"Operation: Red Rust." Now with Chapter 3 (Part 1)!

[Yellowburn10]

Hello! This is my story of my first ever attempt at a full scale Duna mission on career. Actually, it's my first attempt ever. And I wanted to show it in a book like, RP story. I've seen other missions like this, and have always wanted to do one of my own. As seen below, segments will be put into chapters, for convenience, since this is going to be a long story. Also, each chapter will come when it's good and ready, so if a certain chapter takes a while, just try to be patient and I'll get it out soon. So, without further ado, let's get this party started! To start, we'll go from a Prologue and work our way to present time.

Operation: Red Rust, Chapter 0: Prologue

Time: Year 2, day 300 since the founding of the Kerbal Space Program. In that time, the KSP has made many successful missions involving space stations, landing, and colonies. However, there has yet to be any Kerbal to have gone farther than Kerbin's SOI. With the technology available at the time, the people down at the Kerbal Space Center didn't dare take the risk. But, with new advancements in tech, and more confidence on bringing kerbals back alive, they're in the middle of the plans to land a team of kerbals on a whole other planet. After some debate, it was decided that the best planet for this mission would be Duna. With a launch window about a year away, the KSC team has already gotten to work. They have named this mission "Operation: Red Rust" after the red iron-oxide surface of the planet.

The plan was to send 7 kerbals to the planet, have 5 on the surface and 2 in a space station. The kerbonauts for the mission were chosen long before a planet was specified, but some of them had been flown to either the IKSS (International Kerbin Space Station), Mun Station or Mun Colony and are now unable to join the mission. So, in light of the public announcement of Operation: Red Rust, and a schedule to start keeping track of, a few new kerbals had been chosen to take their places. The final list of kerbals is:

Bill Kerman. Role: Mission leader. Bill wasn't exactly too excited when he heard he would be chosen as mission leader, but he accepted anyways. He later comments, "I think it's because I'm on of the 'original three,' whatever that means."

Patsby Kerman. Role: Lead scientist. Corbus is one of the newcomers, with an extensive knowledge of science. He's even been mentored by the one and only Wernher von Kerman. He likes to boast about it too much.

Corbus Kerman. Role: Communications. Also one of the newcomers, Pastby will be left in the satellite orbiting Duna in order to keep radio communications and for other emergencies. Seriously, this guy can talk your ear off.

Alner Kerman. Role: Lead explorer, pilot. Alner Kerman is the 3rd newcomer, and a very experience pilot. He's always dreamed of one day flying over distant worlds. Now he'll be able to live his dream. He claims to have learned his flying style by watching videos of Jebediah Kerman. Not the wisest choice, Alner...

Dudcott Kerman. Role: Geologist. After spending some time on the Munar colony studing rocks, Dudcott seemed like the perfect choice for geologist. Dudcott wasn't too exited at first, saying he just got back from the Mun, but he wanted to be the first to study up close rocks from anther planet. Also he wanted to make red sand castles.

Shelzon Kerman. Role: Engineer. Shelzon will remain with Pastby Kerman on the space station orbiting Duna. He'll maintain the ship in orbit, and, if necessary, go to the surface to help repair something. He claims that fixing something is just as easy as "a click of a button."

Mitrim Kerman. Role: Medical doctor. Saying that these people will be millions of miles away, KSC hired doctor Mitrim to attend to everyone's medical needs. His slogan is: "Whether it's a kold or kessler, I'll be there for you!"

With the crew chosen, attention turned to the construction of the spacecraft. To specify each role of each kerbal, a special spacecraft had to be constructed, one that hasn't been done before. After blueprints were laid out, the prototypes built and tested, everything was ready to launch. Attention now turns to the launchpad, where the Core of Operation Red Rust will be launched into orbit...

Well, that about covers the prologue. And just to specify, here is my tech tree as of right now:

Yes, I know, that's a lot to fill out before moving to interplanetary travel, but I wanted to go when I knew I was ready.

