#SATELLITE MISSIONS/SHUTTLES

[nasa]

Guy Bluford Changed the Course of Space History

On Aug. 30, 1983, Guion Bluford, better known as Guy, became the first African American to fly to space. An accomplished jet pilot and aerospace engineer, Bluford became part of NASA’s 1978 astronaut class that included the first African American, the first Asian American, and the first women astronauts.

He and the other crew members of mission STS-8 were aboard the orbiter Challenger as it lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida; it was the first nighttime launch and landing of the Space Shuttle program. While aboard, he and the other crew members deployed the Indian National Satellite (INSAT-1B), operated a Canadian-built robot arm, conducted experiments with live cell samples, and participated in studies measuring the effects of spaceflight on humans.

Guy Bluford chased his childhood dream of becoming an aerospace engineer, and in doing so, changed history and encouraged other Black astronauts to follow in his footsteps.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space—and for milestones like this!

[holdmytesseract]

For the sleepover my love

Yn Kenobi looks for Kylo Ren after the force ghost of Anakin advised her to stop his dark path - they end up in a fight of swords and moral and attraction ❤️

Torn Apart

Kylo Ren x fem!Reader

Warnings: uhhh Star Wars stuff? Lightsabers/fights, angst, fluff? Y/N is Obi-Wan's granddaughter.

Word Count: definitely a bit more than a drabble 👀

a/n: Well... What can I say... I love this. Thank you so much, friend. I changed it up a bit, but you know. 😉

The hangar was bustling with pilots, droids and other Resistance fighters; maintaining and repairing their ships and coordinating things. You didn't pay much attention, though. Your focus was entirely on getting your X-Wing prepared for your mission. But just as you wanted to board your star-fighter, a voice cut through the noises of heavy machinery and chatter. A voice you only knew too well.

"Y/N! Y/N wait!"

You knew you shouldn't; knowing that your friend would only try to hold you back, but you also just couldn't leave.

"Y/N!" Finn called out again; reaching you completely out of breath. "Finn. What are you doing here?" You had a guess, but asked anyway.

"Don't... Don't go." The former stormtrooper panted; looked at you with a pleading gaze. You sighed. "Finn... I have to." He violently shook his head. "No, no you don't. We'll find another way!" "There's no other way," you said; placing a hand on his shoulder. "There always is!" Your friend immediately shot back; almost desperate. "No. Not this time."

A frustrated groan left the man's lips. "Why, Y/N? Why you?! Why must you do this?! Just because you're former friends with this... traitorous snake?"

You sighed once again; memories of your youth quite a few years back flooded your mind, causing you to quickly shut your eyes and close them off again. Now was not the time to wallow in the past.

"We weren't just friends, Finn." It was all you said, before you climbed inside the X-Wing.

"Not just friends?" Finn had clearly trouble to catch up what you meant. "What is that supposed to- Hold on..." All features of your friend's face derailed. The next words he literally shouted at you fell on deaf ears. The cockpit around you was already closed. You took a deep breath, ignored Finn and started the engines. He had no other choice than to step aside and let you go.

You left the hanger and with that the main Resistance cruiser behind. But before you set course for the planet below you, you sent a last message to your General. Leia Organa.

"This is Y/N Kenobi on my way back to D'Qar. General Organa... You might not agree on this, but we both know that I have to do it. It's probably my last- no... My only chance." You paused; taking another deep breath. "I'm going to bring him back to you, Leia. Back to us. I will leave D'Qar with him... Or not at all." With those words you ended your message and addressed your droid. "BB-7?" The familiar beeping of your mechanic friend caused you to smile. "Can you send this message to General Organa as soon as we landed?" The answer came promptly. "Thanks, buddy. Now let's get this done." With that you flew off; opposed the direction of your people. While the Resistance evacuated D'Qar, you flew straight back into the danger zone; hoping that your target would come alone and not bringing any friends.

On your monitor, you saw the ships of the Resistance fleet jump to light speed and vanish on the radar.

You flew straight back to the now former base, hid away your X-Wing in the deep forests of the planet and waited. Waited for your destiny to find its way to you.

And it did.

You could already feel his presence through the force. Even though he hadn't stepped a single foot on this planet. Yet.

You hid on top of one of the tarnished mounds, right behind a massive satellite; watching his shuttle invade the sky above you. You expected him to fire everything he got at the base, but you also knew that he wasn't stupid. He landed - and when the ramp lowered and he stepped out, you felt your breath catch in your throat; heartbeat quickening.

You hadn't seen him in years. Lastly when he destroyed Luke's Jedi temple on Ossus all those years back. Once more, memories flooded your mind. Of that very night. How you tried to talk sense into Ben; screaming his name through the fire, cries and whirring sound of lightsabers. In vain. It was the moment you realised that you had lost him.

And now you were here to get him back.

Due to the mask he wore, you couldn't see his face, of course, but you knew that he must at least feel that something was off. He stood in the middle of the deserted base; looking around for a few moments. Then he made his way towards one of the entries.

That was it. The moment you had waited for; destiny finally catching up with you.

You took a deep breath and left your hiding place.

"They aren't here anymore. Nobody is. You're too late."

Kylo stopped in his movements; like frozen to the ground with his back towards you. You jumped from the mound; landing on the earthy ground right behind him. He clearly needed a moment to recover.

"Am I?" His distorted voice urged to your ears; almost causing your knees to give in. You were so weak in this very moment; knowing that your feelings for him hadn't changed. Not even in the slightest. The difficulty was to hide it from him.

"Yes," you answered as stoically as possible. "You won't find the Resistance fighters here. Neither your mother, nor your uncle."

Suddenly, he turned to face you, "That may be. But you are here." and started to slowly pace up and down. "Why?"

"Because I have to. It's where I need to be. My destiny."

"Your destiny?" Kylo spat mockingly. "This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

Yes... That clearly wasn't the man you once knew. The man you kissed at night and secretly shared a bed with; breaking the rules. But what he did was way worse than breaking some rules.

You clenched your teeth; knowing that you had to stay strong.

