In need of direction [KSP] IC

[HMS Sophia]

The mission is a go and the engineers scurry off to begin work on a brand new launcher: The Procrastination booster.

August 20th 1959
In the news this week, Admiral Arnie Burk reports that the Not-Russians have the capability to launch ballistic missiles from their submarines. He said in a press brief "They have equalled our capabilities, but they will never exceed them!"

The second rocket was now ready for launch. the Hermes-Procrastination combination was sitting pretty on the launch pad, awaiting engine ignition. Bill had clambered into the tiny pod on top of the capsule, ready to follow in Jebediah's footsteps and planning on exceeding him by a significant margin. The mission plan was tight, with an attempted orbital boost, an experiment to recover, and an EVA to perform. It was sure to be an exciting time.

"T minus 5 minutes, lock the control room doors."
"All controllers, give me GoNoGO"
"Weather is Go"
"Booster is Go"
"Instruments are Go"
"Trajectory is Go"
"Capsule is Go"
"Mission is a Go. T minus three." The last few minutes tick by, the controllers fidgety, Bill humming to himself from the pod atop the rocket.
At last, the mission launches.

"Ascent profile is no-... wait..."
"What's happening to my rocket?"
"Ascent profile is Oscar-Charlie, we are off course for orbital boost"
"Booster?"
"It's a COG problem, Flight, that damn goo is pulling us off course."
"Roger that Booster. Rocket is green?"
"Green, Flight. Mission is Go as much as we can."
A tense few tens of second pass

"Burnout is 64 seconds, 862.8m/s. Apoapsis will be just under 40 kilometres."
"The upper atmosphere... damn." He turns to the capcom, Bob.
"Bob, we are NoGo on the EVA and science experiments. Tell Bill the bad news. He won't be going into space today."
"Roger that." he turns to his mike and talks to Bill in a low voice. Then his voice gets louder and harsher.
"Kerbal A. christ Bill, are you crazy? There's no way... No... No you can't be serious..." he turns away from the console.
"Bill's, uh... Bill is going to conduct the experiments and EVA in the upper atmosphere."
"What! He'll be killed. Tell him no."
"Too late Flight. He's on the way out the door.
--------------------------------------

40 kilometres above the earth, Bill closed the hatch and activated the Goo experiment. He watched the goo closely, noting small changes, before poking it with a stick he kept in his suit pocket to see what it did. He hummed as he worked, even as the thing upper atmosphere whipped past him at insane velocities. He turned fast to head back into the capsule and disaster struck. He slipped, letting go of the capsule. He threw his arms out furiously, trying to reach, before taking a deep breath, rotating and throwing his notebook away from the rocket. It gave him just enough momentum to reach the rocket as it hit apogee, and he was dogging the hatch shut before it picked up speed on the descent. That... had been truly terrifying.
"Mission control, this is Bill. I am seperating from the booster stage. Experimental data, uh... recovered. Sort of."
--------------------------------------

After the near disastrous ascent and EVA, the descent was near perfect. Seperation was a dream, re-entry into the thicker, lower atmosphere was smooth, and the chutes opened cleanly. Bill was picked up, and immediately placed in psychiatric observation, within a few hours.

[Partysan]

Aaaawright! That Bill guy is a hero! I'll mark him down as the first choice volunteer for the next suicide mission we're planning.
So, do we have any kerbalnauts that will not try to blow up our spacecraft?

[Feirgon]

Perhaps we should find a way to put the goo inside the rocket...

That completely ruined the aerodynamics I had calculated.

He then began jotting notes into a notebook, again.

[Umbranar]

Just had a call. The search and rescueteams found the notebook and were able to glue it together. The goo was not found. Maybe next time we need to put a goo container on each side for balance?

[Eldest]

You all find yourself in the same conference room as before, as Albert works the slide projector to light up the screen with a badly drawn doodle of a rocket ship. "Excellent news! Carlos and I are having our one-year aniversary later this week. He's such a nice person and I'm really lucky that-" he cuts off as the head of NOSE makes an impatiant gesture, and looks guilty. "Rocket. Um... there were some mechanical problems. It was off balance, which was a problem. It didn't have enough thrust, which Carlos said was a fancy term for the amount of push the rocket gives. Well, first he said delta v, and then he used thrust, and then he said push. And the balance issue made the rocket turn in midair, somehow, and when Bill the Astronaut went outside to get to the goo he said it was not very well placed. Carlos mentioned something about the good throwing the rocket off balance too. So the goo was an issue. Also, Bill's leaving the rocket in flight was dangerous, which I'm not sure why I needed to say that one, since even I know that, but hey, it's in the notes. It was, however, exciting, and our funding got increased as a bonus. So if we do dangerously stupid things we get paid more. I'm not sure how I feel about that. But Congress likes it. This may explain a lot about Congress. They also wish us to make the rocket bigger, and paint it the national colors."