I hope you've enjoyed this first part! Next time, we'll be going to the launchpad!

Edited June 15, 2014 by Yellowburn10

[Yellowburn10]

Chapter 1: Space Construction begins

Over at KSC, anxious scientists, engineers, and other onlookers are watching as the core of Operation: Red Rust is moving to the launch pad. The core consists of a 3-man command pod, hitchhiker container, 6 nuke rockets, escape pods, and plenty of docking ports. 4 Kerbals will be in it during takeoff: Bill, Corbus, Patsby, and Alner. Bob Kerman was accompanying them as they went to the rocket.

Alner: "C'mon, Bill! Why couldn't I take the sandstorm up, instead of just riding up on the rocket?!"

The sandstorm is the plane I've created to go to Duna. More on that later.

Bill: "Because, Alner. Mitrim volunteered first, and anyways, you'll be flying that thing all you want once we get to Duna."

Alner: "But the Doc doesn't even have a pilot's license! How's he gonna fly the thing?"

Bob: "He's gone through a lot of training recently, and I feels confident that he can take it up."

Alner: "Fine. Just let me have my seat alone in the hitchhiker."

After everyone else got into the rocket, Bill and Bob had a quick chat.

Bob: "So, leaving for Duna, huh? Must be tough to be leaving this place for a while."

Bill: "Yeah, I try not to think about it. Although I'm more worried about these three rather than myself, though."

Bob: "Just be careful up there."

Bill: "Tsk! Always the worrywart."

Bob: "Hmph. I'll let you have that one, saying this is your last day on Kerbin. Anyways, I'll be maintaining communications through mission control. Good luck up there."

So, with preparations finally ready, the ship counted down: 5...4...3...2...1...Ignition. We have liftoff!

As I've stated before, I don't quite have the tech to have the really big engines yet, but these do fine. Here, most of my boosters have been detached, but the remaining two make it have an arch shape:

Once that's done, I'm left with 2 orbital rockets for maneuvering and adjusting.

You'll notice that on the back end there is a structure part with 4 docking ports on it. I made this because, like I've said before, I lack some important parts, like Sr. Docking ports, so I needed to improvise.

Corbus: "Whoa! I can't believe we're in space! This feels amazing!"

Bill: "Shh! Quiet for a sec. I'm trying to gain contact with KSC."

Bob: *Static sounds* "Mission control to Red Rust core, come in Red Rust core."

Bill: *Click* "Red Rust core here, I hear ya. Well, looks like we've gotten into a successful 80 km orbit around the planet."

Patsby: "Oh, is Bob on? Oh, oh, I wanna talk with him!"

Bill: "Relax, Patsby, you'll be doing plenty of talking soon enough."

Bob: "Your orbit looks stable on our maps here. We're now preparing the launch pad for the Base. It will rendezvous with your spacecraft around your next flyby of KSC."

Bill: "Ok, Bob. We're signing out for now. Talk to you later." *Click*

The design of the base is fairly simple: On one side, you have the command pod and the hitchhiker, and on the other, the science lab. The middle is just a fuel tank to space things out. Also, it needs a few engines since parachutes alone will obviously not be enough for Duna. Dudcott will be riding along inside the base.

When the Core spacecraft was in position, the engines were fired off. We have liftoff!

The launcher design is similar to the core's, due to the fact that the only way to attach rockets on it was on it 2 poodle engines. Oh, and about the timing thing, I think I'm kinda good at this kind of stuff:

Best first-launch encounter I've ever gotten. I was able to get the 2 spacecraft in close vicinity even before I hit the dark side of the planet.

Dudcott seems to be enjoying himself.

After getting the two spacecraft docked, Dudcott flew out to check the strength of the connection, and to join the others in the hitchhiker can.

Alner: "Welcome abord, Dudcott! Where were you? I was starting to get lonely."

Dudcott: "Hey, gotta make sure we have that base back there properly secured. You don't want it to fall off during a burn or something, right?"

