ASPR-006-ODIN -- My First Orbit

ASPR-006-ODIN: My First Orbit

I’ve been playing Kerbal Space Program at night. It’s my current game addiction. After 41 hours of glorious explosions, face-plants, and questionable engineering decisions, the Adair Space Program has finally achieved orbit. That’s right — ASPR-006-ODIN, the eleventh crewed flight, has officially become the first of my designs to wrap all the way around Kerbin without immediately reintroducing itself to the ground.

The rocket was a bit of a Franken-stein: a Swivel core, two Hammer SRBs strapped on for moral support, and a Terrier upper stage that did just enough to keep Jeb from becoming a permanent satellite. The plan was to circularize at 80 km. The execution was more like “oops, now we’re at 150 km.” Close enough for government work.

The real drama came when Jeb hopped out for the program’s very first EVA at ~400 km. Turns out, the jetpack is less “precision maneuvering unit” and more “strapping bottle rockets to your back.” For 30 terrifying minutes, Jeb ping-ponged around space while I mashed the WASD keys like a panicked gamer trying to land Tetris blocks. At one point I thought we’d have to leave him up there as Kerbin’s loneliest astronaut, but eventually he snagged the capsule like a pro.

In the end, ASPR-006-ODIN had just enough juice left for a deorbit burn, and Jeb came down safe and sound — grinning like he’d just survived a rollercoaster designed by a maniac (which, in fairness, he had).

What have I learned? A lot about apoapsis vs. periapsis, why thrust-to-weight ratio matters, and that “delta-v” isn’t a brand of motor oil. Also that ChatGPT gives good rocket advice, though it cannot prevent me from staging at the wrong time (again).

Next steps: more Terrier fuel, tighter circularizations, and maybe a craft named Thor to match its hammer-wielding reputation. But for now, I’m just going to enjoy the view from orbit and the fact that Jeb isn’t a permanent piece of orbital debris.