Orbit, At Last

With liquid-fuelled rocket motors now seen to have an edge over solid motors, this next launch goes smoothly.

Five engines on the first stage, one on the second. The low gravity makes getting to orbit much easier.

And, seven minutes after liftoff, that's where this capsule finds itself. Boasting cameras and science instead of crew, it takes a few photos and some basic readings.

Two 90-minute orbits later, the second stage deorbits the capsule, leaving it behind.

At three kilometers per second, the heat can be quite aggressive. The unshielded rocket stage begins to tumble and burn while the capsule spears through the fire.

As plasma shrouds the capsule and consumes the booster, communications are temporarily lost. When the data comes back, however, it seems like this gamble may have paid off.

With just a short pre-parachute burn, the capsule is able to slow down safely, having descended slower than on the last two flights.

Communications antennae allow for better pinpointing of it after it lands, a true mission success.

(now is where this chronology diverges from what I actually played it as, as I immediately got a contract to fly by a neighboring planet, Mesbin, and return, which I ended up doing with a modified spacecraft like this. That mission was supremely stupid, didn't do very much for us, and was arguably a waste of 12 ingame years.)

New stuff coming soon! Hopefully!