With Jeb, Bill and Bob stuck in an elliptical Kerbin orbit with no fuel or heatshield to get home, the bosses at KSC decided to take a huge gamble by bringing forward development and production on the next generation of rockets and spacecraft. Within days the first Kerbin XB was on the launch pad and ready for its first unmanned test flight which would double up as a fully-fledged rescue mission to bring the stranded crew home. Despite concerns that the venture had been rushed in the race to reach the astronauts in time, both KSC and lead manufacturer KW Rocketry assured reporters that the vehicle was fit to fly. Despite massive amounts of lag at lift-off due to about 63million launch clamps all decoupling at the same time, the rocket flew perfectly under MechJeb guidance and the unmanned spacecraft reached orbit without a hitch before successfully completing the necessary manoeuvres to rendezvous and dock with its obsolete predecessor. Once Jeb, Bill and Bob had transferred to the new command module, the combined spacecraft performed the deorbit burn and came in for reentry. As the command module entered the atmosphere, protected by its new heatshield, the crew were able to enjoy some spectacular views of their service module and their old spacecraft burning up beneath them.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 19:22:29 +0000