The new crew shuttle Pioneer is complete, and ready to transport west to White Mesa!
“I’m glad we finished revamping the Crew Shuttles when we did… with the disaster at Spacedock we’re going to need extra vehicles on hand!”
-Gene
The crew shuttle is un-fueled, and protective covers have been put over the front heat shield as well as the rear engines! Carson will be flying the mission solo to White Mesa, where the crew program is based!
“The X-5 is airborne! That Crew Shuttle really makes this plane perform sluggish!”
-Carson
Carson slowly brings the X-5 around and heads west, flying past the space center!
“Pretty view from up here!”
-Carson
“X-5 checking in – aircraft performance…. nominal… crew shuttle seems to be holding up well!”
-Carson
The X-5 reaches its maximum altitude, and begins the descent toward White Mesa!
“I’ve passed the terminator into night… switching on internal lighting!”
-Carson
Carson brings the aircraft around and lines up with the White Mesa runway… about 11km from the facility!
“I’m in the pipe, five by five! Setting her down!”
-Carson
The X-5 touches down and comes to a full stop! Soon the aircraft will taxi to a hangar, where the Crew Shuttle Pioneer will be separated, inspected and prepared to launch on a Nebula Rocket! Pioneer‘s twin, the original Adventure, is already stacked on a Nebula Rocket, and is being prepared for a launch!
What started out as mild vibrations on the station have grown and grown over the last half – the station crew, mid rotation with just Sean and Jeb on board, have been working on troubleshooting the strange shaking with Mission Control!
“We verified that RCS isn’t firing from any thruster, station or docked…and our SAS systems all show normal… Jeb and I can’t figure out what’s causing it… wait, just a second… the station is shaking even worse now! I think the vibration is increasing exponentially…”
*loud cracking noise, alarm klaxons* “..There’s… been a breach! Jeb! Launch the Intrepid quick!”
-Sean
Back at KSEA, sensors report what can’t be correct – loss of direct connection between the Lithium tanks and the upper docking and habitat section! Immediately ground crews start making calls and Gene assumes the worst … and gives the evacuation order!
“Start emergency evacuations! Intrepid get that ship out of there! Sean get to the nearest Crew Vehicle and undock now! Look alive people this is an emergency! What crew shuttle is ready to go up there? Get it up there….!”
-Gene, at Mission Control
Thankfully Jeb was quick with his reflexes and activated the emergency decoupling process – detaching the massive Deep Space Vehicle Intrepid from the station and reverse firing the orbital thrusters to push away from the station!
“This is Jeb on Intrepid – the DSV is clear of the station! I’m fine… it was a close call, the station was spinning out of control! Sean are you OK?” -Jeb, on DSV Intrepid
Sean didn’t wait a second, and pushed himself to the nearest crew vehicle, hopping in Crew Vehicle 6, and decoupling! The whole time the station is violently rotating, and as the Crew Vehicle departs, it impacts the the spinning orbital ring!
“That was a bumpy ride … but I got out! The Crew Vehicle impacted the station on the way out but … I’m not seeing any indication of leaks… what’s the plan?”
-Sean
“OK – Sean, Jeb – let’s get your two vehicles docked – then do a full diagnostic of Intrepid. We’ll figure out what to do from there! We’re all relieved you’re safe up there!”
-Gene, at Mission Control
Sean maneuvers Crew Vehicle 6 to a rendevous with Intrepid!
“I see you Sean! The Crew Vehicle looks good, just some scuffs! You’re good for docking!”
-Jeb
Intrepid and DSV 6 dock! Jeb and Sean give each other quick hugs, relieved!
“That was a close one!”
-Sean
“Yea! I like some excitement on my missions… but not like that!”
-Jeb
As the situation normalizes, everyone catches their breath! While Sean and Jeb do a full diagnostic of both Intrepid and the Crew Vehicle, Mission Control starts working on disaster planning to see how bad the damage is at the Spaceport!
“Ground radar and space assets show Intrepid should be safe – I want to get some Kerbals up there to get a closer look but I don’t think Sean or Jeb should do it, they’re both pretty shaken up and need to get down to the surface to be checked out! A Crew Shuttle can check out the station, then return Sean and Jeb!
-Gene, at Mission Control
As the day goes on, KSEA decides to send up the revamped (and recently tested) Crew Shuttle Adventure! A large crew is needed for the mission as it’s not just a rescue, but crisis/damage assessment, and recrew of Intrepid!
After the successful test of the Adventure crew shuttle, KSEA has begun construction of a brand new, duplicate Crew Shuttle… named CTS-2 Pioneer!
A larger variant of the crew shuttle is also under development, however no plans are ready to be released yet! The craft is tentatively called the Heavy Crew Shuttle!