"Take at least that stupid mask off you're hiding behind, when you talk to the woman you once shared a bed with!" You could tell that your words hit a nerve; seeing his fists clench and unclench.

Silence settled over the base, until a mechanic hiss sounded from across you. He was taking his mask off. You didn't expect this. Not at all. And when familiar brown eyes met yours, you felt like a deer caught in the headlights. You couldn't even move a single muscle. All you did was looking in those beautiful brown eyes, which were once filled with love and gentleness. The same brown eyes you so often sought and found comfort in. Which had been your safe haven. The key element of your whole existence. The ones you had trusted with your life.

And now? Now they only held darkness, strength and raw power. This realisation ripped your heart into shreds. You wanted to be so strong and now you had to fight so hard against the upcoming tears.

Avoiding his gaze was the only salvation. So you did; let your gaze wander over his facial features instead.

He had grown; was definitely more mature. That much you could tell. The sweet, happy, sunny boy replaced by a cold, harsh, merciless man.

Nevertheless, you couldn't deny that he was the same handsome man with the beautiful long black curls you fell in love with.

Kylo didn't say a single word either; just looking at you seemingly emotionless.

You shook your head; suppressing the tears. "What happened to you, Ben?" "I've seen the truth, Y/N. I killed the past."

This shot a searing pain through your whole body. "Killed the past? Ben, this isn't your destined path! You can still turn around! It's not too late!"

The man opposite you furrowed his brows. "That's why you're here? To win me over?" "No... This isn't just about winning you over. I'm here because I want the man I love back." Now Kylo was the one shaking his head. "It's too late for that, Y/N. You can't turn me. Nothing won't change my mind. Not even love. I'm going to do what I have to do and fulfil my grandfather's legacy...," he snarled; drawing his lightsaber. With an ear-piercing hiss came its blood red blade to light, "...and nobody will stop me. Not even you." pointed straight into your direction.

You swallowed hard and drew your lightsaber as well. Unlike Kylo's blade was yours blue. "Well, that's too bad for you, because I am not going to let you walk away a second time. I already made that mistake once. I won't let it happen again."

"Foolish of you to believe this. You've got too much of your father and grandfather in you." "Yes... Just like you, Solo."

Kylo gritted his teeth and stormed forwards; his lightsaber clashing against yours.

The fight was hard, rough and unforgiving. You and Kylo threw in everything you got; not once backing up or lacking stamina. One moment Kylo had the upper hand and the next you. Your battle had led you away from the base and all the way into the woods; leaving a trail of burnt earth and destroyed trees behind.

And to make matters even worse, it had started to rain.

You stood on a hill; panting heavily. Kylo stood on the forest ground beneath you; throwing you an angry look.

"Let us stop this madness! Ben, please!" You screamed through the rain; feeling the water soaking your robes. He shook his head; waterdrops dripping from his black curls, "No! We are going to finish what we started!" and raised his lightsaber once more; ready to attack. "It's me - or you!"

You just stared at him for another moment, before you took a deep breath - and jumped. With a loud hiss met your lightsaber his. The strength of your blow caused him to stumble backwards, but he quickly recovered. Once again he stormed forwards and wanted to strike you, but you lifted both your arms; catching his wrists before he was able to hit you.

It was the first time since years, that you touched Ben again - and it almost took your breath away. It felt like time itself froze around you and him.

The force flowing through both your veins connected you; causing visions to explode in front of your eyes. Visions of the future. What was and what could be. They flew by way too fast. It was impossible for you to grasp all of them. But no matter how fast they came and went, they all had one thing in common... A different setting, but the same outcome. You and Ben. Together.

One showed you the two of you flying around the galaxy; exploring every existent planet. Another showed the two of you leading the Resistance, together with his mother. You saw love, a marriage, children - a family.

And suddenly it was all gone. Nothing but silence. Around you. In your mind. Everywhere.

Slowly, you blinked your eyes open; feeling the cold, wet forest ground underneath you. Still a bit dizzy and confused, you stood up and tried to understand what had happened.

Kylo sat on the groud as well, quite a few meters away from you.

The force... The two of you touching each other after such a long time was apparently too much.

But you knew what you saw. He must've seen it, too...

On still wobbly legs and knees, you walked over to Ben; hand outstretched. "Come with me. Please. I've seen the conflict inside you. I've seen your future. Our future. You must have seen it, too!"

Once again were those beautiful brown eyes looking up at you; reflecting the conflict you had seen. "I..." He eyed your hand; the light and darkness battling within Kylo. "I can't," he breathed; eyes filling up with tears.

There it was. The glimmer of hope.

You nodded. "Yes, yes you can! Just take my hand!"

He blinked; torn apart about what to do.

You were absolutely certain that you made it - made him see, but then Kylo acted too fast for you to react. Within the blink of an eye, he jumped to his feet and brought you down on your knees; both lightsabers flying off the ground and into his hands.

That was it. He had overpowered you. You couldn't stand a chance.

Perhaps he was right and it was really too late - but you refused to believe this and started one last desperate try.

"What are you waiting for? Do it! Kill me!" Kylo activated both lightsabers; jaw clenching. "Do it!" You screamed at him again. "I'd rather die than live my life without you; knowing that I really lost you forever!"

Your words caused the man towering above you to freeze in his movements.

"You... You would rather die than live without me?" Kylo asked in disbelief. Wind blew through his hair; rain hitting his face again. "Of course I would! You are all I ever wanted and needed! Don't you see?!"

He answered nothing; only stared at you. The gears in his head turning at lightning speed. Seconds felt like minutes, before he extinguished both blades of the weapons in his hands and threw them carelessly aside. You couldn't believe your eyes when he was dropping to his knees as well in front of you; taking both your hands in his. "I... I think I see now. Clearly, for the first time in my life."

You hesitated at first, but then you felt the conflict in him was gone. There was love, peace and light. You made it. Your love made it.

[tachvintlogic]

The Pitstop

It was a normal day at the Justice League Watchtower Satellite. Heroes were milling about, Batman was monitoring Earth from the deck, there was an astronaut tapping on the glass, Flash was joking with Martian Manhunter...

What, what was that 3rd thing?

