Beyond the Clover Beds

((Hey there, a bit of a non-canon post to answer questions and bring y’all up to speed.))

So first off, sorry this blog kinda died for a bit there; long story short, some major personal life happenings have required my personal attention (there was a death in the family, basically). By the time I was free to play again, tho, the base KSP game had updated, and all the mods were too far behind to update regularly. It was nigh-impossible to even boot up the game, let alone play anything, and with no real time in my daily life to dedicate to fixing it, I had to stop playing KSP and move on to other things.

With the quarantine, though, I did finally get a chance to sit down and parse out what went wrong, as well as decide on how to move forward. I ended up having to uninstall both the base KSP game as well as CKAN, completely clearing out everything I ever had in there, and reinstalling it. Then after installing a few of the mods I wanted to test, it got back up to where I wanted to go. Alas, however, the original save file is lost.

BUT. I do still wanna continue playing, and I do wanna keep running the blog. I dunno if we’d be able to continue the same “story”, considering the lost save file and also my immense downtime making me a bit rusty, but there’s plenty of opportunities left! We barely even left Kerbin, when the series stalled out! Colonizing space, landing on other worlds, space stations... and all the science!

“We are a curious species, always wanting to know what is over the next hill, around the next corner, on the next island. And we have been that way for thousands of years.”

- Stuart Atkinson

After the Gyrinus launches, as well as subsequent research from near-Kerbin orbit, the Clover Beds admin team has finally determined the next phase of our hunt for Santa’s Workshop: the Mün. The idea that Santa may be hiding on the Mün has become popular enough to generate official command center attention, and thus our next objective is to send a Kosmonaut to explore the surface of our nearest neighbor.

Above: Correlophus orbital Telescope in assembly building.

Our first mission is to scout and study Münar space; to that end, with the help of Steadlet Engineering Corps, Reaction Systems LTD, and Tantares Space Technologies, the Correlophus Observation Platform has been created. Equipped with massive lenses, advanced sensor equipment, and built for long-term observation and study, Correlophus is designed to both survey space near the Mün, as well as search for other worlds which may lie beyond.

Most of Correlophus’ equipment is stored in an experimental payload section with deployable doors; this is to ensure protection from meteor damage, as well as streamline the craft’s silhouette during launch. It also comes equipped with two simplified VRN comsats, to be deployed around the Mün to ensure a stable connection.

Above-Left: Q9 prototype on launch pad, with Correlophus.

Above-Right: Separation of boosters, t-20s after launch.

With the troubling launch of Gyrinus 3 in everyone’s minds, it was decided that the Q8 launch vehicle which has dutifully served the Clover Beds program would be retired in favor of a more powerful rocket. Thus, the Correlophus vehicle was launched atop our prototype Q9 heavy-lifter; at almost twice the width of the Q8, and with a much more powerful and sturdy engine, the Q9 will offer the possibility of lifting much larger and more complex payloads into orbit. The sode-mounted SRB’s have also been reworked, with the inclusion of smaller solid-fuel rockets called “separatrons” which push the boosters away from the rocket upon separation.

Above-Left: Image of Mün taken during close approach.

Above-Right: View of deployed instruments from Correlophus, including solar panels, scientific goo, and thermometer.

Bottom-Center: View of Mün taken from finalized orbit.

After roughly a day in transit, the Correlophus spacecraft successfully entered into orbit around the Mün. After deploying its VRN comsats, the massive probe began to take readings from the Münar gravitational sphere; while some results were expected, there are some which bear further investigation. Among other things, it appears as though there is something reflective near the Münar North Pole...

Our VRN’s newest launches, bearing specialized transcievers for relaying signals, have finally paved the way for our most ambitious plan yet: to send our first manned craft into orbit, and recover them safely.

Above-Left: The Prototype Gyrinus mk1 Orbiter, undergoing tests at thw launch facility.

Above-Right: Initial concept art of Gyrinus Orbiter (cir. 1961)

Before we send up explorers to perform complicated missions in orbit, our first priority is to test how the body responds to low-gravity environments.  Therefore, over the course of three launches, our team of N.E.R.D.’s managed to develop a simplistic spacecraft which would run a test mission: - launch into orbit - perform simple maneuvers and exercises - return safely

To this end, the Gyrinus-class orbiter was crafted. The vehicle is divided into two sections: a service module, with a fuel tank and rocket engine as well as basic hardware, and a habitation module which houses the pilot and life support systems. During reentry, the habitation module decouples from the service module, thereby ensuring the pilot is not at risk from any debris caused by the module breaking apart. It is by no means a perfect ship, but it is sufficient for a test vehicle.