Research and development is nearing completion for a new Duna lander as well. If KSEA is to have a permanent habitation on the surface of the red planet, a reusable lander is needed… The existing Advanced Duna Lander has not performed as well as hoped, providing barely enough DeltaV, and a landing process that has been described as “consistently unreliable” by pilots!
Finally, mission planners are almost ready to announce DSV-5 Intrepid’s first mission! Intrepid was launched in mid Year 21, and cleared orbital tests later that year. Mission planners keep insisting they didn’t just forget about it!
At the White Mesa launch facility the refit Crew Shuttle Adventure is rolled out and fully fueled!
Carson and Edan board the shuttle and start flight checks!
“All systems nominal … Fuel lights are green…. “
-Carson
“All gauges OK… Adventure is ready!”
-Edan
“This is White Mesa Control Tower – you are clear to launch when ready!”
“We are go!”
-Edan
The newly refit Crew Shuttle blasts off – lifted by a Nebula Rocket!
“Woohoo!
-Carson
At the vehicle reaches it’s 100km apogee, the Nebula Rocket powers down, and the protective aerodynamic nose shield ejects!
“Decoupling from Nebula….”
-Edan
“Decoupling complete, powering RCS thrusters to move clear for Nebula de-orbit…”
-Carson
The Nebula Rocket drifts away using its own RCS system to preform a powered de-orbit propulsive landing!
Adventure then fires its LV909 engines to finish propelling itself to a 200km orbit!
“So far so good!“
-Edan
Carson suits up, and performs a spacewalk to inspect the shuttle!
“Looks good from the outside! Just normal thermal wear… Looks like it’s within tolerances!”
-Carson
After a full orbital systems check, Edan and Carson start the de-orbit burn back to Kerbin!
“I think I see White Mesa down there!”
-Edan
“Good! Hold on! These White Mesa landings are always a little tricky!”
-Carson
Carson burns fires the engines for a little extra thrust, and glides the shuttle to line up with the landing strip!
“We’re five by five… Touching down!”
-Carson
With the screech of its tires Adventure sets down at White Mesa!
“We’re back!”
-Edan
With a generally successful first flight everyone at KSEA is delighted!
“Good work everyone! If everything checks out Adventure will be back in service soon, and we can build a few new Crew Shuttles to supplement our orbital crew vehicles!”
After an extended stay on the surface Mitster and Kimmy double check the science equipment on the surface of Eeloo is functional and blast off for orbit!
“All systems nominal, orbital velocity and trajectory tracks good…”
-Mitster
“Systems look good! No scientific equipment problems!”
-Kimmy
Mitster rendezvouses with Horizon!
“Looking good! Horizon is ready to dock!”
-Chrisnic
Very slowly, the lander moves in to dock with the interplanetary spacecraft!
As the lander is being left behind on Eeloo orbit, Mitster docks with the front docking port, as maneuvers are more complicated when entering the DDV cargo bay!
“Docking complete! Looks like a good seal!”
-Mitster
“Let’s start moving over all the scientific data and samples! We can still do a lot of science from orbit as well, before we leave!”
KSEA engineers are excited to reveal the refit of the Crew Shuttle Adventure! The entire Crew Shuttle Program was shut down in Year 17 after the CTS-3 Intrepid suffered a major catastrophe – major nose cone damage from re-entry heat that nearly destroyed the spacecraft! Val is widely credited with saving the entire crew with her calm handling of the disaster!
Since then, engineers have been working on a way to make a safer Crew Shuttle – the result is the refit of the only surviving Crew Transport Shuttle – Adventure! (Intrepid was badly damaged, and Endeavor was dismantled!)
The new Crew Transport Shuttle launches using the Nebula Rocket as a re-usable lifter, which should make the entire Crew Shuttle mission reusable! The vehicle is en route to the White Mesa desert launch facility for initial testing.
“If everything works out with Adventure we’ll see about adding a few new space-planes to our roster! We’ll need some new names though – the DSV fleet took ‘Endeavor’ and ‘Intrepid’ for their latest vehicles!”
After an extended stay on the surface of Duna, the crew of Discovery blast off!
“You know the drill everybody – hold on tight until we’re weightless!” -Mirphe
The crew reach orbit, and barely enough fuel to complete the rendevous!
“I’m starting to think this lander design isn’t perfect! By these calculations, we’ll have less than 100 d/v worth of fuel remaining once we dock! -Tamre
Mirphe completes the docking maneuver with Duna Spaceport, then taps on the fuel gauge…
“Huh. 20 d/v remaining! That was a close one!” -Mirphe
After the close call, planners back at the spaceport start working on the next Duna Lander!
After weeks in orbit calibrating equipment and scouting out a new landing site, Mission Control gives the OK to land on Eeloo! Mitster and Kimmy board the lander and undock from Horizon’s payload bay!
Kerbal States | Kerbin Space Exploration Administration 