Albert takes a break to take a sip of tea, checking his notes to see what else was there to discuss. "Ah, yes, we reached a turning point in our research. Specifically, a branching point, since we only have so many scientists. Well we actually only have the one, Carlos can only do so much, and the interns are good at making coffee but not so much at theoretical physics. He can focus on making better rockets, making rockets more stable, or making more survivable rockets. And Bill the Astronaut is grounded for three months, pending review of his patriotic attributes and mental health by the KPA. Congress also wants to give him a medal." He breaks off his long speech, watching for questions as he sips tea from his mug.

[Feirgon]

If we are going to continue bringing things up with the rocket, we need a way to do so that won't affect trajectory.

Which form of research would allow us to build a hollow extension with which to fill with "experiments"?

[Eldest]

Albert looks up from his tea, and ponders for a moment. "Making things into the rocket is hard, but you could probably balance the outside canister with one on the other side."

[Feirgon]

Wait...how much of this goo do we have?!

Nevermind, don't answer that. But that does mean we need more rocket power to balance the increased weight. Yea, that sounds good...

[Umbranar]

Si, I vote for more power. These little tanks and engines are never going to get us to the Mun or even in Orbit!

[Partysan]

So, I've been thinkin'. How do we know that the last rocket hasn't been sabotaged? All this "out of balance" crap sounds like new-agey nonsense to me. There could be a traitor somewhere and we didn't even realize it! Lots of strange personnel, and then all these science buggers who you can't trust anyway. We should have a close look at the kerbals building our next rocket. That said, more power works for me. Only thing you can do about that is blowing the thing up, and if that happens we know who to blame. Kerb knows what the not-russians are planning.

When can we do the spy satellite thing again?

[Umbranar]

Problem is that we have not managed to send a ship in orbit yet and we cant have a manned satellite right? Or can we?

[HMS Sophia]

The head of NOSE nods to Albert before stepping forwards.
"Well, we've all looked at the problems with our second missions design. We were lucky we didn't get our funding cut."
She sighs, leaning over the table.
"Our next launch had best have absolutely no problems... and make orbit too. We're way behind schedule..."

-----------------------------------------------

Two weeks later, the team of directors is gathered back in one of the conference rooms. Carlos presents a set of information booklets on newly developed technology brought about from the focus on more powerful rockets. Each has a large, blocky title and a picture of the new technology on the front. He places them down, one after the other, talking the whole time.
"We have plenty of new options in liquid fuel engines. The LV-T45 is slightly more expensive than the T30 and is slightly less powerful, but its vectored thrust gives more control in flight. The Wildcat-5 is the opposite, more expensive but more powerful than the T30... Oh, and the Vesta VR-1 is a small, cheap engine. My interns thought it would be useful for upper stages, but I told them you just wanted big, powerful rockets. Still, they had the budgets, so you have the option."
"Ah, yes. The Rockomax BACC solid rocket booster. The globe was too small, the RT-10 was too short. This is essentially a bigger bad version of those. Apparently the military will be testing a boosted version as a ballistic missile. We might even be able to get data from that if Mr Kerblast has any contacts."[/I] He says, glancing at the military man.
"A couple of final bits and pieces. We have what's been labelled by the interns a 'Seperatron I'. It's a tiny little SRB that can be fitting anywhere on a rocket, even on the capsule. They've suggested it can be used for anything from a boosted take off to an emergency escape system. It's cheap too... Oh, and we have some pressurised tanks for additional oxygen and waste storage. They're damn expensive to build though, so it's probably best not to lose them. Please." He clears his throat noisily and steps back, blushing.

------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Directors are visited by a pair of rocket engineers, one slightly singed.
"Kay, so, we think we're finally getting a handle on these rocket equations... They were pretty hard, but we're getting there. So, we've been looking at new designs for the next mission, and we've got a few questions... here." He puts down a sheet of paper in front of the directors:

Spoiler: The paper

Show

NOSE mission 3 queries

1) We have two options. Do we aim for an orbital mission, with no scientific experimentation, or an extra-atmospheric but non-orbital science mission. An EVA in the void can be performed as part of either mission.

2) Should we attempt to build a two stage mission?

3) Should we include an escape system for the capsule. This would increase cost and mass, thereby decreasing mission capabilities, but would make pilot survival much more likely in the event of critical mission failure...