Batman looked up and saw in front of his view of Earth was an astronaut, wearing NASA's latest suit design. He stood up which alerted Flash and Martian Manhunter to the strange sight.

He tensed as the astronaut began to phase through the walls and entered the deck. Batman was able to activate the intruder alarm when the astronaut removed their helmet.

The astronaut was a caucasian male approximately in his early forties. There were bags under his blue eyes like many of his own cohorts, and he had black hair as well.

"We need to dock."

"Excuse me?"

"Who are you?" asked Martian Manhunter.

The astronaut's face brightened immediately upon noticing Martian Manhunter. "Oh! I'm part of the manned Mars mission! We just launched and were on our way, but something is making a weird noise, and we don't know what it is. Since we're so close, can we just dock one of your garages so we can figure out what it is and fix it?"

Batman recalled that NASA had launched less than a few hours ago.

"How did you get through the glass?" asked Flash.

"I'm the token metahuman crewmember. So can we dock or not?"

"Of course," said Martian Manhunter, looking at Batman. And what was Batman supposed to say? No?

In the parking garage, Martian Manhunter was talking the other crewmembers while the Watchtower's engineers and the metahuman astronaut, who they learned was named Danny Fenton, inspected the space shuttle and tried to figure out what was making the strange noise.

Batman watched from the sidelines as the others bustled about. They had been at it for an hour, and Batman wondered if he should ask Tim to come by and help. He had informed Tim of the development while the astronauts were docking. After all, he had been involved in some of the designs of this particular spacecraft that were done by Wayne Aerospace.

He was doubtful that Tim could help that much. After all, in all likelihood it wasn't something he designed that was the problem.

Then, one of the engineers fiddled with something and Batman suddenly heard loud rattling.

A crewmember who was listening to Martian Manhunter startled and their eyes widened. "That's it! That's the sound!"

"What it that?" asked Batman.

The engineer pulled out a piece of equipment that had the Wayne Enterprise logo on it. "This module is broken," she said, "it could be repaired but honestly," she inhaled sharply, "this thing is a hot mess."

Mr. Fenton jumped and landed on the ship like the artificial gravity didn't affect him. When he saw the logo on the broken equipment, he shook his fist at the sky.

"Of course it's something by Wayne Industries! We give them half our budget hoping they're share some cool alien inspired technology like whatever they did to build this satellite and instead we get half-assed garbage!"

Batman made a point to not share the latest gadgets with the US government (he didn't trust them), but he wouldn't call their products that weren't built using alien tech garbage. That seemed a little harsh.

"Seriously, was the person who designed this sleep-deprived when they made this?" Suddenly Batman found the walls and floor to be incredibly interesting and looked away.

"Oh that's par for the course when it comes to the stuff they give us."

"I am so sorry."

As they discussed how to improvise a replacement for the equipment quickly enough to avoid drastically altering the astronaut's flight path, Batman got a text from Tim.

So I'm free now. Did the astronauts figure out what was wrong or do they need me? - RR

He texted back.

They figured it out. The engineers have it handled. - B

[lonestarflight]

Space Station Concepts: Space Operations Center

"The SOC is a self-contained orbital facility built up of several Shuttle-launched modules. With resupply, on-orbit refurbish- ment and orbit maintenance, it is capable of continuous operation for an indefinite period. In the nominal operational mode, the SOC is manned continuously, but unmanned operation is possible.

The present mission management and control process is characterized by a people-intensive ground monitoring and control operation involving large supporting ground information and control facilities and a highly- integrated ground-flight crew operation. In order to reduce dependence on Earth monitoring and control, the SOC would have to provide for increased systems monitoring; fault isolation and failure analysis, and the ability to store and call up extensive sets of data to support the onboard control of the vehicle; and the onboard capability for daily mission and other activity planning."

"Like most other space station studies from the mid/late 1970s its primary mission was the assembly and servicing of large spacecraft in Earth orbit -- not science. NASA/JSC signed a contract with Boeing in 1980 to further develop the design. Like most NASA space station plans, SOC would be assembled in orbit from modules launched on the Space Shuttle. The crew's tour of duty would have been 90 days. NASA originally estimated the total cost to be $2.7 billion, but the estimated cost had increased to $4.7 billion by 1981. SOC would have been operational by 1990.

NASA's Johnson Spaceflight Center extended the Boeing contract in February 1982 to study a cheaper, modular, evolutionary approach to assembling the Space Operations Center. An initial power module would consist of solar arrays and radiators. The next launches would have delivered a space tug 'garage', two pressurized crew modules and a logistics module. The completed Space Operations Center also would have contained a satellite servicing and assembly facility and several laboratory modules. Even with this revised approach, however, the cost of the SOC program had grown to $9 billion. Another problem was Space Operations Center's primary mission: spacecraft assembly and servicing. The likely users (commercial satellite operators and telecommunications companies) were not really interested in the kind of large geostationary space platforms proposed by NASA. By 1983, the only enthusiastic users for NASA's space station plans were scientists working in the fields of microgravity research and life sciences. Their needs would dictate future space station design although NASA's 1984 station plans did incorporate a SOC-type spacecraft servicing facility as well."

Article by Marcus Lindroos, from astronautix.com: link

NASA ID: link, S79-10137

Boeing photo no. R-1859, link, link

[typewritingyip]

The Arcturus Missions

Part Thirteen - Battlefields

Part Twelve

———

The Voyager Satellite was sent into space September 5th, 1977. Almost exactly seven years before the Quintessons attacked Earth. Initially people were ready to blame the simple gold disk aboard and the trinkets on the invasion, but the connection to the little spacecraft was and still is there.

Currently the little satellite is around fifteen billion miles from Earth, with a one direction signal distance of twenty-two and a half hours. Forty-five hours in total for simple communication.

Cybertron and the surrounding planets, asteroids, and other surfaces were around thirty light years from Earth, which was estimated to be 180 trillion miles. Radio waves from that distance would take a great deal longer than forty-five hours. A relay satellite would need recalibrations constantly from that distance, radio waves would still travel that distance over time but certainly faster than it would without the relay.

