munar Mission Package (MMP). Deliver the lander to Kethane Site Alpha, transfer crew belongings to UniHU Mu-01 and await rendezvous window with Kethane Delivery Shuttle.

--> Mission 6.1: Using ascent stage of the Joolean II Lander, rendezvous and dock with the Kethane Delivery Shuttle in Munar orbit, then deliver shuttle to Kethane Site Alpha.

--> Mission 6.2: Transfer Kethane cargo from Kethane Drilling Unit to Kethane Delivery Shuttle.

--> Mission 6.3: Return the Joolean II Command Module back to Kerbin.

----> OPTIONAL MISSION OBJECTIVE: Choose a splashdown site on Kerbin that can be reached with remaining delta-v well in advance of re-entry. Achieve state vector required to bring the command capsule down at that location after re-entry.

[THIS CONCLUDES CATALOG OF COMPLETED MISSIONS]

--> Mission 7: Deliver nuclear-powered Kethane Tanker Vessel to Munar orbit.

--> Mission 7.1: Using the Kethane Delivery Shuttle in as few round trips as possible, completely fill the KTV's storage containers.

--> Mission 7.2: Return the KTV to Kerbin and dock with Halcyon Point to transfer Kethane. Begin processing of Kethane on site to fill Halcyon Point's Liquid Fuel and Oxidizer reserves.

--> Mission 8: Repeat Mission 7 as necessary to completely fill Halcyon Point's storage containers with Liquid Fuel, Oxidizer, and Kethane.

6) Operation Duna Rising - Using the stores from Halcyon Point, build an interplanetary vessel to deliver colonization habitats and equipment to the red planet.

[THIS CONCLUDES CATALOG OF PRE-PLANNED MISSIONS]

More thorough mission reports are going to be trickling in as I put them together and post them here. In the mean time, this list should give you an idea of what to expect, and (hopefully) what to look forward to. I look forward to your reading it!

[tntristan12]

From the day that kebals first looked up to the stars in wonder, they have been building, and moving, and researching to find a way to the ultimate destiny of their species. The Kerbal Space Center was established out of this desire to explore the unknown, but in those days the prospect of exploration was new and exciting. In the years that followed the Kerbal Race had been to orbit, and to the Mun - Kerbin's closest neighbor in the cosmos. Building those early proud rockets before the days of docking ports and flight computers was Munstak Industries - an early rocketry company that evolved from the dreams of Wernher von Kerman, the father of modern rocketry. Munstak built the largest and most successful rockets used by the Kerbal Space Program, and soon contributed to the political campaigns of many of the kerbals who expanded the space program to answer the call to explore the greater solar system beyond the orbit of Minmus.

Before the dream could be realized though, the space program suddenly found itself facing a tide of neutral public opinion and lack of funding as the same government the space program helped put into power brought down the infrastructure of a government space program. For years there were no missions, as Munstak consolidated its power and bought up all of the government contracts, and facilities at the recently abandoned space center. Eventually Munstak began running its own missions to the Mun, and the planets beyond. The images recorded from the surface of Duna and its moon Ike spread worldwide and put support once again firmly in the court of space exploration.

Interplanetary colonies were established on the faraway red planet, and its cosmic companion. The Kerbals recorded their observations and sent home surface samples. The findings were pouring in! And then a fateful mission to Eve saw a crew of three crash into its companion moon, Gilly, when the flight computer calculated a periapse that intersected with one of the irregular mountains in its surface. All three were killed, and the public outcry was enormous. "Bring our astronauts home!" they cried. Eventually public and government pressure forced Munstak's hand. They closed down the Mun base, and brought home the astronauts on Duna and Ike. The last mission during that era was to send a single probe out of the solar system by way of Jool. One last hurrah for the great giant of industry.

The years went by, and the facilities stood mostly abandoned. They were still maintained, and even underwent a reconstruction during the 21st era, but had seen no use until well into the 22nd. The engineers kept pushing new technologies and begging Munstak to use them, but the pressure was on Munstak to keep things grounded. A launch happened here and there to put a clean-up probe into orbit, or send an astronaut on the obligatory PR tour, but no trips to the Mun or beyond had happened for close to 15 years!