The initial tests of the Gyrinus vessel, unmanned, were to determine the stability of the vessel in flight as well as determine the need for separation and the vessel’s overall performance. While the first launch did land with both sections still attatched, the design team felt that a separation sequence should be installed, in case of emergencies. Considering the results of our first launch, this was a wise choice in hindsight...

Above: View from Gyrinus orbiter, credited to Val. Kerman.

The pilot chosen for this experimental flight – one Valentina “Val” Kerman, a renowned pilot and aviation enthusiast – was launched with a 3rd generation Gyrinus orbiter yesterday morning. The launch, using an updated version of the Q8 launch vehicle, was successful, and Val was able to enter orbit safely. As part of her in-flight operatiosn, she recorded her condition and even managed to test our first-generation Extra-Vehicular Activity spacesuit! Though she was tethered to her craft with a safety cord, she noted that the weightlessness she experienced was not a hindrance at all. Designs are being explored to making a more elaborate Reaction-Control suit, which would allow for actual spaceflight.

Above: Val performing the first successful spacewalk outside her vehicle.

After returning to the vehicle, Val’s vessel entered a radio dark zone, during which she noted that the orbiter’s thrust controls began malfunctioning, threatening to fling her into deep space. She managed to perform a successful deorbit maneuver, but as the vessel began to reenter, the service module began to break apart from stress. The kosmonaut’s capsule managed to separate, but the parachutes failed to deploy properly; thinking quickly, she grabbed a parachute and ejected herself from the falling module. Both Valentina and her orbiter crashed into the sea off the coast of Clover Bed spaceport; Val survived the impact, but as of this moment remains in intensive hospital care. It is undetermined as of yet whether she will remain as an active kosmonaut or not.

Following further launches to bolster the VRN’s signal capacity, NoPE 1 finally was able to transmit its data to the lab, albeit with a very hefty loss in clarity.  With the disheartening discovery that NoPE wasn’t able to find Santa’s Workshop with its mission, the directors of the Clover Beds have been more confused and divided than ever.

While some are considering that perhaps the workshop exists at the South Pole instead, many are beginning to doubt that the elusive workshop even exists at all, and that perhaps Santa’s stockpile is spread out across the globe.  A growing number though (including flight director Gene Kerman himself), have been swayed by the possibility that the “workshop” is, in fact, a space-faring vessel vast enough to manufacture gifts, and maneuverable enough to land and deploy the Sleigh full of presents to be delivered.  These assumptions are born of a supposed structure found beneath the ice caps at the North Pole which resembles a derelict ship.

In an effort to to both rekindle lost hope as well as ensure that NoPE is as thorough as possible in its search, we have launched a satellite with the explicit goal of using radio waves to map the surface of the world, and provide a detailed overview of our world.  This space probe, lovingly called Phonix 1, has been stuffed to the brim with scientific instruments, all designed to analyze space particles, cosmic rays, and also making a detailed map of the homeworld.

After a quick and somewhat shaky launch aboard a Q8 rocket, Phonix 1 managed to enter a stable polar orbit, and over the course of a week, managed to completely map our planet. While the map hasn’t been able to identify any land features as matching descriptions of Santa’s Workshop, it has nevertheless pinpointed what appears to be an as-yet uncharted monument of ancient history - a strange structure in the deserts of Kegypt!

As the hunt for Santa continues, we of the Clover Beds have launched our first joint-funded mission. Blue Dog Bureau and Reaction Systems Ltd. have both come forth to participate in a complex mission to test the concept of “geosynchronous” orbits; the mission, dubbed Ping/Pang/Pong, was launched several days ago, and has begun to reveal impressive results.

Geosynchronous orbits are a strange phenomenon, yet bears immensely beneficial potential for future launches. Put simply, at a certain orbit, the satellite’s speed to remain in orbit is the same speed as the rotation of the planet, keeping the satellite in one spot relative to the planet below. This type of orbit would be immensely valuable for communications satellites, and could even theoretically be used for some form of global positioning system, utilizing fixed reference satellites to guide and orient anyone with the capability to utilize it!

Above: View from Pong, parent satellite, after its radometer dish has been deployed.

Bottom-Left: Reaction System Ltd’s satellite Pang, in angular orbit.

Bottom-Right: BDB’s satellite Ping, in Geosynchronous orbit.

To study its effects, two satellites (Ping and Pang) were deployed in geosynchronous orbits - one being in an orbit in line with the equator, and one with a tilted orbit. The parent satellite, equipped with a massive reciever dish, would recieve telemetry from the two probes as they orbited the planet, exploring how their orbits would deviate and change if at all.

Unfortunately, communications once more proved a problem; apparently, the transmitters aboard the Ping and Pang probes weren’t strong enough to recieve commands from the command center planetside. However, according to results sent by the Pong parent spacecraft, the results do hold true! BDB’s Ping spacecraft has indeed not wavered from its position in the night sky; Reaction System’s Pang probe, though the same distance roughly, does move up and down in its position in the night sky.

