Space Voyage #1

[arkain101]

I could always turn the ship on end so we could run around the rings compared to being stuck in the bottom so to speak. Everything would be on tilt, but regardless. It would be great ariving at a 'new planet' map of which we all get to see for the first time together (excepting the designer) and we can explore and look at some rocks and drive some buggies around.

 

I really dont mean to take away the purpose here. This idea is not a neccesity. Although on special occasions it would be cool to have a meeting in the prophesy.

[Jay-qu]

how big is the map file? not to big to send I hope

[Jay-qu]

I really dont mean to take away the purpose here. This idea is not a neccesity. Although on special occasions it would be cool to have a meeting in the prophesy.

 

By no means are you taking away from it, on the contrary you are adding to it. We all add to it, Janus has some wicked concept art - I can deliver flight plans in animations, you can actually take us there in a virtual world, BigDog just keeps adding to the story and everyone else has there own little idiosycracies that they bring to the crew :)

 

To infinity

[arkain101]

hahah.. yah this I noticed... Its quite astounding actually. Everyones got their nack! and it makes for a great team!

 

The map file for the ship alone all said and done would consist around 3mb. When converted into game file they are amazingly small. Although I may need to send along a few files like WAD files, depending on the textures. But still the size remains quite the same.

 

I am getting pumped for maiden launch.

[TheBigDog]

ALL ABOARD!

 

All of the preparations and details. All of the fundraising and palm greasing. All of the research, development and application of ideas. All of the finest most dedicated minds in the world. All of those things have come to a point of climax. Lines on a plan intersecting at a point representing now. Now is when the Prophesy and her crew are leaving the comfort of earth orbit and learning to master space.

 

For having been involved with the project from the beginning you may be surprised that this is my first excursion to the ship. My first trip into space. But that is the nature of plans and the nature of the way of things. One thing is for certain, this is one trip that I was not going to miss.

 

My day began by leaving the quarantine area. I arrived three days earlier to begin my mandated period of observation before continuing to the ship. We are being very careful to avoid having any bugs living on the ship. During my stay in quarantine I lived in quarters that are the same layout as I will be living in on the ship. Eating foods that are the same as I will be eating on the ship. Using the same tools as I will find on the ship. All of this is to help prepare me for life on the Prophesy. This has been a useful exercise for the hundreds of workers who have passed up to the ship as she was being built. But for me it is living with the familiar. As the project manager for the Prophesy I have been intimately familiar with all of her details since… well since before the beginning.

 

I have several travelers with me. We are onboard the last shot to the Prophesy before she breaks orbit. We have enjoyed one another’s company over the past three days. All of us giddy with anticipation. For each of us the Prophesy represents something different, something unique, something personal. But to all of us the Prophesy has a single clear universal meaning. It is a return to glory of mankind. A bold statement of how we have advanced as a species, and how we are moving boldly into the future.

 

I am the last permanent member of the crew to be arriving. All of the others have been onboard for as many as the last six months; ever since the ship was spun up for gravity and system checkouts began in earnest. The real milestone was when the reactor was brought online, but from a public relations perspective having our first artificial gravity station in space has been seen as our most significant milestone. The fact that it is not a space station, but in fact a highly capable and autonomous spacecraft make it that much sweeter.

 

My companions and I left the quarantine area in vans after a breakfast of melons, flat bread, cheese, eggs and orange juice; all grown from the earth-side space farm. This is located in the quarantine area and has all the same resources as the farm units onboard the ship. It was used to bring mature plants and animals to the ship to begin the farming at various stages of development. Because there are no seasons on the ship everything is always in season. So we stagger the crops to have a steady supply of everything. The earth based farm was used for some trial and error in getting the mix and stagger of crops just how we wanted them for the ship. The hardest part was getting the mature trees launched. I won’t describe that here. Suffice to say it was tricky!

 

We are being brought to the area where we will be given our final instructions in preparation for our trip to the Prophesy. It is one of 7 launch sites that have been used during the past five years while the assembly of the ship has been happening. Each of the launch sites has a similar quarantine area, but this in the only one with the farm setup. We will be riding on the nose of a Delta rocket in one of the simple dock and re-entry modules. It seats 8 people and their gear. Along on each such launch is a single mission commander. I am just a passenger at this point. And I am absorbing it all with childlike fascination and anticipation.

