Let's mourn our Kerbals together.

[Alephzorg]

Let's gather here to mourn and remember our fallen heroes, those who gave their lives in the name of science, exploration and adventure (or more boosters).

A space program is no small or easy feat. It's risky, exciting and dangerous. We might do our best to keep our crews safe and ensure they get back home... but sometimes the worst happen. It can be because we made a mistake, or the Kraken decided to strike that particular craft/mission.

I'll start with the story of Edgee Kerman.

He was part of the LR-Dragon Dres Mission with Dudfal and Hanfurt. Their goal was to reach Dres, land there and get back home.

Landing had been tricky already, with a poorly designed ship, too high and with a narrow landing section. This lead to many "landing simulations" (read quicksaves/quickloads) until a flat terrain could be found.

Having managed to land at the bottom of a crater, Hanfurt was the first to leave the ship to plant a flag. He named the place Castor Crater and claimed it in the name of science and kerbalkind.

Edgee would be the next one to set foot outside the pod. And he decided to go explore the next-door crater. It took him almost half his jetpack fuel and he finished on foot to save some for the trip back, but he reached the bottom of that second crater and named it Pollux (not very original but whatever).

He was 10km from the ship and the sun was setting down when he took off. At first, everything went fine. He passed the edge separating the 2 craters and commenced his descent. Unfortunately, with the sun now setting in his back, he was in the dark and couldn't tell how high above the ground he was. He could only tell how fast he was going down. He did his best, trying to keep it at about 10m/s... But all of a sudden, he impacted the ground and died instantly.

Edgee Kerman, you were a true hero, as reckless as Jeb, and you will be missed.

Edited June 14, 2014 by Alephzorg

[Alephzorg]

Could a mod please edit the title to "Let's mourn our Kerbals together" please?

[KvickFlygarn87]

You can do that on your own just hit "Edit", "Go Advanced" and then edit the title from there

[Xacktar]

I'd like to mourn the loss of Jeb.... again.

Jeb died because I forgot to quicksave before flipping him over and breakdancing on the Mun in a prototype wheel-less rover. His explosion was epic, his debris field far.

He will be missed until he respawns.

[Solivagant]

On a one-way trip to Dres, Anming and Giller Kerman found themselves in an encounter with Jool, and said, "Why not?" They arrived, aerobraked, and found that they did not have enough fuel to make it to the surface of Laythe, Kerbal-kind's ultimate goal. It had been more than 6 years since they had set off from KSC, and they were so very lonely. Upon learning they did not have enough fuel to either make it home or to Laythe, they decided it would be better if they plunged into Jool, in the pursuit of science and driven mad by having only each other's company for seven and a half years. They will be missed greatly.