It rested just at the edge of Cybertronian space, sending a near constant stream of updated information in the general direction of Earth. Traveling through space, alone.

—

The surface was being blown apart by stray blaster fire and crashing ships, Hound was pinned behind a rock and swearing as he reactivated his comm, “Breakdown, I need that cover fire, now!” He was pinned, not unless he wanted to take more damage to the suit, which Hound would prefer to avoid as much as possible. Worrying the Cybertronian’s usually got his ass stuck on a shuttle back to base camp for several cycles, “In a moment, I am covering the Seekers!” Swearing, Hound peaks his head over the rock before spotting a more tactical spot, his visual feeds locking in on it. Taking a breath and breaking down his gun, shoving the extended barrel back to its storage position he throws himself over the rock, “Incoming!” He crashed to the ground and scrambled back to the slightly better bit of cover, wiping bits of blasted metal from his arm as his chest heaved.

Mirage was there, sniper rifle in hand and taking shots with better marksmanship than Hound has even had while in the military, the white and blue mech looked over, smiled awkwardly before returning to his own part of the fight. Turning off his comm for a moment, Hound smacks the back of his head against the rock, “Mirage, why did it have to be Mirage? Why couldn’t I have found cover with Jazz or fragging Megatron.” Mirage and Hound had run out of things to talk about after two weeks of knowing each other. Now just around six months down the line, it was out right awkward whenever the two of them were stuck anywhere close together. People spoke behind their hands and would giggle whenever they had to work together.

That was one thing, Hound certainly would never be able to deny. Him and Mirage worked together just as well as Jazz and Prowl, maybe even better if he said so himself.

Yet, they hardly spoke, mainly according to the general gossip, because Mirage felt too awkward to ask about his life before the fight and Hound certainly didn’t want to talk about it anyway. Reactivating his comm, Hound glances over, “How’s it looking out there?” Mirage was starting through his scope, “No worse than the usual for this territory. You’ll have an opening once the Seekers drop the bombs.” He signed out evenly and took another shot, smiling. Hound took a breath, setting his gun briefly in his lap to adjust his visor, “Alright, you going to cover me?” “Always.” Mirage smiled for a second but froze and his face turned a soft shade of pink before he cleared his throat, “I’ve got your back.” Hound smiled a bit, “Thanks.” Taking another breath he took up his gun and steadied himself, “Going over.” Sparing Mirage the briefest of looks, he went over the top of the cover as the Seekers dropped their bombs, heading in a line towards the crashed ship and Hound took on the first Quintesson he saw head on, grabbing at it with the practiced ease of nearly five hundred successful missions now.

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were across the battlefield, cleaving a Quintesson in half together, getting splattered with gore. Both were laughing like the maniacs they were. Swinging back together, they moved in synch, both breathing at the same time and adjusting slightly, “You feeling good Sides?” “Yeah, you Sunny?” “Definitely.” Then both turned lightly as blaster fire went just barely over their head, spotting the second sniper off in the distance. Sunstreaker lightly salutes in his direction before turning and raising his new blaster, the small tank on it was reinforced to not explode if hit, shooting an approaching Quint in its face while Sideswipe ran up to its side. Cause and effect, distraction. Within the instant, Sunstreaker was on the other side and they hit it together.

Breakdown was laying covering fire near where the Seekers were taking off, preventing the Quintessons from getting any closer, he was the most active on comms; “Their coming in from the west, around a few hundred meters from the initial crash site.” His visual feed zoomed in easily, checking the area, while his cannon continued to blow apart the land between the enemy and landed seekers, “We’ve got injured north of my position that I’ll bring to you as soon as it’s clear.” “Copy Breakdown, moving twins towards incoming on the west side and dispatching medic to the line closest to your position.” Prowl’s voice was calm, clearly adjusting the plan and stats for the fight overall. Taking a breath, Breakdown adjusts his stance a bit to up the charge for his cannon, just at the corner of his visual feed he could see the familiar red of the medic come speeding his way.

The sky lit up with gunfire from the seekers, turning the dark evening into day briefly.

Jazz was on the other side of the runway, tearing apart Quintessons like shredding paper. Though they couldn’t see it, everyone knew he was smiling behind that visor, “Alright, clear for next launch.” He was for the moment tasked with keeping the runway clear, but kept looking to other parts of the battle, “Thank you for remaining where you’re supposed to Jazz.” Prowl’s voice was biting, “I haven’t moved!” Several people chuckled over comms, “No, but you’re certainly thinking about it.” “That’s hardly fair.” With a quick movement, he pulls his gun and shoots an approaching Quintesson, “I am simply saying that for the moment you are following the plan,” “Stop arguing like a married couple over comms.” Hound’s voice was almost painfully loud for them both, the comm line erupted with laughter. Some things would always translate.

In the distance the few cybertronian’s on the battlefield were huddled together in a typical attack maneuver, draw the enemies attention for the strange mechanicals to handle. It was gruesome and heartbreaking, but necessary for all their survival. Only a handful of cybertronian’s were out solo on the field, not counting the seekers in the air, but only those who have taken down several Quintessons on their own were able to be out fighting with the strange mechanicals.

—

Base camp was a simple handful of light construction buildings, several spaces with seating surrounding heaters and the quote unquote medical tent. A few mecha would assemble it while the initial battle started, it usually being far enough back that it wouldn’t be affected by the fight. There was a place for the cybertronians to get fuel and the general command center, it was just a typical base camp for any military based altercation.

The humans were sitting around one of the heaters, laughing and covered nearly helm to ped in gore, truthfully it made several mecha uneasy.

Sunstreaker was lightly picking at his hands, trying to get the worst of it out of the joints while Jazz was laughing, shaking out an arm which was covered in effectively slime, “Yeah, so when that big one started to come for the runway, what else was I supposed to do?” He chuckles lightly, Hound shakes his head, “Stuck to orders and let the seekers blow it up from the sky maybe.” “Yeah Jazz, I think you’re going to be in the dog house tonight.” Everyone briefly paused as the translator popped up with it’s typical error words and it sent Jazz, Sunstreaker, and Hound back into fits of roaring laughter. Sideswipe flicked some of the gore covering his hands at Sunstreaker’s visor, “Hey!” He was quick in his revenge, splattering Sideswipe with some from his chest, clearing off the number emblazoned there.

