Update 13
May 2084. Epsilon Eridani-3 : Unnamed Crater
With their destination now confirmed, the Discovery slowly turned, and started burning it's engines for the last time. Slowly, the planet would become bigger and bigger, the autopilot firm on leading the ship to it's final destination, where it would create a new home. But first, there were a few things that still needed to be done. The reactor was stepped down in preparation of the separation of it's external radiators. Cargo was checked, and when the crew found 10 spacesuits to be missing, and subsequently found out they had been stored in the hull, they quickly send out 2 men to retrieve them.
Remove air tanks and vac suits from hull space and put them in the cargo bay.
Roll : [1]
It's a commonly known fact that in the presence of extreme cold, many materials become extremely brittle. It's another commonly known fact, that a small continuous pressure, applied over a sufficiently long time, will eventually cause a material to fail. It should therefore be logical, that if one were to store various materials in a vacuum for prolonged amounts of time, one should ensure that they're not, for example, pressurized with volatile gasses. Apparently, this was not common knowledge when the Discovery was loaded.
Inside the ship, telemetry of the 2 people on EVA simply disappeared. Next, the optronic autopilot made a note about plausible exterior hull damage. An outside camera caught only a glimpse of the hull plate, well underway for it's own seperate re-entry trajectory, two mangled bodies securely pinned to it by shrapnel.
Insertion 78-20=58 Failed to achieve critical successThe ship however, was committed. One final burst of the engines was sufficient to bring the course low enough, and the vessel would soon skirt the atmosphere. The fusion reactor at the ship's core was, for the first time in decades, fully shut down. Next several small explosives fired, and the external radiators slowly tumbled away into the void, burning up behind the Discovery. Atmospheric drag slowed the ship down, the atmosphere burning red hot across the ship's wings.
Slowly, the autopilot raised the nose, and the ship climbed back towards space, greeting the stars for one last time, before once again falling down towards the planet that would become it's new home, or it's tomb.
Re-entry1d100+10-5(Exterior hull breach)=26 Minor failureDespite having lost a great deal of velocity, the Discovery was still going supersonic. It's metal hull pockmarked by micrometeroid impacts and exposed to subzero temperatures for ages was now being exposed to temperatures thousands of degrees above that. A hull plate, hastily replaced after the unfortunate accident, suddenly came loose, fully detached itself from the craft, and tumbles away. Air rushed into the breach, rapidly heating up the internal hull. Isolation caught fire, melting under the tremendous heat. Power cabling melted, shortcircuited or was otherwise severed.
In the main cargo bay, separated only from the raging fire by the thin, internal pressure hull, the temperature rose rapidly. Automatic systems pump fire retardant into the foam, to no avail, as it's not an internal fire that is causing the heat. Restraints fail under the strain and heat, and the neatly stacked cargo starts to slide.
Flight 1d100+20-5=39 Minor failureThough the fire subsides as soon as the Discovery looses speed, the damage is already done. Shifting cargo makes the craft harder to control, and despite the the flight modifications, the autopilot is unable to keep to it's flight plan. The Crater is now visible in the distance, but the ship is still too high, and going to fast. Automated subroutines calculate the odds, and then make the decision to commit, taking the craft down to the crater below.
Landing 1d100-10=8 FailureRetro-rockets fire, and the Discovery slows until it almost starts to fall out of the air. However, given the relatively thin air, and the size and aerodynamics of the Discovery, this means that it is still going much faster than it should have been going. The ship makes hard contact with the ground and starts to slide. Loose cargo stacked in the hallway slides through the corridors, with one particular crate of advanced parts embedding itself within the VR pod. Sparks lead to a fire, but automated systems quickly lock of and vent the room. Slowly, the vessel comes to a halt and it appears that, miraculously, nobody is hurt.
Exterior views show the vessels final resting position, near the edge of the crater, hidden from the sun. Following confirmation of the complete stop, heat vents are automatically opened, allowing the crew to soon bring the reactor back online. A soft rumble, and the feeling that the ship moved just a fraction of a centimeter, stops them from doing so.
Landing destination: Crater, near wall on a low slope
Event Choice :
- Atmospheric Skip : (Difficult insertion, easy re-entry, Mediocre Flight and landing)
Other actions: Set satellite to scan and store data around our landing site preferentially until the databank is full then transmit it to us bit by bit.
Turn 12 status: May 2084:
Starship: SSN Discovery
Total Size: 110 units
Structural mass: 10 units.
Installed components:
1 Optronic Autopilot. Size 1 , mass 1 . - 5 MW. (Fully automated Control Center)
2 Cryogenic pods Mk II (20 persons). Size 5 units, Mass 8 units. Electricity 5 MW
1 Large Closed Loop Life Support /w hydroponics. Size 8. Mass 5. Electricity: 10 MW. (30 awake / 150cryosleep)
1 Damage Control & machine shop. Size 4. Mass 2. Electricity 1 MW
1 Medical Bay. Size 2. Mass 1. Electricity 1 MW.
1 Recreational Commons. Size 4. Mass 4 units. Electricity 1 MW. [
Destroyed]
1 Large Cargo bay /w industrial cargo handling system. Size: 43. Mass: 2.
Warning : Damaged1 Small Cargo bay /w industrial cargo handling system Size : 11, Mass: 0.5
Warning : Damaged1 He-3 MCF Fusion generator /w external radiators Mk.2. Size 8 Mass 5 Generates 75 MW. Uses 0.75 Fuel/year
1 Electrostatic Ion Engine. Size 3. Mass 5. Electricity 5 MW. Thrust 25
1 He-3 Fuel Tank. Size 8. Mass 12 (including fuel). Holds 16 fuel
Installed modifications:
2*Expanded Superstructure Size -30 , Mass 15
Atmospheric flight conversion. Size 5 , Mass 15
Cargo : [Total Space : 46 /49]
1*Automated Bot Assembly Line: Size 4. Mass 6. Electricity 8 MW
1* Hydroponics Size 6, Mass 5
1*Powered Exo-skeleton Constructor Units. Cost 2 RU, Size 3, Mass 2
1*Digging & drilling vehicles. Cost 2 RU, Size 4, Mass 4
1*Optronic Central Computer. Cost 10 RU. Size 2. Mass 2.
2.7*Basic Parts Mass 1, Size 1
3*Advanced parts Mass 1, Size 1
2*Emergency Food : Size 3, Mass 1
2*Advanced Medical supplies Size 1, Mass 1
1*Manufacturing equipment. Size 3, Mass 4.
1*Life Sciences Laboratory: Size 10. Mass 15.
Hallway space [4/5]
0.6*Air tanks & vac suits. Size 1, Mass 1.
1.8*Advanced parts Mass 1, Size 1
Warning: Damaged1*Air. Size 1, mass 1.
Total mass: 177.5 units.
Free space: 0 units.
Required power: 32 MW
Maximum power output: 75 MW (Note: Minimum power output is 37.5)
Total fuel: 16
Fuel remaining at destination: 3.1
Destination: Epsilon Eridani
Flight time: 34.4
Crew :
13 awake
1 wounded (cryo)
39 cryo
2 dead (cremated in space)
Projects:
Cryo System Investigation (-40)
Ark : Survival
Arrives in 36 years
Launch date: January 2050.
Arrival : May 2084
Ark Arrival :
2086
Action :
Immediate landing actions