With the return of Explorer 5 and the test flight of Discovery the Kerbin Spaceport has gotten very crowded! Edan, Bill, Orlas, Glenica, and Sean all board CTS-3 Intrepid!
“Have a good flight – you soon!”
-Gene
Edan undocks from the Spaceport, and uses RCS thrusters to reach a safe distance from the station! Gilian, Shepely, and Seely remain on the station, conducting the vitally important scientific research that must certainly occur there.
“Come back soon! Bring more snacks! “
-Shepely
Intrepid fires its engines to de-orbit… then detaches the service pod that holds cargo (and provides for solar power!)
“Hold on everyone! Things are about to get pretty hot!”
-Edan
Intrepid soars through the atmosphere, occasionally usings its airbrake system to slow its decent.
Once past the mountains west of the Space Center, Edan makes the final manuevers to line up for a landing!
“Edan to Mission Control… Intrepid is in the pipe, five by five!”
-Edan
Intrepid touches down on the runway!
A perfect landing! The tired Kerbals exit the Crew Shuttle to rest up for their next mission – Intrepid is recovered and undergoes minor repairs and the standard recovery process to get it ready for its next flight!
Malcolm, Luly, and Seely blast off in an Aurora Crew Vehicle to supplement the crew on Kerbin Spaceport (and to get the newest kerbalnauts trained!)
The Aurora 20 Mission to Unity Space Station (finally) comes to an end! The Research Mission was intended to gather significant data on Mun and to study long-duration of spaceflight on Kerbal physiology. KSEA administrators stress that the length of the mission definitely did not mean that Mission Control forgot about the mission!
Aurora 16 blasts off, taking Edan, Dunwin, and Kerlorf on their way to Mun (and with them, the new Lander that Unity Space Station will need!)
Unity Space Station is sitting in a 100k orbit. The shuttle is capable of reaching orbits up to 120k, however tolerances for errors and safety start getting pushed above 100k.
Adventure docks at Unity Space Station!
Luly and Seely head over… but Seely takes the scenic route and installs the new Gravity Sensors on the station! Edan takes a second to correct the orientation of one of the Station’s Habitat Modules…
Unity Station begins its transfer to Mun!
This time the launch goes much better than Harmony Station’s… keeping the insertion stage’s engine’s gimbals set lower appears to solve the problem (that and the station has been designed to be symmetrical!) Adventure will remain in orbit until KSEA signals that the Station is safely away!
Unity Station arrives at Mun!It’s just a short 5 hours trip to Mun!
With just a little work, the station is put into a 31k orbit,. Now all the crew needs is a lander, and science can begin! (The Transfer stage still has a little precious fuel in it, so it will remain until the lander arrives!)
Kerbal States | Kerbin Space Exploration Administration 