April 03, 2014

I Expected a Kerbin Shattering Kaboom

Ladies and Gentlekerbs, good evening.  This is Jebediah Kerman, speaking to you from the site of the Kerbal Space Center.  I have the unfortunate duty to report that yesterday's asteroid impact, and the resultant tidal wave, have almost completely destroyed the KSC.  Many of my fellow astronauts, as well as the engineers, mechanics, and other personnel here did not make it to safety n the hills before the water arrived.  Reports from around the globe are still coming in, but clearly the damage and life from this incident world wide have been catastrophic.


My fellow Kerbals, I apologize that we of the Royal Squirrel Patrol Space Force allowed this to happen.  Our astronaut corps may have been devastated, our science staff reduced, our engineers decimated, our facilities wrecked, but we will persevere.  I promise you, we will rebuild, we will return to space, and we will never, ever, allow an impact like this to happen again.

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April 02, 2014

This is an Emergency Broadcast Alert

This is an Emergency Broadcast Alert message.  This is not a drill.  I repeat, this is not a drill.  


The Deep Space Tracking Array has detected a previously unidentified asteroid on an intercept trajectory with Kerbin.  This asteroid is moving at over a dozen kilometers per second, and has already passed within the orbit of Minmus.  A major impact event is expected on the east coast of Kelpogart later this afternoon.  Please evacuate the KSC and seek shelter on high ground.  May Kod be with us all.

I repeat...

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The Wings of Ikarus

Hello, hello, good afternoon all and welcome back to the Kerbal Space Center for today's briefing.  I am Bob Kerman, and today I'll be presenting the mission review of the Ikarus mission to Moho.  Here on stage with me are Lanlo Kerman and Doodbus Kerman, the other members of the Royal Squirrel Patrol Space Force that accompanied me on this mission.


Ikarus Moho Voyager on the launch pad at KSC

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March 13, 2014

Kassie Come Home

Log Entry, Mission Day 179: Bill and I have wound down our experiments, retrieved the last set of logs from the wreck of the Kerbasus, and are prepared to depart the surface of Eve.  We've both gone over the Kassie looking for any problems.  The landing gear on the northern, uphill side are extensively damaged, but the ship itself is undamaged and we've done sufficient repairs to ensure that the jettison bolts will function.  We've repackaged the parachutes that will be used for our Kerbin descent, and in a few minutes we'll launch back into space.


This will be the most critical phase of the mission.  Will the craft hold together on launch?  Do we have sufficient delta-v to reach Eve orbit?  Will we successfully rendezvous and dock with the refueling craft in orbit?  Or will we remain stuck here on Eve, hoping for another rescue mission?  In just a few seconds, we'll find out...

Kassie launches from the surface of Eve


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Kassie Goes to Eve

At long last, the day is here. The Kassie IV vehicle has been refurbished and reassembled, and is poised on the pad, ready for it's mission. Ready this time not for another test or demonstration flight, but for it's true purpose: the journey to Eve to rescue Bill Kerman and bring him safely back home.


Kassie ready for launch
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March 07, 2014

Kassie Goes to the Mun, Part II

Welcome back ladies and gentlekerbs.  Hopefully everyone is rested after the break, as it's time for the briefing on the Kassie IV mission.  I'm Jebediah Kerman, and here with me is Lanlo Kerman, my co-pilot for this mission.


For this launch, I was in command in the habitat aboard the Kassie IV lander core, and Lanlo was above me on board the service module.

Kassie IV on the launch pad
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Kassie Goes to the Mun

Hello again, ladies and gentlekerbs, this is Jebediah Kerman, here again to give you a briefing on the ongoing effort to prepare our interplanetary mission to Eve to rescue Bill Kerman. 

At our last briefing, I described for you the Kassie III mission, in which Bob Kerman, Lanlo Kerman, and myself each launched in one of the modules of the complete Kassie III vehicle, rendezvoused in orbit, and then attempted a flyby of the Mun as a test of the vehicle. 

Unfortunately that mission was less than a complete success, as the vehicle proved both unstable and woefully underpowered for an interstellar journey. Upon our return in the Kassie III lander, the engineering crews refurbished and upgraded the vehicle, producing the vehicle used in today’s mission: the Kassie IV.

 Kassie IV on the pad
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February 24, 2014

The best memorial is to continue the job

The Kassie II launch that cost Philmon Kerman his life brought operations at the Kerbal Space Center to a halt for several weeks, but now it's time to get back to work.  Philmon certainly would have wanted us to continue the mission, and bring back Bill alive.  We won't let either of them down.