 

When we arrive at the base of the launch pad we are lead down into a concrete tunnel. A large blast door is at the bottom. Inside the door is a dressing area where we are stuffed into our launch suits. This is also the last chance to use the restroom for several hours. We are all encouraged to take the opportunity and do.

 

Once outfitted with our suits we are in the elevator rising up to the awaiting crew capsule. A quick minute later we are at the end of a catwalk and stepping across the impressive void to open hatch. We work our way in one at a time and are diligently buckled into the seats laying on the floor of the capsule. In the upper section our personal gear is stowed for us. I am the only one on this shot who will be staying for the voyage. And since I am the ship’s commander I have been allowed more personal items than most others. It is good to be in charge sometimes.

 

From the time we were buckled in everything began to move fast. The attendants quickly retreated, and our mission commander was busy with his checklist. I could not see him, but I could follow the conversation on my headset. We were all familiar with the routine from the rehearsals that were part of the quarantine preparations. It was surreal. I was so captivated by the chatter on the headset that I was actually taken by surprise by the real meaning of the words, “… 3… 2… 1… liftoff!”

 

The sensation of launch is difficult to describe. The steady acceleration, the feeling of such overwhelming power pushing relentlessly skyward. Crushed into our seats at 2.5g it was as though the pressure was squeezing pure adrenaline into our blood steams. The exhilaration was addictive. The stories I had heard from my coworkers and fellow passengers all began to make sense. To take on real meaning that only experience can deliver, no matter how vivid your imagination. It brought tears of pure joy to my eyes and I cried unabashedly from the rush of emotion and fulfillment that came to me in finally riding into space. This moment was the culmination of ten years of my life, and five years of non-stopped work by hundreds of thousands of people all around the world. I was celebrating for all of them. For everyone who shared this dream with me and had invested their own emotion into the success of the Prophesy. I felt the joy of all those people at that moment, and it was spectacular.

 

As the thrust ended we slowly became aware that we were floating. Still strapped in, we could only play with our arms in the weightless environment. But it was unmistakable. Our commander was busy at work. We were on our heading to intercept the Prophesy. Our small group of passengers were joking and bantering about the rush of the launch. I don’t know how much time passed when in front of us a screen came to life. It was a view of our capsule from the outside. It was from the Wrangler sent from the Prophesy to dock us with the ship. A wrangler is a manned ship that can bring medium and light cargo to the Prophesy for docking. Our capsule is small enough to require just one. Wrangler pilots are the envy of the other Astronauts. They are real space pilots. In our case we required just one. It approached slowly, extending its arms as our ship began to fill the whole field of view, and deftly latched onto the grips on the outside of our capsule. Once firmly gripped it maneuvered us so that we were between it and the ship, at least this is what was described to us over the headsets. We then began to feel some intermittent thrusts as we began to change course.

 

Our view on the video changed. In front of us in all her magnificent glory was the Prophesy. We had all seen video clips of the approach to the ship. But is had a different quality. Maybe it was the zero G, or being strapped into the seat, or the adrenaline from the launch, or all of those things. It didn’t matter. This time was real. This time was not just a video. This time just outside our capsule was the Prophesy. And we were on our way to board her!

 

The Prophesy was rotating at her standard 3 rpm. Laying on her side in relation to the earth, she had already maneuvered into position for leaving orbit for the moon. Our pilot brought us under her and then up toward the tip where the docking bay is located. Once lined up with the docking bay another maneuver had us slowly rotating in sync with the docking bay. Then as we got closer we saw the robotic docking control arms reaching out to latch onto us. Just then our view changed again. Now we were looking out the docking bay door at our capsule as it approached the ship. There was a perceptible change of motion when the docking arms grabbed us. And in one smooth motion we were pulled in and docked to the Prophesy. Another checklist was now rattling off on the headsets. The seal was good. The arms were unlatched. The Wrangler was unlatched and moving toward a MEL that would stow it in its place in the Cargo bay. And then there was a tapping on the door, followed by a sound like the opening of a bottle of soda. And at that moment we were part of the Prophesy.