Alner: "Well, good to have some new company here, anyways."

So, here's spacecraft construction so far:

Now it's time to send up the next 2 things: The Rover and Plane! First up will be the rover, which I appropriately named "The DuneRat."

I got the name from the atmosphere sensors on the front. Close up, they almost look like whiskers. Clearly it's not built for style, but it's perfect for mobile science. And due to it's small size, I was able it fit in on only a small lifter. Shelzon would be aboard this time.

Docking with the Core was a piece of cake as well, only needing one orbit to catch up. Here they are docked:

Patsby: "Shelzon! Good to see ya, old buddy!"

Shelzon: "Hey, Patsby. Nice to see that everyone's faces again.

Dudcott: "Come on in, Shelly! I've got some celebratory snacks saved up for all of us!"

Bill: "I wouldn't be celebrating just yet. We still need Mitrim to come up."

Alner: "Yeah. Where's the doc with my plane?

Bill: "Getting ready. The boys at KSC say that they're trying a new approach to bring him into space."

Alner: "Wait, what do you mean by 'a new approach?'"

Bill: "I don't know, but we'll find out soon."

This "New approach" is referring to my attempt to go to space in a horizontal fashion. So, finally, we get to the plane! As mentioned earlier, I've named it the "Sandstorm:" Also as stated before, Mitrim will pilot it to space.

The 2 side engines are Jet-engine boosters that will get it through the first part of the atmosphere. After that, the main engine will kick in, and the jet engines separated. The wheels in front are for taxiing and for driving around, incase it runs out of fuel.

Aaannnnddd cue cinematic shot!

Here, the jet engines are separating, and the main engine is kicking in.

The good news is that the thing got into space. The bad news, it used up most of it's fuel. Luckily, there was still plenty of it for orbital corrections.

After a good few orbits, I was able to rendezvous with the core, and Mitrim Joined the others.

Alner: "Hey, doc! I hope you didn't leave any scratches on my plane."

Mitrim: "Actually, I didn't really leave anything on it. Not even fuel"

Alner: "You've telling me that my plane is out of fuel?? How am I suppost to fly it now?!"

Bill: "Calm down, Alner! You're plane won't need fuel to land."

Alner: "...Sorry."

*Awkward silence*

Mitrim: "...Soo, Alner. Um, isn't your brother an actor?"

Alner: "Um, yeah, he is. Aldner Kerman. He's playing a role in a TV show right now, where he's with a colony of Kerbals on Laythe."

Dudcott: "Hey, don't spoil anything for me! I haven't seen the latest episode"

Mitrim: "No worries, Dudcott. Anyways, I've heard rumors that the Sandstorm's design was taken by the planes on the show."

Alner: "Nah, man, that's just a myth. Besides, the show takes place way into the future, at least 20 years from now. There's no way KSC is able to replicate their technology right now."

Mitrim: "Eh, I guess your right."

Shelzon: "Phh! I thought I was here with kerbonauts, not space nerds."

It's true. My plane design was somewhat inspired by Brotoro's "BirdDog" from his story, "Long-term Laythe." It's mainly just the wheel part, though. I also found it ironic on how Alner's name was so close to Aldner, one of the kerbonauts in Long-Term Laythe. A cookie to you if you got these references before I explained them!

So, the mothership is now complete, and may I say, I'm loving the look:

Well, I need to wrap things up for now. I need to let everyone have their celebratory snacks, and talk about the latest Laythe episode. Next time, we'll send some separate things into space that will go with our intrepid explorers to Duna, and then we'll head off for the distant planet!

Edited May 24, 2014 by Yellowburn10

[Yellowburn10]

Chapter 2: Departure

So, preparations were nearly complete to head off to Duna, except for 2 things: 1, we needed to send more stuff up to go with our intrepid crew, and 2, the Duna launch window was about, say... 1 year away. So, yeah. That leaves plenty of time to get my other things up in orbit before the time comes. I'll just skim over these for the sake of the story. Ok, first item of business, a gas station for the Sandstorm:

Making it into orbit was a snap. Which is surprising, saying I didn't even test it.