In support of that goal, our engineers have taken the original Kassie I prototype, and gone over it with the proverbial fine toothed comb, searching for any flaw, no matter how minor, at the same time upgrading it and preparing it for flight.

The Kassie II may have cost Philmon his life, but it nearly came to blows over who would have the privilege of strapping into the capsule of the Kassie III to continue the mission in his honor.  In the end, we drew straws.  The other pilots suspect that I cheated.  I will not lie.  Of course I did.  If the Kassie is going to claim another life, it will be none other than that of Jebediah Kerman.

Kassie III-A launch
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February 13, 2014

Philmon Kerman, Every Kerbal's Hero

Ladies and gentlekerbs.  Astronauts, engineers, scientists.  Family.  Dear friends all, gather round.  Today I am here to tell you the story of my friend, Philmon Kerman.


Others will tell you of his childhood, of his life as a young Kerbal, of his excellence as a son, husband, father.  I will tell you of his life as an astronaut, as a member.. no, as an exemplar of the Royal Squirrel Patrol Space Force.
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February 10, 2014

"We Appear to Have Experienced a Major Incident"

You are not going to space today


Ladies and gentlekerbs, your attention please.  We are as yet unclear on the exact status of the launch of the prototype Kassie Eve Rescue lander, reports are still coming in.  However, obviously there has been a major incident.  We are still waiting to hear the status of Philmon Kerman at this time.

Pointy end is not up

Initial reports coming in indicate that one or more of the launch boosters failed on ignition, causing the craft to spiral out of control just after it cleared the tower.  There are indications that components of the rocket are impacting all over the Kerbal Space Center at this time.  We ask that everyone stay in the bunker and remain calm.

Lithobraking is bad for your health

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February 03, 2014

Holiday on the Mun

Hello, space fans!  Philmon Kerman here, with another update on the exploits of the Royal Squirrel Patrol Space Force.


Our week-long visit to the Mun wen't extraordinarily well, with lots of new technologies and abilities demonstrated, and all of our astronauts getting a chance to develop and perfect their skills in space.  But it left us with a bit of a problem in deciding what exactly would be next.  The rover and space plane programs continue to make progress, if not quite as quickly as we'd like.  We've demonstrated that we can dock multiple craft in space, thus building much larger vessels than we can reasonably lift into orbit on a single launcher, and we've also demonstrated that we can refuel vehicles in orbit, allowing us to rely on upper stages to get us into orbit, knowing that we can refuel them and use them again.  But even with all this progress, we're still not ready for the scope of effort that will be required to rescue Bill Kerman, and the transfer window to Eve is coming up quickly.

The scientists were thrilled with the data we brought back from Minmus, and wanted us to simply repeat that mission on the Mun.  The engineers insisted that another mission with a bunch of small stages wouldn't get us any closer to the developments we need for the Eve lander.  And from the viewpoint of those of us in the astronaut corps, we want flight time to practice with the larger vehicles, and we don't want to risk spending weeks out at the Mun and have the Eve transfer window arrive with us busy doing something else. 

The compromise we came up with is to build a much larger lander, one capable of landing on the Mun multiple times, thus getting more scientific data for our researchers, giving our engineers a chance to work out kinks in their big rocket designs, and giving the pilots practice at landing a very large lander.

Kerbis & Klark Explorer Vehicle on the launch pad
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January 31, 2014

A Weekend on Minmus, Part Two

Hello again, ladies and gentlekerbs, this is Jebediah Kerman, along with Bob, Calfrod, Philmon, Desberry and Hersey Kerman, coming to you live from orbit above the green plains of Minmus.


Shortly our initial crew of five arrived here with the combined Keptune lander, orbital laboratory and transfer vehicle arrived here at Minmus, we planned our initial landing.  We decided to get the one likely to use the most fuel out of the way first, and Bob, Philmon and Calfrod headed for the north pole of Minmus.

Bob, Philmon and Calford Kerman near the North Pole of Minmus

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January 26, 2014

A Weekend on Minmus, Part One

Good evening. ladies and Gentlekerbs.  This is Jebediah Kerman, coming to you from orbit above Minmus.  I'm not alone up here today, I'm mission commander for a mission with four other astronauts, so let's begin with some introductions.


[Bob Kerman] Hello there, this is Bob Kerman.  I'm pilot in charge of the lander for this mission.

[Philmon Kerman] I'm Philmon Kerman, and I'm the second pilot for the lander.