4) Is pilot viability prioritised over mission completion. I.e. Do we do everything we can to recover the pilot, or the mission data...

They await the Directors recommendations.

[Umbranar]

Senors et Senoritas. I think we should to sub-orbital. Get in the vacuum do experiments then get pilot back. Expensive parts MUST be salvageable, our teams are ready to retrieve anything with Naval escort if needed. I think we should avoid meaningless orbit until we have docking ports for space station and communication devices strong enough for spy satellites.

[Eirala]

Kertherina cleared her throat.

I agree, instead of making an orbital flight without any experiments i'd strongly advise for a suborbital flight first to do some Science! We can also surely use the additional data to make the orbital flight even more successful. As for the launch escape system, we should of course prioritize the data at any time, additional mass and cost for something as unnecessary as pilot safety just hinders scientific progress. We have enough pilot's, don't we?

[Feirgon]

Personally, I could care less either way. The end result is that we will need more power output from the rockets. We need to use most of the budget to build a bigger rocket that has more power and more fuel.

The light reflects off of Derek's glasses to hide the maniacal smile in his eyes.

[HMS Sophia]

After a brief tense discussion, involving several violent hand gestures and some scribbling, the one of the engineers is hustled out of the room gibbering, and the other presents a sketched design with great flourish.

"Ha! Under budget at 5957 kerbits, single stage, enough delta-V to leave the atmosphere and scientific modules galore!" He pants, a wild look in his eye "He said it couldn't be done. He said the rocket would have to be huge. I'll prove him wrong!" he storms out, a wild look in his eye. The last remaining engineer, previously tucked away in a corner steps forward nervously.
"Uh... we still need approval to go ahead... Is his design okay?"

[Umbranar]

Any reason for not slapping on some solid fuel booster for a 2-stage model? We have the decouplers for it right? And where are the parachutes so the stages we drop can be salvageable?

[Feirgon]

I like it just as it is. Adding more weight will only slow it down.

[Partysan]

Simple design. Big, bullet-shaped, goo balanced. If we stay suborbital, we don't need more stages. It all seems fine, but...



but...



didn't you say you'd paint it in the national colors?






...wait I got it, you don't know if it'll work, and if our nationally painted rocket failed, it would make us look bad! Good thinking! Commence launch!

[HMS Sophia]

Commence Launch! the Military Liaison had shouted. Well, that was all well and good, but it would take a little while to actually deploy the rocket and ready her for launch. Still, the day eventually came...

October 4th 1959
In the news this week, a total eclipse of the Sun was seen across this world two days ago. Renowned scientists have confirmed the Allias effect, as pendulums swing differently during the eclipse.


The nine metre tall Loathsome booster with the Hermes capsule perched atop it was raised onto the launch pad, ready for lift off in the bright morning of a chill early October day. Bob was aboard, the third of the three astronauts to take flight aboard a NOSE Rocket and the first who would, hopefully, punch his way out of the atmosphere.

Liftoff! Initial acceleration was excellent, the new rockets performance was beyond expectations. Rising rapidly into the sky, the speed was held at 200m/s for the initial ascent, aiming to conserve fuel for later.

At one minute and sixteen, the rocket began its rollover, having attained an altitude of 10 kilometres. After passing through the densest atmosphere, Bob pushed the thrust level forwards and allowed the rocket its head.

Burnout came almost three minutes into the flight, with the rocket sitting comfortably just below the edge of the atmosphere. Tracking stations showed a much higher ascent than expected, giving Bob a good few minutes before the rocket would hit atmosphere again.

Bob made two EVA's to recover experimental data. Here, on the second, he tested a manoeuvring pack allowing him to recover the data and return to the ship without having to maintain contact. Note that the rocket is at 130 kilometres, and about to reach its apoapsis.

Separation was clean at 6 minutes into the flight, just on the other side of the rockets apoapsis. The booster stage would burn up cleanly in the atmosphere it was hoped.

Re-entry was uncomfortably hot due to the speeds involved. Bob hit the atmosphere at around 1600m/s, but the heat shield under the Hermes capsule protected him nicely.

Splashdown came just North of Not-China, leading to a mildly distressing situation during recovery. However, Bobs return is expected shortly.

Spoiler: Not story question

Show

Used a different style for this launch's write up. Thoughts? DO we prefer a more in character story, or something like this?

[Feirgon]

There is a child-like exuberance in Derek's eyes as he watches how high the rocket goes. As it reaches it's apoapsis, Derek stops paying attention and begins jotting down notes in a small pad.

Well, this went far better than expected...

Now to make it bigger!