While appeals worked their way through the courts for Munstak to gain greater autonomy in the face of public opinion, in secret they were building and designing their rockets without testing them. The day to send them up was coming! As the 22nd era gave way to the 23rd, the appeals came back mostly positive. The concession? One launch. "The supreme court of the United Federation of Kerbal Continents has hereby ruled that Munstak Industries be allowed one manned launch on the third day of Kemberbal, the results of which will determine its suitability to continue operation of the KSC facilities for the remainder of the 23rd era."

So Munstak once again had its foot in the door. They had one launch, and it needed to be right. It needed to show the world that Munstak could still take care of its astronauts. The decision was made to begin simple, with a launch to LKO. But instead of the typical multi-stage launch, Munstak decided to go with the as yet untested for kerbaled flight Crew to Orbit Transfer Shuttle or COTS. A single round trip mission to a 75 kilometer orbit. The crew was chosen - The three most senior pilots Bill, Bob, and Jebediah would fly the mission from the control seat, and a crew of four would be chosen from starry-eyed hopefuls who sent in applications in the months leading up to the mission.

Chadmore, Ferdan, Dandun, and Ferdred were chosen to sit the mission. While some of the nuttier conspiracy theorists maintained that there was more to the mission than was shown to the general public, Munstak Industries decided not to pay any attention to them. The mission would go off without a hitch, or so they told the world...

Mission 1.1 - Operation Crew Flight to take crew of 7 to the doorstep of the universe!

Above: The crew (minus Jebediah, who needs no introduction) from left to right - Bill Kerman, Bob Kerman, Ferdan Kerman, Dandun Kerman, Ferdred Kerman, and Chadmore Kerman. The seven who would make history as the first astronauts to return to orbit in 10 years. The first publicly announced mission in the 15 since the last Mun mission ended. Here as the engines light once more at the beginning of the 23rd era, these seven would once again make history...

As the gear pulls up, there are no doubts. The time to call off the mission is long past. Jebediah calls out over the radio "Mission Control: This is COTS-1. We are gear up and headed for the sky, over!" Meanwhile in the cargo hold, Ferdan and company are not sharing in the confidence of the more senior crew members.

But the mission continues up to the vertical ascent limit of 10 kilometers, where the ship turns to head downrange.

Unlike most of Munstak's rockets, the turn will not terminate at 70 kilometers until an apoapse is created at 150. For this mission, the turn is going to terminate at 35 kilometers with a 10 degree up-angle, so as to optimize the amount of air passing through the ship's intakes. The new RAPIER engines that were developed at the start of the era hold the ship on an ever so shallow incline up and up, through the thickest layers of atmosphere.

And then...

Jebediah Kerman: "Mission Control this is COTS-1. We have confirmed engine mode switch over to closed cycle breathing. COTS has wings, I repeat, COTS has wings, over. Shutting main intakes... Now!"

Mission Control: "Roger that COTS-1. You've made a lot of folks very happy just now!"

Bill Kerman: *into the intercom* "Gentlemen, at this time I would like to announce the switch over to closed cycle mode. We are now crossing 35 kilometers with a 10 degree up angle. Proceeding to 75 kilometer apoapse. We're not out of the fire just yet, but you can breath a bit more easily now."

Dandun Kerman: Fantastic! I can't wait to feel zero gravity for the first time!

Jeb: *Ten minutes later* "Gentlemen, the circularization at apoapse was successful. We've made orbit a bit higher that intended, but we have plenty of fuel for the returning burn. Next time we pass overhead, I'll hail mission control to see if we can merge missions 1.1 and 1.2, then we can do some maneuvers up here before we head back. Shall we?"

*Calls of approval stream in through the intercom*

Bob Kerman: "Then it's settled! And look, Mission Control's coming up on the horizon now."

Jeb: "Mission control, this is COTS-1. Requesting permission to merge the dockets for missions 1.1 and 1.2 to conduct some maneuvers up here. We would ascend to a 150 kilometer circular orbit, perform a plane change maneuver of 5 degrees, plane change back to an equatorial orbit, then de-orbit to land, over."

MC: "Roger COTS-1, but do you have the fuel to complete maneuvers? Over."

Jeb: "We're carrying almost 300L of liquid fuel. More than enough to reposition and de-orbit. Over."

MC: "Uh, flight's telling me that the mission profile requires COTS to hold 250L for de-orbit safely back to KSC. You are no-go for plane change maneuver, but go for ascent to 150 kilometers. Over."