Next, a shuttle for going to and from the surface of Duna:

Initial testing went well, and it should have the Delta-v necessary to launch from the surface of Duna.

And lastly, a refueling station for the shuttle so that it can make multiple trips to and from Duna.

Yes, that's a lot of boosters. Jeb kinda had a say in this launch. Nevertheless, the extra boosters were necessary to get to orbit.

Ok, so everything is ready to leave, all we need to do is wait. See you all in a year!

-One year later-

Wow, I can't believe it's already been a year! The current date is Year 3, day 300. The launch window is open, and our kerbals are ready to go!

I've already got the burns set up, and they're all gonna look something like this:

Sorry for all the asteroid clutter. If you can't see, it's a primary burn followed by a secondary burn halfway there to correct it's path. The Core is the first to go:

Alner: "Whoa! What's going on with the ship?"

Bill: "Looks like the rover and plane are not as tightly attached as we thought they were. They're bouncing the ship around!"

Corbus: "Ugh! How long does this burn last?"

Bill: "About 7 minutes"

Mitrim: "This is going to be a long 7 minutes."

Darn straight it was. Not only was it long because of the mass of the ship, but there were so many parts that it was lagging up my game bad, and I have a great computer! So instead of 7-8 minutes, it felt more like 12. But we finally got it over with, and we're officially on our way! Next up, the gas station:

As you can see, this, as well as all the other spacecraft excluding the core, still have a "Kerbin-escape-booster" attached. It's just a neat little trick I found out to save fuel of the nukes. Here, the booster is already detached, and the nukes have take over:

Next on the list was the shuttle:

This one took a lot more time than expected. I thought the booster would do more, but I still had to do an 8-minute burn with the nukes just to escape Kerbin. Good thing I added a spare fuel tank.

Actually, this burn took so long, the refueling station missed it's burn time! UGH. I need kerbal alarm clock... luckily, the new option to add an orbit to your burn on the node was helpful here. Thank you, Squad!

After that, there weren't any other problems.

Finally, we got everything heading to Duna! As they draw further away from Kerbin, they look back to try to see their home planet one last time:

Dudcott: "Wow, Kerbin looks so small from here!"

Shelzon: "Well, it's only going to get smaller. The next time we see a planet, it will be glowing red!"

Alner: "Ooh hoh hoh, I can't wait!"

I'm getting excited myself! Here's the orbits of all the spacecraft now:

Soon after, the 4 ships went and made their correction burns to be able to aerobreak at Duna. They all had about the same periaps at 13 km:

Meanwhile, the kerbals were having a party! It was around this time that kerbals would usually celebrate the Kerbal new year. Things were getting pretty crazy inside:

Well... just imagine something awesome is happening in there.

Dudcott: "Hey, Alner! Come join us! We're about to play "The Sour Game!"

Alner: "No thanks, I'm stuffed. I've already won the kerbal kake-eating contest, anyways."

Shelzon: "No, I don't feel like playing the sour game."

Mitrim: "Well, what else do you want to do? We can't play anything like a dice game in this zero G environment."

Alner: "If I could, I'd go outside to get some fresh air."

Shelzon: "Eh, party pooper."

Alner did end up going outside to do daily inspection of the craft:

In that, he went ahead and slipped inside the cockpit of the Sandstorm, where he ended up catching a quick nap:

In it, he had a dream. A dream of flying over Duna in his awesome plane. He imagined orange skys and Ike overhead:

'

He was having the time of his life. Just him and the open air of Duna. He felt free as ever.

Soon after, he was preparing to land. Suddenly, his radio started to crackel. "...Alne....Com.....ner! Come..n Alner!" He tried to tune his radio, but could only make out certain words. Suddenly, he felt as if everything in the plane started to malfunction. Throttle wasn't working, his joystick wasn't responding, and he felt like he was going down.