[Umbranar]

ai iai iai. Who plans the trajectory on these things?! Landing it in commie area is a logistic nightmare!

[Eirala]

Well, that went better than expected. After a short analysis of the data we collected i can already say that Kerbals can survive the experienced weightlessness of space. Probably for even more than just a few minutes, maybe even hours or, with the necessary snacks, days!

Kertherina got visibly excited and had trouble not jumping from one foot to another.

We still need more time to say more about the mission data. But wait, there's more.

She waved a piece of paper around that she had held in her hand the while time, not thinking about how waving may prevent others from reading it.

I got a letter from the NoMerican Geological Survey Society! They offer to pay 25% of future lander construction cost if we prove we can build a reusable Lander that can get samples from 3 biomes of Kerbin! Think of all the things we could do with that additional money, like....building even larger rockets! Of course we would need to achieve orbit first since we need a mothership with the fuel to refuel it, but i'm sure our engineers will work that out somehow. Anyway, i propose to make building a reusable lander for Kerbin our priority after we have achieved our first Orbit to increase funding.

[HMS Sophia]

The director of NOSE walks into the room from which the other directors have watched the recent launch.
"Good afternoon Gentlemen, Ladies. A fine mission, wasn't it." She says, smiling back at the stills now being displayed on the screen. "A shame isn't it, that it's essentially pointless!" The woman slams a thin folio onto the table, pictures spilling out of it.


"There. The Not-Russians have done it, they've put on of their own into orbit. Clever bastards have been transmitting images for the last twenty minutes, all of it coming in off their little space craft." She looks around the room. "This isn't good enough, Ladies and Gents. We have to do better if we're going to keep getting more funding. We're just lucky I had congress sign off on increased funding before we got this news. We'll have 8k for the next mission, and we had better make the damn most of it." She sighs, slumping into a chair.
"Other news... Carlos has some interesting leads in terms of R&D. Advanced plans for rocketry, some construction projects, or the previously detailed stability or survivability projects. He can only focus on one of the four, unfortunately. We could do with some new gear... Oh, and Bill has been sent for retraining and hopes to return to us in another two months." She sits back in her chair and waits for comments

[Umbranar]

Talking about more funding Senorita, some Senors of Nomerican Cable Systems send me a letter. If we prove we can manage to let a comms sattellite orbit Kerbin they will fund 30% of future sattelite costs! Extra money equals bigger and better rockets faster! If we get the funding we can add fueltanks to a sattelite and make it double as that mothership that was requested earlier and have them pay their 30 percent. Sometimes I amaze myself....where are the cookies by the way?

[Feirgon]

It seems regardless of our direction, we will need to make a more powerful rocket...

Kertherina and Sanchez, perhaps we can hit two birds with one stone.

The light reflects off of his glasses as pushes them up the bridge of his nose.

We could design a pilotable aircraft that can land and take-off on its own with a cargo hold that we could use to send satellites into orbit. We would first need to test that it could land safely, so we may need to launch it into the upper atmosphere and have the pilot steer it back here to land. If we use really powerful rockets, he may be able to circumnavigate Kerbal in a single flight!

[Partysan]

Hmmm yes. If we shoot the pilot into orbit, he could film Kerbin from above. These pictures would make for great in-... publicity. And the satellites would be very useful for... scientific purposes. Very scientific yes, for the extremely civilian public good. We should push for satellites as soon as possible and in the meantime equip the rocket with a high resolution camera.

[HMS Sophia]

The director looks on in disbelief at the others sitting around the table, blandly discussing letters, and satellites.
"Did you hear me? The Rot-Russians are not only our equals in space, they've achieved in one launch more than we've managed in three. What are we going to do about it? We need to start thinking seriously about our next steps. An orbital mission is important, but Its not going to show off our capabilities now they've managed it. We need plans people..."

[Umbranar]

Senorita, a sattelite IS an orbital flight. You say we need funding, there is our funding. As long as the scientist arent coming with descent progress we are stuck. We either need a mun landing or proof that the Russian photos are fake, which I think they are.

[Partysan]

Do you seriously believe that? I would have expected better from someone calling themselves "scientist". (No wait. I wouldn't.)
Anyway, it's all lies of course, dirty commie propaganda! He spits on the floor, leaving a suspicious brown stain.
They are broadcasting fakes to discourage us and sway our populace! We should get our satellites up as soon as possible and equip them with jammers! And quickly, before this turns into a PR disaster! Heads will be rolling for this!

So if you good for nothings can do that one thing, then BRING US THE NEW ROCKET! and if you can't, then WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE! Get moving!!