“I think you should be glad that Prowl is back in Iacon,” Hound lightly scratches at his jaw, frowning at the gore caked to his plating a bit, “Otherwise the guy would have your head.” Jazz, with his camera still on, rolled his eyes in the corner of their visual feeds, “Oh please, he knows that when shit is hitting the fan I’m going to do what I do best.” The twins were now rolling around on the ground, shoving at each other’s visors and had turned off their translators. Sighing deeply, Hound sits back and pulls a polishing cloth he’d gotten from medical from his chute compartment to start cleaning up. Jazz pulls one himself, starting to wipe down his arms, “Also says the guy who ended up on the wrong side of the field, why were you over near Mirage in the first place?” Hound flicks his own gore at Jazz, scowling a bit, “Mirage’s position was moved this morning, just before we landed.” The hum from Jazz was clearly not convinced, the twins continued to roll around on the ground shoving at each other.

Over near the medical tent, Breakdown was helping one of the injured under Knockout’s orders. He wasn’t sure how he constantly got roped into this, the twins thought it was funny and Hound suggested it was based on his suits weight class though he wasn’t convinced. The medic was too nice to him, when compared with everyone else and it was starting to become awkward. Having to turn down assistance whenever he dealt with torn lines or ripped cable, glancing back towards the group he sighs and helps the mech to the bed, “There you are.” “Well, thank you handsome.” A familiar voice crooned and Breakdown lowered his head awkwardly, “Um, you’re welcome Knockout.” Knockout came over and started to tend to the injured mech, Breakdown quickly stepping back. It was generally kept a secret, how toxic energon was to the humans, though many mecha had clocked how they didn’t eat any, “You should stay and have your own shoulder tended to.” The typical worry was there and Breakdown clears his throat, “I am fine Knockout, thank you. I should be going.” He didn’t spare a glance in his retreat, even as Knockout called after him for a moment, swearing at the man’s back.

Most mecha worried for their odd mechanical counterparts, the new frontliners, as they took a lot more damage than a normal mech could stand. Some worried more than others of course, but they generally tried to keep that to themselves.

Hound was still trying to clean his arm as Breakdown sat next to him, sighing deeply, “I think we worry the medic.” Nodding a bit, he doesn’t even look up, “We take a lot of damage and don’t fuel like they do, of course we're going to worry the guy.” Breakdown rests his chin against one hand, the one of them least covered in gore though the connection for his cannon was charred and had a few sparking wires, Hound glances over for a moment before tilting his head, “We have to reinforce that again?” Barely sparing it a glance, Breakdown shrugs, “If they keep upgrading it, then yes.” Jazz looks over and whistles, “Yeah, they’ll think that is painful.”

The ground shook lightly as a very imposing figure approached, the twins glanced up from their fight and the five of them shared a look, “Hound, I would appreciate a word with you and your humans.” Technically, the term human didn’t translate but most of the mecha understood that it was the name of their species, Hound worried it would reveal their organic nature but kept that worry along with a million others to himself, “Yes sir.” He moves to stand but Megatron waves it off, moving and taking one of the twins' seats as they were sitting on the ground, “I hope… that you are doing well.” Hound stared for a minute, not really sure what to say and glanced towards Jazz before looking back, “We’re fine, Sir.” He clears his throat a bit, “Uh, is that all or do you have specific concerns?” Hound’s head tilted lightly, worrying at his lip a bit, “If this has something to do with the minor injuries, we will tend to them.” Jazz nods a bit, “Yes sir, we’re fine.” Megatron was staring at them, then clears his throat, “And I fear my concerns might be more psychological. I know it can be difficult to be away from home and you all have thrown yourselves into this fight.” Hound was almost relieved, nodding a bit, “Yes sir, of course we miss home but no more than usual. As for the fighting, you understand our stance on that.” Jazz almost cringed.

Megatron’s face said enough, “Yes, I know your stance on that subject. I will continue to have my concerns.” Sunstreaker waves a hand, “Megatron, sir, if we didn’t want to be in this fight we wouldn’t be here nor have signed up for the testing in the first place.” He moves around and brings himself up next to Jazz, “We love kicking Quintesson butt.” Sideswipe nodded, “Yeah, it’s not like any of us could have done anything else. This or time, so.” He shrugs a bit, Megatron was staring at him now, “Time? I don’t believe that translated correctly.” Hound tried not to face palm, nodding a bit, “Their talking about jail or prison, doing something illegal and it’s punishment.” It took a long moment before Megatron gave a reaction to anything, “So it was fight or go to the stockade.” Hound paused, “Well,” “Yeah, we were doing some dumb stuff before we became useful.” Hound leveled Sunstreaker with a look before turning back to Megatron, “Not all of us were facing jail time before we signed up.” “Oh?” Megatron leaned forward some, trying to keep a neutral expression, “Breakdown and I were in the military and we all were tested for compatibility.” Breakdown nodded, “It’s easy to feed your family when you have a government job, it was going to be this or deal with the KGB.” Jazz nearly fell off his seat, “That’s not funny Breakdown!” Breakdown just shrugged.”

Megatron was still staring intently, “That did not translate well either, it was a series of glyphs.” Jazz clears his throat painfully and rubs at his neck, “So uh, that old story of yours of what used to be the DJD? That but for a section of our planet and bigger, a lot bigger.” Breakdown nods slowly, “It no longer exists now, but I was still conscripted.” Hound had his face in his hand, mumbling quietly before looking up, “My father was in the military, it was the life that I knew. We all have our reasons for getting tested, right Jazz?” Jazz nods a bit, “Mine are a lot less bad, compared to jail, mandatory military service, and aging out of your placement. I was just approached by the boss after a fight because of my looks.” Megatron looked at Jazz, “What was your job before this Jazz?” With a bit of a chuckle, Jazz shrugged some, “I had a bunch but I wanted to be a DJ before the Quints attacked.” Sideswipe nodded, grinning, “That would have been so cool!” Jazz grins, “Thank you.” Hound was watching Megatron and watching how his temperature was rising.