 

A crew member came in and began to unlatch each of us. As we were unlatched we pushed up into zero G and began to awkwardly guide ourselves toward the open hatch. Through the hatch we found ourselves in the docking bay. It was a room larger than our entire capsule. Located at the tip of the tip end of the ship it is where all visiting craft dock with the Prophesy, and where all crew members first come onboard.

 

Once we were all in the docking bay the crew member who had unbuckled us floated out and grabbed onto a wall like spiderman. Upside down to most of our group he gave us a broad smile. “Welcome to the Prophesy, gentlemen. I am Kayra. I will be taking you to the directly to the ring.”

 

“No time to play in zeroG today Kayra?” I inquired.

 

“Nope, we are on schedule to leave orbit in just 4 hours. We need to get all of you situated and get the capsule back into the atmosphere on the first orbit. We launch on the orbit after that. Now, if you will follow me…” Kayra directed us to the back door of the docking bay. It opened into an enormous room. Seventy meters long and twenty meters wide. It has padded walls and equipment of all kinds fastened to the walls all the way around. There are several doors along the walls that lead to the other, non atmosphere cargo bays. At the far end of the room are three small protruding rooms. Each a set of walls sticking out into the main bay. These are the rear docking bays where the MEL walkers carry the crew capsules between zeroG and the main rings. Kayra opens one of the doors and ushers us into the small room. It is a tight fit, but the seven of us manage to squeeze in. Another door to go through. This time into another eight passenger capsule. This one is more comfortable, with upright seats and no five point seatbelts required.

 

After taking our seats a young crew member appears at the door with all of our cargo. It is netted down to the center of the capsule and the outside and inside doors are sealed shut. This capsule has windows all the way around. And a spectacular view of the ship. To one side the capsule is being gripped by a sturdy looking machine called a MEL. They are built to grapple equipment from the cargo bays and carry it to other parts of the ship for installation and maintenance. This particular one is primarily for transporting crew capsules between zeroG and the main rings. The four rings are almost 100 meters away. As the MEL walks up one of the spokes that connect the ring to the center portion of the ship we get a spectacular view of the earth as it appears to move around us. We also have the sensation of gravity returning. As we get closer to the outer ring we get heavier and heavier. And in about 2 minutes we are docked to the bottom of the ring. Hatches are opened and a ladder raised into the capsule. From below we see four wide smiles beaming up at us. All of my fellow travelers go first. And I hand down my gear to steady hands in the ring. Finally, I move down the ladder. My fellow travelers have all been shuffled away. I am greeted by three remaining crew at the bottom of the ladder. It is a tight space just 2 meters wide. Proud handshakes are exchanged all around.

 

“How was the trip BD?” This was Pyrotex, the pilot of the Prophesy. Or as close as we get to having a pilot.

 

“Awesome. Everything you had described.”

 

“Do you want to continue the tour with the others or head over to command?” This was Jay-Qu, astrophysicist and junior officer to Pyrotex in navigation.

 

“What do you think?” I replied with a grin and a jab to the ribs. “What about my bags?”

 

“Don’t sweat those BD.” This was Gahd speaking. Head of maintenance for the Prophesy. “I have RonThePon on his way over to bring them up to your room.”

 

“Well then, what are we waiting for? Lets get to command and get this big girl to the moon!”

 

With less than four hours till launch we moved off for the final countdown to deep space.

 

Bill (t-3.5 hours)

[ronthepon]

You're a good writer, TheBigDog.

 

3.25 hours and ticking...

[TheBigDog]

You're a good writer, TheBigDog.

 

3.25 hours and ticking...

Thanks! Next post will be the launch. But I need to sleep first. You are welcome to post your own stories about your experience on the ship. Hope you don't mind that I have you getting my bags. You will be very familiar to the audience in doing odd jobs in these stories. But always close to the action.

 

I would like to know the timeframe for getting to the moon. I am assuming that I can make one post per day for the next few days to get us through the space trials. Then we have some "soft time" while we move to Mars.

 

Bill

[Jay-qu]

'Man I need another coffee, I havent slept in a day!'