He was panicking. He only had a few meters to go before he would crash down into the surface. The man on the radio was still trying to contact him. He braced for impact...

He woke up.

Panting, Alner listened to Bill calling him over the radio to come back to the hitchhiker can. Now, as he climbed back out of the cockpit and floated back, he started to have second thoughts about the plan for him to land on Duna... In a plane...

Well, that concludes this chapter! Sorry for the long delay, this one had some trouble. The next chapter should come fairly easy, though. And let me know if you liked the ending. That may or may not have hinted at some things in the future... Guess you'll just have to wait and see! Until next time!

Edited June 9, 2014 by Yellowburn10

[Scotius]

Interesting beginning. And ambitious My first Duna mission was two guys in a Lander Can, overpowered lander and a unmanned nuclear tug. Best of luck - and pack plenty of parachutes .

[Yellowburn10]

Chapter 2 was planned for today, but unfortunately my computer needs to be serviced. Chapter 2 will be here after the weekend, 5 days at the most

[WillHop]

Enjoyed reading chapter 1! Looking forward to the second when you can write it

[Yellowburn10]

*Bump*

Just so everyone sees that the new chapter's out!

[Rhyunix]

I'm liking this, sounds good

[Yellowburn10]

Chapter 3: Arrival (Part 1)

Bill: *Click* 'Wake up, Kerbals! Look out your windows! Duna and Ike are now fully visible!"

Alner: "Ugh.. Wh-what? Are we finally here?!"

Yes! After waiting weeks in that cramped spacecraft, the Kerbals are finally approaching the SOI of Duna.

Because of the known bug that when you change SOI, your orbits change, I needed to keep a close watch of my ships. The order the ships that would arrive at Duna is 1st, the gas station, 2nd, the Core, 3rd, the Shuttle, and 4th, the refueling station. Something to note is that the shuttle and refueling station won't come until a few IG weeks after the core and gas station arrive. Anyways, here I'm getting the gas station ready for aero breaking.

I noticed, however, I couldn't move the space craft around. Then I realized.

My electric charge is depleted! I was almost frantic on what I was going to do. The solar panel attached was on the dark side of the craft. I had to let the aerodynamics of the game turn the spacecraft around so the panel could receive a charge.

After aero breaking, and a little adjusting, I was able to get it into a stable elliptical orbit. Later, it'll preform another aero breaking to round out the orbit.

Ok, now we finally get to the Core ship!

Mitrim: "Awe, it's gonna feel so good to be back on solid ground again."

Shelzon: "Heh, speak for yourself Mitrim. I'm still stuck in here while you guys are prancing around down there."

Patsby: "Not just prancing around. We'll be doing scientific things and making great discoveries!"

Dudcott: "All I know is that from up here, this place looks amazing. I'm sure you and Corbus won't be too board up here, Shelzon."

Shelzon: "Well, I know Corbus won't be board with me around. He can't go a day without talking to someone."

Corbus: "I heard that!"

A few IG hours later, I start to prepair the ship for aero breaking.

Ready to be captured.

After some time, I realized that my capture had been a little too much into the atmosphere, so I was trying to turn the spacecraft around to be able to burn back up when necessary.

All the while, the kerbals were getting a great view of the planet passing below:

Dudcott: "Wow! This is amazing!"

Mitrim: "Yeah, except for all the g-forces pushing you into your seat!"

Dudcott: "Well, this view takes my mind off of it."

Truthfully, the g-forces were probably 2, maybe 3 G's at the most. Anyways, we preformed the aero break successfully. Heading out of the atmosphere, we have a nice moon rise of Ike in the distance.

Soon after, the core was in a stable, circular orbit around Duna. Now, it's time to get serious.