It only took another second or two before Megatron was up and storming off, the twins staring after the large mech, “What’s gotten into him?” Jazz watched and sighed, “Man, I hate having to talk to Optimus after this stuff.” Hound shifted forward, “Does this have anything to do with the cost of living conversation?” Jazz leveled him with a glare, “Just a bit, you know. Revolutionary for the oppressed thinks our planet is horrible.” Sunstreaker shrugs a bit, Sideswipe nods a bit, “I mean, is he really wrong?” Hound smacked him upside the head, rolling his eyes, “This isn’t funny.” Sideswipe rubbed at his head while several mecha started to finally make their way over to them now that Megatron had left.

—

Megatron was quick, storming into command and sending Red Alert out to contact Optimus, grumbling loudly as he did so. Optimus answered on the first ring, “Megatron, how is the front?” He stared for a long moment, “I wish for the humans to go back through evaluations.” Optimus’s servos came up rubbed at his faceplates, “They go through them the same as everyone else, they won’t go through another for a half a stellar cycle.” Megatron growled and Optimus looked at him sympathetically, “They are who they are, at some point they will understand.” His helm lowered and Megatron sighed deeply, closing his optics, “They deserve better.” “Of course they do, but they are saving us.” It hung in the air, the reality of their situation.

In the distance, several mecha were sat around a heater, laughing with other mecha, and desperately avoiding the others' food. They would have to eat soon and sleep, but for now there was a lull in the fight and a moment for peace. Jazz was on comm with Prowl, getting his ear chewed off. Hound was listening to Mirage, nodding slowly in confusion. The twins were talking with a few mecha who they’d become fast friends with, Sunstreaker had Bluestreak sat incredibly close to him. Breakdown was speaking with Mirage, trying to help Hound out of the awkward situation.

A message on the relay satellite, still several years from its destination.

———

A/N

Wow, alright. This was supposed to be done and out yesterday, that didn’t happen cause I was at the hospital for like four hours. Just basic medical stuff, I have run of the mill kinda stuff and have to go in every few months. Anyways, I don’t know how I feel about this part, I want to do some more in depth stuff next part but I wanted to get the initial time skip out of the way.

I promise more stuff is coming, better conversations, etc.

The others are having a harder time than Jazz adjusting, I hope that’s coming across in this but IDK. They very much stick to themselves whenever they can, hence why the others come to them typically. And there will be more about the alien food in the next part as well.

I am so glad you all seem to be enjoying this. I’m loving getting to write like I am.

Tags!

@lunarlei68 @whirlywhirlygig @loop-hole-319 @pixillandjester @alek-the-witch @not-a-moose-in-disguise @goddessofwind8water @neurologicalglitch @dersereblogger @pixel-transformers @mrcrayonofdoom @wireplaces @twilightfreefaller @original-blog-name-2 @devilangel657 @robbin-u @childofprimus @miniartistme @starwold @tea-enthusiasm @valeexpris606 @celticdoggo @bird599 @agentsquirrelsgotrobots @aquaioart @dimencreasatlas @thatwandercat @artdagz @seisha974

And once again thank you to @keferon for this amazing AU!

[spacefrontier]

Space Shuttle Discovery launches off the pad during STS-85. August 7, 1997.

The prime payload of STS-85 was the Cyrogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere Shuttle Pallet Satellite 2 (CRISTA-SPAS-2), which had flown previously on STS-66 in 1994. CRISTA-SPAS-2 was deployed from Discovery's payload bay and measured trace gasses and the dynamics of Earth's middle atmosphere with its three telescopes and four spectrometers. The satellite was recovered by Discovery following a 9 day free-flight.

CHRISTA-SPAS-2 during its 9th and final day of free-flight, prior to capture by Discovery's Remote Manipulator Arm.

Additional payloads included the Manipulator Flight Demonstration sponsored by NASDA, the Japanese Space Agency (later known as JAXA). The demonstration tested a newly designed robotic arm that would later be installed on the Japanese Kibo module of the International Space Station.

The sun sets on day 8 of STS-85.

STS-85 crew on orbit. Top row, from left: Payload Specialist Bjarni Tryggvason (CSA), Mission Specialist Stephen Robinson, Mission Commander Curtis Brown. Bottom row, from left: Mission Specialist Robert Curbeam, Jr., Payload Commander N. Jan Davis, Pilot Kent Rominger.

Landing was originally schedule for August 18, but ground fog at the Kennedy Space Center pushed the landing date to August 19.

Discovery returns to Earth, successfully completing the 12-day STS-85 mission.

NASA 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

[queerasfact]

40 years ago today Sally Ride became the first American woman in space and - to the best of our knowledge - the first queer woman in space - when she took part in the Challenger shuttle mission on 18 June 1983. Sally was chosen for the flight because of her expertise with the shuttle’s robotic arm which lifted satellites into orbit. She described her experience as “the most fun I’ll ever have in my life”.

Learn more

[Image: Sally on the 1983 mission, smiling, in her blue NASA suit in space, with various control panels visible behind her]

[upwards-descent]

Introducing

The Hyperion Project!

6 humans are sent to man Hyperion Station, the first human base established in Saturn's orbit. Their goal? To study the planet and it's surrounding satellites for viability to house human colony efforts. Their struggle? Mainly dealing with boredom, but to an extent, surviving each other!