A world without communication is indeed a crippled world.     

- Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

Above-Left: 1st-gen comsat, the third of 10 deployed.

Above-Right: Original Prototype Concept, cir.(1962)

In accordance with the recent discovery that radio communications will be much more important than previously expected, our New & Experimental Research and Development team has begun collaborating to develop a series of Communications-focused satellites, which should in theory help us maintain steady signal strength for any probes in orbit, wherever they may be. The teams first design, lovingly nicknamed “Telestar”, was slated to be part of the codenamed Vigil Relay Network, planned to be a series of relays in orbit, bouncing signals off one another as part of a massive web of communication. These simplistic satellites, with only rudimentary trans-recievers and power networks, are designed to be launched in vast numbers and easily replaced, should they break down. However, the team is quickly looking for more hardy and long-lasting designs, able to operate for years if needed.

Above-Left: Liftoff of Q7 rocket carrying cluster of Mk1 Virgilis comsats.

Above-Right: View from parent spacecraft as comsat cluster is being deployed.

In other news, while the team has been slowly building our communications network, we have also taken the first tentative steps towards the Hunt for Santa: the first polar lander probe.

Above: The NoPE lander.

The NOrth Pole Explorer, or “NoPE”, lander is a rather simplistic design. Utilizing an experimental set of retractable landing legs for stability, its goal is to be carried down from a suborbital trajectory over the North Pole, touch down, and then record observations of the surrounding area, hopefully finding any sign of activity. Amongst the newest features part of NoPE’s arsenal are radially-mounted cameras and parachutes, as well as a new materials study bay, carrying various compounds and components to see how they respond to temperature extremes.

NoPE’s journey began atop our latest iteration of launch vehicle, the Q-8. As its booster-mounted cameras recorded, Q8’s twin Solid-Rocket Boosters aided in carrying it upwards into a northbound trajectory, being jettisoned over the gulf coast roughly 1 minute after launch. The rocket carried its payload upwards, utilizing both its main launch stage as well as its upper orbital booster stage to carry NoPE over the North Pole.

As recorded by the onboard cameras, NoPE successfully reached the North Pole, and was able to safely land on the icy surface! For the first time, we were able to witness the land where Santa may be hiding his elusive workshop!!!

Unfortunately... NoPE didn’t see anything.

While the simple images and recordings NoPE recorded prove that it did indeed land (note the silhouette of the landing legs in the final picture), there was no real sign of the elusive workshop, or of much else for that matter. The control team did try to coax more data from NoPE’s sensors, but once more, the lack of decent signal strength limited what information could be gleaned from this first tentative landing.

While we continue to reinforce the VRN in hopes of recieving more of NoPE’s data, our researchers have begun trying to forge explanations regarding this most recent discovery. Some suspect that perhaps Santa’s workshop is not directly at the North Pole, and that he may be hiding in a slightly lower latitude. Others think that perhaps NoPE’s sensors may be faulty, and a second mission may need to be sent to be sure. There are even some radical thinkers that have begun to spread rumors that, just maybe, Santa is actually from another planet, and the supposed North Pole site is not a workshop, but in fact the landing site where his spaceship first touched down on our world; these thinkers also believe that Santa, having somehow heard of our plans, has relocated himself to another celestial body until our search has concluded.

Needless to say, further data is needed before a decision can be made.

A momentous breakthrough! For the first time in history, an artificial moon is currently in orbit around our planet! The satellite, designated “Probe 1” during construction, was a comparatively complex design using several experimental ideas for its creation. However, the mission profile has exposed some rather serious concerns for future missions.

Above: Probe 1 in assembly building.

Probe 1 was built, quite simply, as an experiment to see how an object in orbit would behave; as the atmosphere tends to restrict how freely one can build, the only real way to test these effects was to launch something and see what would happen. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Probe 1 was built with several simple experiments:

A geiger counter, to take a radiation reading above the atmosphere.

A container filled with blue ice cream. We don’t know where it came from, or who wanted to eat it, but we figured it would be safer to send it as far away as possible.

A built-in reaction-control system, using a hypergolic fuel formerly used in rocket-powered aircraft. This would test the probes ability to maneuver and orient itself.

A camera, with which to take the first pictures from outer space, as well as visually record the experiments.

Simple transmission-and-reception antennae, to test the capability and effectiveness of radio communications.

Above: Q7 on the Woomerang launchpad, moments before launch. Probe 1 is housed in the bulbous fairing atop the rocket. The yellow grids at the base are clamps in place to hold the rocket steady until launch.