BigDog didnt seem suprised by this, he told me what he always did during late night preperations for the prophesy 'sleep is for the weak!'

and today we are far from weak, some have called us ambitious astronaughts, but we know the truth. We are pioneers.

As we reached the command a large door opened infront of us and Boerseun, our chief chef, was just leaving. He had just been informing command that tonights dinner would be served while we where in transit to the moon, on the menu was a selection of weird and wonderful dishes from all around the world to help place emphasis on the the idea of our multicultural crew uniting under our common goal.

 

"Welcome to Command BigDog" the view was breath-taking, even though I have been working in here for months I still get a rush every time I walk in. The room is surrounded with artificial windows that

are actually linked to cameras giving a near 360 degree view of around the ship, Earth and the stars where just lazily rotating around in a clockwise direction.

 

"Im sure you know your way around, you did design the place!, well I must leave you for now, duty awaits!" and with that I took my leave, grabed a portable com link and PDA from the command supply

and headed for the door. As I got there BigDog yelled "Today Jay-qu, today we make history and we do it together!"

At that moment I felt an insurmountable feeling deep within me. I had been so consumed by work that I had forgot how much this mission meant to me.

I saluted BigDog and left before anyone could see the tear roll down my cheek.

 

We have done it, from our drunken proposal around the camp fire some 10 years previous, we where here.

And it was time, time to fulfill our legacy and take our place amoung the stars.

[ronthepon]

I was at the doors even before GAHD had ordered me to arrive. TheBigDog had finally arrived. He was smiling in his own self-satisfied manner at the prospect of finally having his dream come true.

 

I also noted his satisfaction in having the most baggage of us all. I sniggered, knowing that I had managed to sneak in a deal more than him.

 

Boerseum came to his chamber, after having greeted the others.

"Hey there, you feeling fine?" I asked, noticing his weak walk.

 

"Not in the best of my health" He answered.

 

I made a mental note to inform the medical authority on the ship.

 

I entered the command chamber, everybody was buzy readying the ship for the test flight to the moon. I noticed, with a flinch, that GAHD was looking at me disapprovingly.

 

I boldly went up shook hands with TheBigDog.

 

"Remember me?" I said, grinning boldly. "Awaiting orders, sir!"

 

I had been briefed to be attempting to keep the command chamber in as much order as possible, making an exception with the mood of the seniors.

 

Time was passing fast, and soon it was 6:10, GMT. I struggled to follow the orders I was given, and was easily the most active person.

 

But I knew it was worth it. I knew that the biggest event of my life was going to occur in a matter of moments. I could not afford to be accused later, of wasting my potential.

 

At that moment, more than at any other time, I thanked my fate, for letting me be in a position more desireable than any other that I could imagine. (Although, I would be happy to be in the shoes of my commander)

[Tormod]

When does the documentary movie about the preparation come out?

[ronthepon]

When does the documentary movie about the preparation come out?

When you give me 1 GB of storage space up here. :confused:

[Tormod]

When you give me 1 GB of storage space up here. :confused:

 

Not a problem. :)

[ronthepon]

Not a problem. :D

:confused:

 

Then I suppose I should run.

 

 

Or ask Jay-Qu and Arakain101 to do all the work.

 

By the way, Why don't you join us, Tormod?:) I'm sure nobody could refuse.

And we need a powerful lookover:hihi:

[arkain101]

Junk pictures but its late. The map will be ready to use in no time.

The engine vent actually looks really sweet I will get a pic of that soon. I mixed up some textures to make a crazy looking.. uh thing.

 

here they are.

View from outside. No details put into the rings quite yet.

 

Inside the main fusilage. I assume this is where we accelerate matter and stuff so its got some nifty looking accelerators.

[Tormod]

By the way, Why don't you join us, Tormod?:confused: I'm sure nobody could refuse.

 

I will be the guy who tells everyone about the brave crew who are out there exploring space for mankind. (Or in other words, the crackpot who nobody believes). :)

[Jay-qu]

cool we need one of them :hihi:

 

(are we supposed to have left yet :confused: )

[ronthepon]

cool we need one of them :hihi:

 

(are we supposed to have left yet :confused: )

We do have GAHD, god knows where he's been.

 

And right about now were are off.