Jeb: "Roger that Control. COTS-1 is ever so grateful. Over."

Bill: "Who needs to change planes anyway? Everything of interest is on the equator!"

Bob: "Yes, but I really wanted to see what this machine could do..."

Jeb: "We've already seen what it can do. Flying this is a dream!"

The seconds pass to minutes and KSC has long passed the horizon, when the Mun appears ahead of them.

[The following exchange has recently been declassified]

Jeb: "Oh there's a sight for sore eyes! God, I want to go back..."

Bill: "Ooops, hold on. Getting something over the radio."

Bob: "What? That's impossible. There's nobody else up here, and KSC is on the other side of the world by now."

Bill: "Not sure what it is... Sounds like... Morse code?"

Jeb/Bob: "Morse Code!?"

Bob: "How come we never heard it before?"

Bill: "Well, the upper ionosphere would have masked it from the surface. That's strange, it appears to be coming from... No... The Mun? Really? Well I must have forgotten to turn the radio off after hailing KSC, because we didn't hear it last time."

Bob: "We never turned the radio off Bill..."

Jeb: "You know Morse, right Bill? What's it saying?"

Bill: "No clue. It *sounds* like Morse, but it really isn't like anything I've heard before. Huh... The signal just ended. That's weird."

Bob: "What... What was that?"

Jeb: "No idea, but we're coming up on periapse. Let's get ready to change altitude."

[End of recently declassified material]

MC: "COTS-1, we are reading you at a new altitude of 150 kilometers. Congratulations are clearly in order, over!"

Jeb: "Thanks Control! We're passing on to our third orbit now. We'll be de-orbiting in approximately 20 minutes. See you on the ground soon! Over."

MC: "Roger that COTS. See you after your next orbit. Over."

Jeb: "Gentleman, de-orbit burn was successful. We're headed home guys!"

*Cheers come in over the intercom*

Ferdan Kerman: "Thanks Jeb! You guys did great."

Dandun Kerman: "The view is fantastic from up here!"

Bill: "Well, we try. Glad to have you along for the ride."

*A few minutes later*

Bob: "Interfacing with atmosphere on my mark... And... Mark!"

Jeb: "Roger that. Mission control, we are on a safe vector for re-entry, and out flight computer is telling us we will be coming down just a few meters shy of the pad, over."

MC: "We read you COTS. Just try not to land on the VAB. We'd hate to have to call for the fire department to get you boys down, over."

Jeb: "I would never dream of such a thing. Over."

MC: "It's your c.ll to m..e Jeb......ee y...............nd... one........................................"

Jeb: "And we have signal blackout. Entering re-entry interface. Readout is saying... 2 G's... Now 2.5... Looks like it's maxing out at 3."

Bill: "Hull temperature holding at 780 degrees. Hot, but not too hot. Temperature's dropping now."

Bob: "Compared to a return trip from the Mun, this is nothing!"

Jeb: "And we are out of re-entry. Crossing mach threshold now... Deploy main parachutes on my mark in 3... 2... 1... Mark."

Bob: "Chutes deployed. Connections are holding solid. Slowing down with 1.5 G's now..."

Bill: "Altitude is 6000 meters and dropping... Now 5000 meters... 4000. 3. 2. Coming up on main chute deployment in...

Bill: Now"

Ferdred Kerman: *over the intercom* "Oof! Hey guys... That wasn't fun."

Bob: "You're welcome to try to land without the chutes."

Jeb: "And... Dammit, it looks like we're going to miss the VAB by *that* much! Deploying the landing legs. Opening intakes, and switching engines to open cycle... Engines to one third power in 3. 2. 1. Mark!"

Bill: "Altitude is 200 meters... 150... 100... H-dot is 9 meters per second and dropping."

Jeb: "Increasing power to 67%."

Bill: "50 meters. H-dot at 5 meters per second. Come off the engines a bit."

Jeb: "Holding present H-dot..."

Bill: "Contact imminent. 10 meters. 5. 4. 3. 2... 1... Contact!"

Jeb: "MECO!"

Bill: "We did it!"

Bob: "Wow. Look how close we're at to the VAB! That flight computer sure is something..."

Bill: "Tell me about it. For a minute I was worried it was going to land us on the ramp to the launchpad. This thing hasn't been tested for slope landings before..."

Jeb: "When can I fly this baby again?"