[Calfrod Kerman] I'm Calfrod Kerman.  I'm a mission specialist in charge of the scientific instruments on the lander.

[Desberry Kerman] And I'm Desberry Kerman, mission specialist in charge of the research lab.

[Jebediah Kerman] Together the five of us are here above Minmus to accomplish a variety of goals:
  • Gain experience with complex, long-duration missions,
  • Demonstrate the feasibility of complex, multi-module spacecraft,
  • Gain experience with on-orbit rendezvous and docking, and
  • Thoroughly explore and research Minmus and it's local environment
The Keptune Mission Above Minmus

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Into the Skies Without a Pillar of Fire

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlekerbs!  


My name is Lanlo Kerman, and I'd like to report on the progress of "Project Kerbalhawk", our space plane program.

When we last reported, I presented the X-0 rocket plane.  The X-0 was fun to fly, but really it was just a small rocket with wings and wheels.  The engines only had enough fuel for about a minute, which was just about enough to get me 10 kilometers or so out from the runway before I had to turn around and glide back.  Clearly that's not going to be much help in rescuing Bill Kerman in the dense atmosphere of Eve.
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A Rolling Rover Gathers no Moss

Hello, rover fans!  This is Doodbus Kerman coming to you from the Kerbal Space Center, for today's review of the ongoing development of our space rover program.


A while back, we started "Project Kascar," a development program to research, design, and build rovers.  The main purpose of this program is to build a rover capable of carrying Bill Kerman from his crashed lander up to a nearby high plateau.

At the time we introduced this project, we had the RC-0 rover prototype available for display.  A short while ago, I took a production RC-0 to the Mun for testing.  It worked well, and was surprisingly robust, surviving quite the tumble down the side of a munar mountainside.  However, it did have a pretty obvious limitation, in that the maximum speed was around 14 meters per second, and even a moderate slope was more than it could successfully climb.
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January 23, 2014

A Nice Day for a Drive..on the Mun

Good evening, ladies and gentlekerbs. Today on stage we have Doodbus and Philmon Kerman, here to describe their recent mission to the Mun to test the KC-0 rover.


[Philmon] Thank you, Rod. It's good to be here. For this flight, I was the mission commander and pilot, and Doodbus was the mission specialist for rover operations. The objective for this flight was to go to the Mun, testing the lander-rover attachement system, see if we can successfully deploy a rover to the munar surface, and then test the rover in actual munar conditions. And, of course, to return safely. We would hate to have to interrupt Jeb's tropical vacaction for another rescue mission.

Kupiter I on the pad

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January 22, 2014

The Mun is a Harsh Mistress Part Three: There and Back Again

Bill Kerman is on the planet Eve, sheltering in the shattered wreckage of his lander, waiting for rescue.

Bill Kerman waiting on Eve

Bob Kerman is on the Mun, sitting in his detached capsule, waiting for rescue.
Bob Kerman waiting on the Mun

Philmon Kerman is on the Mun, sitting in his lander, with empty fuel tanks, waiting for rescue.

Philmon Kerman waiting on the Mun

I am Jebediah Kerman, but today my name is Rescue.
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The Mun is a Harsh Mistress Part Two: Thank You Ma'am, May I Have Another?

Good morning, Kermerica!  


I'm Philmon Kerman, and I'm thrilled to be here on the Mun with Bob today.

Bob and Philmon on the Mun
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The Mun is a Harsh Mistress

While the rover and spaceplane projects are progressing, the main crew under Bob Kerman has been developing the next generation of launchers and landers.


The Kermotaur I is a test vehicle for the next generation of new, larger rocket engines.  This flight will also test a collection of new lander components, including a fully habitable laboratory.   Although the new lander and laboratory are capable of carrying 5 astronauts, for this initial flight it will just be Bob Kerman.

Kermotaur I on the pad
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January 16, 2014

Mission "Rescue Bill Kerman" Part One: Planning

Ladies and gentlekerbs, allow me to express the thanks of the Royal Squirrel Patrol Space Force for the outpouring of support for Bill Kerman.  It means a great deal to his family, all of us here at the Kerbal Space Center, and no doubt it would mean a lot to Bill himself were he aware of it.  Rest assured that our focus here is now completely on getting Bill back home safely.


Our scientists and engineers have reviewed every scrap of data Bill sent back before his batteries died. We have a good understanding of what went wrong with his landing, and we're beginning to come up with a plan for his rescue.

Bill crashed on Eve eight days ago. The launch window to Eve from Kerbin opens in another 183 days, and we plan to have a mission ready on the pad when that day comes.

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