Griffin Mackenzie, 34, is the team's captain and morale officer

Dr. Darius Kamari Clark, 40, studies the rock samples collected from Saturn's satellites for terraforming capabilities

Dr. Jiwon Chungsil, 60, serves as the onboard medic

Dr. Ellen Chu Koh, 58, studies the team and environment coupled with mathematic projections to ascertain how viable life support so far from Earth can be encouraged

Lincoln "Link" Channa Indika Jayasuriya, 30, is the onboard cyberneticist savant who oversees the station's AI and various drones for sample acquisition etc

Lieutenant Yuriy Serafimovich Igorov, 37, serves as the co-pilot and shuttle operator

(the first 3 belong to me, and the last 3 belong to @therealvagabird)

The mission spans 10 years, 2 spent in cryo from and back to Earth

[edwhiteandblue]

January 9, 1990 — STS-32 Columbia launches

STS-32 deployed the Syncom IV-F5 military communications satellites (also called Leasat 5) and retrieved the Long Duration Exposure Facility, which had been orbiting Earth for 4.5 years. With a duration of nearly 11 days, it was also the longest Shuttle mission to that date and the first crewed space mission of the 1990s.

image source: NASA

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Report analyzes long history of NASA support for commercial space

NASA published a new report on Thursday highlighting 17 agency mechanisms that have directly and indirectly supported the development and growth of the U.S. commercial space sector for the benefit of humanity.

The report, titled "Enabling America on the Space Frontier: The Evolution of NASA's Commercial Space Development Toolkit," is available on the agency's website.

"This is the most extensive and comprehensive historical analysis produced by NASA on how it has contributed to commercial space development over the decades," said Alex MacDonald, NASA chief economist. "These efforts have given NASA regular access to space with companies, such as SpaceX and Rocket Lab, modernizing our communications infrastructure, and even led to the first private lunar lander thanks to Intuitive Machines.

"With commercial space growth accelerating, this report can help agency leaders and stakeholders assess the numerous mechanisms that the agency uses to support this growth, both now and in the future."

Throughout its history, NASA has supported the development of the commercial space sector, not only leading the way in areas such as satellite communications, launch, and remote sensing, but also developing new contract and operational models to encourage commercial participation and growth.

In the last three decades, NASA has seen the results of these efforts with commercial partners able to contribute more to missions across NASA domains, and increasingly innovative agency-led efforts to engage, nurture, and integrate these capabilities. These capabilities support the agency's mission needs, and have seen a dramatic rise in importance, according to the report.

NASA has nurtured technology, companies, people, and ideas in the commercial space sector, contributing to the U.S. and global economies, across four distinct periods in the agency's history:

1915–1960: NASA's predecessor, the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA), and NASA's pre-Apollo years.

1961–1980: Apollo era.

1981–2010: Space shuttle era.

2011–present: Post-shuttle commercial era.

Each of these time periods are defined by dominant technologies, programs, or economic trends further detailed in the report.

Though some of these mechanisms are relatively recent, others have been used throughout the history of NASA and NACA, leading to some overlap. The 17 mechanisms are as follows:

Contracts and Partnership Agreements

Research and Technology Development (R&TD)

Dissemination of Research and Scientific Data

Education and Workforce Development

Workforce External Engagement and Mobility

Technology Transfer

Technical Support

Enabling Infrastructure

Launch

Direct In-Space Support

Standards and Regulatory Framework Support

Public Engagement

Industry Engagement

Venture Capital Engagement

Market Stimulation Funding

Economic Analysis and Due Diligence Capabilities

Narrative Encouragement

NASA supports commercial space development in everything from spaceflight to supply chains. Small satellite capabilities have inspired a new generation of space start-ups, while new, smaller rockets, as well as new programs are just starting. Examples include CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services), commercial low Earth orbit destinations, human landing systems, commercial development of NASA spacesuits, and lunar terrain vehicles. The report also details many indirect ways the agency has contributed to the vibrance of commercial space, from economic analyses to student engagement.

The agency's use of commercial capabilities has progressed from being the exception to the default method for many of its missions. The current post-shuttle era of NASA-supported commercial space development has seen a level of technical development comparable to the Apollo era's Space Race. Deploying the 17 commercial space development mechanisms in the future is part of NASA's mission to continue encouraging commercial space activities.

IMAGE: The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov approaches the International Space Station as it orbited 261 miles above Ontario, Canada, near James Bay. Credit: NASA

[livingforstars]

The Shuttle Launches an Inflatable Antenna - May 25th, 1996.

"High above the Earth, the Space Shuttle Endeavor launched a new type of instrument - an inflatable antenna. The officially designated Inflatable Antenna Experiment was released Monday, May 20th, 1996, as part of a��Spartan satellite - which contained many scientific experiments. The antenna was roughly the size of a tennis court and was even visible from Earth. At the end of the mission, the antenna would be jettisoned while the rest of the Spartan was recovered by the Shuttle. The function of an antenna is to broadcast radio messages, and the large dish at the end helps focus radio waves into a narrow beam, which can be detected over long distances."

[whirligig-girl]

Some of the history of Zwo-nmu System Exploration by Mellanoid Slime Worm Space Programs.

A reminder of the Zwo-nmu Planetary System. The Sun, also called The Zwo-nmu (literally The Day Light) is a G8V main sequence star with many giant planets. Mellanus, called Gymnome by some of its inhabitants, is the homeworld of the Mellanoid Slime Worms--Eaurp Guz's people. Mellanus is a coorbital of Omen in a horseshoe orbit. Every 15 or so earth years, Mellanus approaches Omen, which moves it into a higher or lower orbit around the Sun.

This graphic is in a rotating reference frame following Omen. green circle is Omen's orbit in a non-rotating reference frame. Yellow circle is Mellanus' inner/short/summer/hot orbit. Purple circle is Mellanus' outer/long/winter/cold orbit. Blue and gray circles are the orbits of Cold Ember and Rabbit. Times are given in Earth days and distances in Earth-Sun-distances (astronomical units)

Omen is named, of course, as it represents drastic climate change--orbital seasons affecting both hemispheres for many years at a time.

With that reminder out of the way...

Zwo-nmu (the star)

extensive telescopic study from low mellanus orbit. The first solar telescope to enter orbit discovered the corona but was not set up to observe it properly, so follow-up missions had to be undertaken.

studied by the Cold Ember probes and by at least one dedicated "sun-scraper"

Cold Ember (the hot super-earth/sub-neptunian)

Of the five probes sent to Cold Ember at various times, only two have made it.

The second one to make it is an orbiter. It relies on stationkeeping propellant so its elliptical orbit always keeps its apoapsis on the night side of the planet, such that it can spend time in the shadow to keep cool. Within a few days of it running out of stationkeeping fuel it will begin to overheat. There are proposals to send a Rescue Shuttle up to resupply and repair the probe, but the strict rules about use of alien spacecrafts in the mellanoid space program make that difficult.