With the probe ready for launch, we assembled a new Q7 rocket as our launch vehicle. This rocket, larger than any assembled before, was set to test both a more efficient dual-motor rocket engine as well as our first attempt at building a 2-stage design. With a 2-stage rocket, there are essentially two different rockets built into the same frame; the bottommost rocket launches the vehicle on an escape trajectory, while the upper stage would put the payload - the probe - into orbit.

Above: The first picture of our planet and the Sun from space, taken by Probe 1.

Q7’s launch profile, while adequate enough to reach orbit, exposed a serious problem: the probe and rocket were so far away, radio control was lost because the probe had moved out of range. For almost half the time inbetween liftoff and orbit insertion, the rocket was almost completely uncontrolled, save for engine activation. Unfortunately, most of Probe 1’s fuel reserves had to be used to further push itself into a properly stable orbit around the planet, so the maneuvering tests were unable to be performed; however, the probe did successfully enter orbit, and was able to transmit pictures from space when it came back in range.

This leads to problem number two: power and battery life. Probe 1 had enough electrical charge to stay active for a day, at most, but had simplistic solar panels installed on its sides to keep it active for longer. While these panels functioned adequately, they did encounter problems when passing behind the planet. With no sunlight, the probe came dangerously close to shutting down before ti was able to enter sunlight again. Further missions will need a much better reinforced power supply, to maintain activity and radio communication for longer periods.

"Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing."

- Wernher von Braun

Above: Q1 propped on the launchpad, shortly before takeoff.

Our first objective was to educate ourselves on the basics of rocket design, and to develop a primary engine to use for our operations.

We started with the Quasar 1, or Q1 for short. Q1 was our simplest rocket, only built using the basics: a small payload filled with scientific instruments and a parachute, placed atop a simple solid-fuel rocket motor. Q1 was able to reach an altitude of 3,173 meters above sea level, and achieved a top speed of roughly 305 m/s; it followed a straight ballistic trajectory, thanks to the fins at the base of the rocket helping to keep it stable, and the science package was successfully retrieved when it landed.

Below: Photo taken from Q4 over Clover Air and Space Center, roughly 2,000m over the facility.

Further launches have yielded more mixed results. Q2 and Q3 both impacted the ground with no retrieval. The latter of which performing a rather humorous flip before embedding itself beside the launchpad, while the former’s parachute snagged on takeoff and caused it to spiral out of control before impact.

Q4’s purpose was to test the effectiveness of additional rockets attatched to the main engine, providing a boost to speed and altitude. It was a successful launch, and even managed to take the above picture of the launch center at the peak of its trajectory. However, the additional smaller boosters attached to the sides made little change on its flight profile, which was only marginally better than Q1’s.

The truly inspiring tests, however, have been regarding rockets Q5 and Q6.

Above: Q6 in the hangar.

Unlike the prior rockets, which have all been using granular, solid fuels, Q5 and Q6 were both designed around a liquid fuel engine. This engine, combining both liquid fuel and an oxidizer - what is known as a “bipropellant” fuel - has proven to be much more adaptable than the solid fuel motors previously used. For the same size and weight as Q3, Q5’s launch was vastly superior, achieving an altitude of 20,739m above sea level, and a peak velocity of ~545 m/s!

Q6’s test results have proven even more promising. Unlike solid fueled rockets, liquid fueled rockets have the capability to throttle the thrust generated by the engine. With this throttlable motor, and remotely-adjustable steering fins, Q6 was able to travel laterally 10km N-NE from the space center, and still achieving roughly the same in altitude! Though the science package did land in the sea off the coast, the safe retrieval of the paylod as well as the controllable nature of the flight has provided bountiful data options for the rocketry team to pour over.

Since the very beginning, mankind has used the rocket primarily for war. The missile, alongside the cannon, was easily the most destructive weapon that mankind had ever devised.

When the 2nd Great War began, the pinnacle of missile technology had been included in our enemy’s arsenal: the Vengeance 2, probably one of the worst weapons ever deployed. Over 9,000 were slain by this particular tool of destruction.

However, this technology had a hidden side: with our ever-expanding interest in the field of scientific study, these former tools of death may now push us into a new age of scientific understanding. Having acquired both replicas of the rocket and those who were forced into helping design them, we of the Clover Beds are beginning to repurpose this tool for a new goal...

...the discovery of Santa’s Workshop.

For too long, this singular man, clad in red-and-white, has taken it upon himself to record our every deed and desire, and reward us accordingly at the end of the year! If we whom are being surveyed by him are indeed worthy of his gifts, then should we not have access to them year-round?! Yet there he sits upon a vast hoard of toys, books, clothes, food, and much more, twiddling his thumbs and toes while we toil in our offices and the fields working to supply ourselves! This despotism must stop!