MC: "We had eyes on you for that whole landing, COTS. Lost sight of you when you came down past the roof, but the telemetry shows an exceptional landing! I regret to inform you that you lost me 30 kerbits... I bet them that you'd land *on* the launch pad."

Jeb: "Close enough is close, right?"

MC: "Not close enough for me to win K30.00. Anyway, that concludes Operation Crew Flight, Mission 1. Mission Elapsed Time is approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes, terminating at approximately 7:40 KSC time. The date is 3 KEM 23.1. Mission status is completed, with mission parameters met and exceeded. Excellent work! You now have permission from control to extend ladders and egress to the flight training facility auditorium for debriefing. Take your helmets off and stay a while! Terminating feed now. Well done, COTS! Over and out." *feed cuts out*

TOTAL CAREER STATUS:

This concludes Munstak Industries' After Action Report on project Crew Flight, Mission 1. I hope you enjoyed reading this! There is certainly more to come, and again I will try to cover all the missions carried out in the list in my OP. Just keep in mind that most of those missions are already completed affairs and while I tried to document them as thoroughly as I could, sometimes I get too excited/involved to take images at every stage in the mission. I might have left some details unphotographed, but in general I try to document every mission I do very thoroughly. Comments and praise are all appreciated! Thanks for reading.

Edited January 8, 2014 by tntristan12

[Scotius]

Nice mission. I will shamelessly copy your SSTO project for my own space program - because i thoroughly suck at designing them

[tntristan12]

That's fine, because I shamelessly copied it from Brotoro's design for Long Term on Laythe! (albeit his didn't use RAPIERS, which is actually cheaper and probably more reliable than mine)

[tntristan12]

After the unanticipated success of the first mission in Operation Crew Flight, the flight planners at Munstak Industries were given the go-ahead to plan and execute the second mission of operation Crew Flight. Although many of the objectives were completed by Crew Flight 1, the opportunity was there to learn more and to try to push the envelope of the design. The same ship used for Crew Flight 1 was retrofitted with an array of landing assist motors that could be used to slow the descent of the spacecraft if it was unable to perform a powered landing on its own. Bill and Bob Kerman were both put onto training assignment, but Jebediah was reassigned to the mission as primary pilot. New recruits: Mergard and Ormon Kerman were hired to fill out positions as pilots, while Calrey, Eldun, Camrick, and Sherlin filled out the crew cabin.

This time, the ship would ascend directly to 150 kilometers in altitude, and perform plane change maneuvers to test the ability of the spacecraft to reach stations on inclined orbits. After completing three full orbits, each of the crew in the hitchhiker storage unit would EVA, circle the craft once, then re-enter the spacecraft. This mission evolution is extremely important, as it would train crew members in how to transfer between vessels should the common berthing hatch become jammed, or if COTS had to dock with the part of a station that could not transfer crew through to the habitat quarters. Finally, the ship would de-orbit and land back at KSC.

As the engines roared to life, the sun bathed the space center in a beautiful morning light. "A positive omen if I've ever seen one," said Jebediah as he pushed the throttle to maximum. "We now have positive vertical velocity. See you in a couple of hours, KSC!"

The landing gear drew up and inward as the ground fell away. "Uh, Jeb sir? Are you sure this can is safe?" inquired Ormon.

"Nothing is safe. Not in this line of work. The first thing you need to know about flying rockets is that nothing is routine! Sometimes it's all we can do to leave the mission a success, but it's a job that we as pilots train endlessly to succeed at."

Mergard spoke up next. "Well said, commander... Man, would you look at that?"

"...I've never been this high up before. It's my first mission!"

"Take it all in, Merg." Jeb said as he flicked on the intercom linking the command module to the crew tank below. "How are you guys holding up down there? The G's should be past soon. We're heading downrange in about 60 seconds."

Camrick: "I think I can see my house from here, Jeb!"

Sherlin: "Yeah... God I hate heights!"

Eldun: "All good on my end!"

That made Jeb smile. "Good! We've still got a long ways ahead of us, but for now just enjoy the ride. 30 seconds to downrange!" Shutting off the intercom, he felt a tap on his shoulder from Ormon.

"Downrange?" he asked.

"Yup! You see, one doesn't get to orbit by blasting straight up. You gotta build your horizontal velocity first. They should've gone over this with you in classroom training at flight school."

"Yeah, I... I knew that," Ormon stammered. "It's just. We're fairly low, aren't we?"

