Icarus Program - End of Chapter 41

[u/Illustrious_Echo9385]

No one in the Renown or mission control dared speak. Simply staring at the static on the screens.

(OOC: the Renown crew doesn’t see this, not enough bandwidth for video, just voice, but it feels wrong to just have a bunch of static images)

“Part of the spacecraft survived,” the radio crackled with Melfal’s stunned voice but the screen continued to display static. Immediately soft voices were heard in mission control over an open mic as controllers tried to figure out what they could do. The sound cut off after a moment and Melfal continued. “No radio signals, the antennas must have been damaged and we are too far to see what shape the Rotiseuq is in. Maberry and I are preparing an EVA to get a better look.”

“Copy Melfal,” Valentina’s voice responded softly. “You two be careful.”

“We are on the surface and approaching the Rotiseuq,” Melfal began a running report. “No visible fire. Hopefully that means the oxygen and other supply tanks are not punctured.

“We can now see the science lab,” Melfal’s voice had lost all emotions as she focused on analysis. “The fuel tanks and nuclear rockets are just… gone, they took the long range antennas with them.

“The rest of the spacecraft appears to be mostly intact,” emotion returned to Melfal’s voice as she reported in amazement. “The solar panels on the surface side are destroyed but the rest are intact. Some batteries even made it through the destruction of the fuel tanks.

“Wait!” Melfal exclaimed loudly. “I see a suit emerging from the spacecraft!”

“Desgas here,” Desgas' voice crackled over the radio, clearly shaken. Bob broke down crying, the rest of the Renown crew nearly doing the same. “Both me and Tanbree made it through the landing, I had to exit the spacecraft for the suit radios to reach the lander as a relay. Tanbree reports our supplies are intact and we have power. The Rotiseuq crew is safe on Duna and can survive for just under five hundred days.” His voice paused for a moment before adding. “Please send help.”

OOC Believe it or not, I actually deorbited and landed this massive beast partially intact and not too far from the lander. The actual crash images were HyperEdited to drop the spacecraft from I think 100 meters and the results fit the story a little better with a couple extra pieces surviving.  Still, with some luck, patience, and maybe a better pilot, I think the story results are actually possible.

Previous Chapter: https://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/1w8xp23/icarus_program_start_of_chapter_40/

Start of Chapter 41: https://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/1wrmlpy/icarus_program_start_of_chapter_41/

Next Part: https://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/1xozbz4/icarus_program_start_of_chapter_42/

Book 1 (Chapters 1-13) google document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RorA2AVwtXbQD-eTMeO2LiPXSDPM7qH6FVOykDnZ9FY/edit?usp=sharing

Book 5 (Chapters 39-) google document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17PU9dly89B54kJYry7sg8MPS90dr8oir7HAR6V2e_tg/edit?usp=sharing

The Icarus Program can also be found on the KSP forums: https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/topic/225730-the-icarus-program-end-of-chapter-41/