So, the plan was when the Core got into a stable orbit, the first thing that would be sent down was the Sandstorm. It would fly over and try to pick out a good spot for a base. After that, it will try to land at or near the location. The chosen pilot was Alner Kerman. However, since he's had his nightmares, he's been very nervous about it. Even now, as he's preparing to leave, he's doing his best not to show it.

Bill: "Ok, Alner. You've waited all this time, now it's finally your chance to fly in your new plane."

Alner: "Um, yeah. *Clears throat* Totally. I'm so stoked!"

Bill: "Now, you know the planned landing site. Make sure to choose the best spot."

Alner: "Oh, yeah. I got it. No problem."

Before leaving, Mitrim stopped Alner.

Alner: ..?

Mitrim: "I know you're feeling nervous."

Alner: "Wha- no! I don't get scared."

Mitrim: ...

Alner: "Oh, ok, maybe I'm a bit nervous. How'd you know?"

Mitrim: "In case you didn't notice, I'm a doctor. Anyways, you have no need to be nervous. You'll land that thing like a pro."

Alner: "I only hope so..."

Alner then started the slow float to the Sandstorm.

Then, he boarded the sandstorm, and Bill undocked the 2 ships. Alner carefully backed up. All the while, Ike looms in the distance.

Bill: "Remember, use your RCS to deorbit to save fuel for flying. Also, I've transferred some of the fuel in the Rover's backup tanks into your plane."

Alner: "Got it. Thanks, Bill."

Bill: "Hm. That's a first."

As he gets ready for his burn, Alner gets one last look at the spacecraft that brought him here.

Alner: "Well, here goes nothing."

After doing his burn, and nearly using all his RCS, he begins descending.

To make sure everything is right, he begins some maneuvers to test his wings, and to slow himself down more.

Eventually, the pull of the atmosphere was great enough to turn his plane straight. So far so good, he thought.

Then, his dream that he had in the ship had started to become a reality. The radio came on, with someone trying to communicate. Then, like in the dream, he started to loose control. He was freaking out!

However, before he fell into despair, the radio became clearer. "Alner! Come in!" It was Shelzon's voice. "Alner! I forgot to mention one thing! You need to turn all the control surfaces back on!"

Alner: "WHAT!? Are you kidding me!?! I'm going through all this panic, and you're telling me that my control surfaces are off?!?"

Shelzon: "Eh heh..."

Alner: "You're lucky I'm already down here..."

I had turned off the control surfaces on the plane for the journey there, but had incidentally forgot to turn them on. Thankfully that part's easy. After that, Alner had total control of the plane.

Bill: "Alner! Sorry about that incident with Shelzon. He'll be getting a double inspection shift for that."

Alner: "Well, I'm fine now. And I've never felt more alive. I'm the first Kerbal to fly on another planet!"

Bill: "Have you found any good place for the rest of us to be at?"

Alner: "Yeah, I'm circling around this good flat place. I'm going to try to land now.

Bill: "Ok, good luck."

This was definitely the most scary part. You know, besides the flaps not working and what-not. I've heard plenty of stories about how hard it is to land on Duna's surface, and I was prepared for the worst. I had to bleed off a lot of speed, which took forever. Eventually, I got to a speed that I felt comfortable landing at.

Alner: "Ok, here I go!"

*Bump*

Alner: "Whoa! That was a hard landing. Now I've just gotta break, and... Whoa! In the air again!"

This happened several times. Eventually, I was finally to slow myself down, and successfully land. Success!

Alner: "Guys, I did it! I've landed! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" :D:D

He wasted no time. Before anyone could respond, he was already out and walking around.

Levitation powers, activate!

He was having so much fun, he almost forgot to plant a flag.

Here's what he wrote: (May or may not be his own words)

Well, this is wrapping up quite nicely, if I do say so myself. After some less-than inspirational words, Alner hopped back inside his plane to drive the short rest of the way to the desired base location

I think we need to wrap this up for now. My, what a big chapter so far! In part 2, we'll get everyone else to the surface, get everything else organized, and hey, maybe get some exploring done. Until next time!