"We are, but COTS is an air breathing rocket unlike the ones you studied and trained on in the simulators at flight school. She needs to stay in the atmosphere as long as possible to..." A beeping on the console in front of him draws Jeb's attention to the spacecraft. "Hold on a second."

That jolted Mergard from his focused trance on the controls. "What was that?"

"Nothing." Jeb confidently assured. "Just a little power drain on the main fuel pumps. I'll just reroute some power to the backups."

Over the intercom he announced "Gentlemen, we are now rolling for downrange flight. Please make sure you're strapped in proper-"BANG!

"What was that!?" He heard someone in the crew can shout out.

"Uh, Gentlemen, we've had something happen up here... Please definitely make sure you're strapped in!"

Turning off the radio he turned over to Mergard at his side. "Gods man, what was that!?"

"I don't know sir. The engines, they just stopped responding! Thrust is all over the place, and the intakes are shutting down. I... I don't have control of the spacecraft!"

Ormon shouted from below "The flight computer thinks the engines are oxy deprived but they're not switching over. I don't know what's going-"BOOM"S**T!"

Jeb kept his head. "What just happened? Keep calm man. Talk to me!"

"We've lost engine 3 sir!"

"We lost power to engine 3?"

"No... We LOST engine 3!"

"Oh, gods..." he heard Mergard mutter.

"Shut them down, Mergard. Shut them all down I can't control this spacecraft the way we're going!"

"Negative commander! The flight computer thinks we're still on ascent. It's locked controls!"

Jeb grabbed his face and forced him to look into his eyes. "Then shut down the damn flight computer..."

"If we shut down the flight computer then the mission is-"

"We have no engine! The mission is done. I'm trying to save our asses now!"

"Okay... Give me a second... Got it! You should have manual control now, Jeb!"

"Okay! Now... I gotta slow these engines down and get us pointed retrograde. Turn on SAS and let the reaction wheels do the rest..."

"That's right you magnificent b*****d. Get going the right way..."BANG! POP! SPUTTER! "DAMMIT!"

"We're crossing back over the mach threshold commander! Ship won't hold together if we don't straighten her attitude soon!"

"I know dammit! I'm fighting it every chance I get!"

Mergard was panicking "WhadoIdo? WhadoIdo? WhadoIdo!?"

Jeb firmed up. "Deploy the chutes..."

Mergard and Ormon objected in unison "WHAT!?"

"DEPLOY THE CHUTES NOW!"

Ormon shouted first "Jeb, if we deploy the chutes now they'll rip off! They won't survive it at the rate we're going!"

"I've slowed us down enough that we won't lose all of them, and we still have the emergency landing brakes!"

Mergard objected next "Jeb, if we lose even two of them, COTS can't land on-"

"DO IT!"

"Okay... Chutes deployed!"

"Okay... Now I just gotta get the engines facing the right way... Come on..."

"That's right... Just a little bit mo-Agh! Damn you..."

"Okay... We're slowing down... That's-"

"-Commander, we just lost chutes 4 and 5."

"I know! We're slowing down though... This is good. This is good..."

"Altitude is at 500 meters!"

"What? Why aren't the chutes opening!?"

"Quick! Hit the emergency deploy!"

KERFLAP!

"Chutes are open but we're still descending too fast. Hit the emergency brakes, hit the emergency-"

SPLASH! CRACK! BOOM!

"Ugh... What the... Mergard! Mergard are you okay!?" Mergard was unconscious in the seat next to him, but he was breathing. "Ormon! Are you okay!?"

"I'm fine Jeb... What about the four below?"

"What about the... Oh no..."

"...Oh no..."

***

TOTAL CAREER STATUS:

Munstak space program just had its first fatalities on only the second mission, but Munstak Industries will honor those dead, and accept the consequences that come as the result of the failure of their spacecraft. Although the quick actions of Commander Jebediah reduced the death toll by 3, the public trust has been betrayed. There will be hearings, and Munstak will fall under greater scrutiny than it has ever been under... But still, the failure of COTS-2 will only serve to galvanize those who believe in space exploration, as noble causes are sometimes stained with the blood of those who boldly go where no kerbal has gone before. The lessons learned from this accident will ensure that the four brave astronauts who gave their lives to the cause will not have died in vain...

Edited January 8, 2014 by tntristan12