Rabbit

Visited by 2 robotic probes--a flyby and a short-lived orbiter. A lander/rover is planned, but doesn't have the same priority as the Omen Development Program and the Ice Giants Exploration Program.

Mellanus Orbit

At its peak, Mellanus had thousands of satellites and dozens of space stations, but a near-miss with ablation cascade (see: the movie Gravity (2013)) that was only averted thanks to the recently installed phaser network has lead to many restrictions being put in place on the number and function of satellites. Early in the history of mellanoid space exploration, there was not much automation available. Satellites had to be crewed, and so there were many space stations, and when automation happened, those space stations grew into constellations of satellites. Telecommunications constellations were the real culprit, with several competing agencies, companies, and nations setting up their own independent constellations ranging from 10s to 1000s of satellites each. But now, subspace technology has rendered low-orbit communications satellites obsolete, and there are just a few dozen geosynchronous communications satellites, a GPS network, and the number of Mellanus observation satellites has been coralled.

One of the United Mellanus Space Program's current duties is the cleanup of low orbit, which is operated both by phaser blasts in an emergency and by crewed spacecrafts. Most of the space stations in mellanus orbit are specifically infrastructure intended to refuel these spacecrafts, since they need to be able to access a wide range of inclinations, and inclination changes are difficult to accomplish.

Other space stations include the constellation of orbital drydocks, which are all orbiting about a hundred kilometers apart from one another, and the Starbase, a very large rotating artificial gravity space station which was built between the 2340s and the 2360s, and serves as the space end of the interstellar spaceport.

Mellanus natural satellites

Mellanus has one permanent satellite, Ubbi, a 340 meter wide rubble pile which is thought to have once been another asteroid's moon, millions of years ago. It is just barely bright enough to be seen by a mellanoid who has expanded their eye to the greatest practical width, but it wasn't noticed to be a moving star until after the invention of the astronomical telescope and the popularization of sun-centrism. It was thought at first to be an asteroid, since it was discovered while Mellanus was passing through Omen's trojan cloud, but careful observations determined that it was a satellite in a stable circular orbit, and a careful observation of photographic plates and star charts indicate it's been orbiting Mellanus for at least hundreds of years. It's named after its discoverer.

Many early mellanoid space activities have used Ubbi as a target. There are dozens of probes. Sadly Ubbi is very resource poor, being poor in both volatiles that could be used for propellant and metals that could make it valuable. It's not even a useful science target, since one of the earliest missions to visit it was an impactor which essentially exploded Ubbi. It reformed again, but completely resurfaced, burying clues to its origin as a satellite. Ubbi is currently orbited by one derelict spacecraft and

There have been three temporary natural satellites of Mellanus to be visited by spacecrafts. All but one have entered Mellanus orbit only for a few months and were only visited by robotic probes. The largest one, Temma was three kilometers across and in an eccentric orbit that remained stable all the way up until two Omen conjunctions later, so it lasted for about 30-35 years. However, as a carbonaceous asteroid, it was rich in volatiles, and it was explored and settled extensively by all major space programs. The first crewed international interplanetary trips to Omen used fuel refined from Temma and brought down to low orbit.

The Omen Coorbitals (Trojans, Greeks, and Other Horseshoes)

Outside of Ubbi and Temma, the Coorbitals are the next step out into space. Mellanus occasionally has close encounters with coorbitals. Over time Mellanus and Omen together have corralled the coorbitals into very specific lanes. There are far fewer coorbitals around Omen than Glerbuh, or, say, Jupiter, because coorbital or not, Mellanus is still a planet. Most of the coorbitals are trojans, with the apsides neatly tucked in between the outer edge of Mellanus' sphere of influence in the low orbit, and the inner edge of Mellanus' sphere of influence in the high orbit. The Greeks--the trojans on the leading edge of Omen's orbit--are especially depleted. It's thought that Mellanus was once the only large object in the greek camp, but was perturbed onto its current horseshoe orbit billions of years ago. As a result, the greek camp is a hodge-podge of scattered objects from elsewhere in the system, whereas the trojan camp is comprised of more objects original to this part of the circumstellar disk. Each camp can answer different questions about the evolution of the Zwo-nmu system, and Mellanus' relation to it in particular. Ironically, even though the greek camp is Mellanus' original home, it's the trojan camp that is more relevant to studying Mellanus itself.

It is possible on any given year to send a spacecraft to visit Omen, Trojans, Greeks, or any other coorbital. However, the trajectories which take a minimum of fuel are only accessible 1-6 months or so before the closest approach with either object, and for crewed missions, less efficient but faster trajectories lasting only a month right around the close approach are preferred.

Outside of the Omen apparitions, the most active times for interplanetary spaceflight have historically been around the passing through the trojan clouds, which happens about 6 years before and after each Omen apparition. Starting from the low summer orbit, Mellanus passes the Trojan Camp. 6 years later, it reaches Omen and moves to the high winter orbit. 6 years after that, it passes the Trojan camp again. Then 15 years later, it passes the Greek Camp. 6 more years later, Omen appears large and Mellanus shifts to the summer orbit. 6 years later, it passes the Greek camp again. 15 years pass, and then we restart the cycle.

other horseshoe-coorbitals can be encountered at any time of year, but there's only a few of these known to exist.

Crewed missions to the other coorbitals have served as test flights for Omen missions, while also contributing meaningfully to planetary science as a whole. While asteroid exploration may not be exciting or glamorous, the use of trojan missions as testbeds has allowed a lot of groundbreaking work that otherwise might not have had any support to be performed.

Humans currently, in the real world 2020s, posses the propulsion technology and even, in principle, the industrial capacity to send humans to Mars. What we lack is a good idea of how to support humans on interplanetary spaceflight for many months or years at a time. A typical stay on the International Space Station is not even comparable to a Mars mission. That research is still underway. But we can go to the Moon. What's crucial is the relatively short turnaround time. A Moon mission may take only a week or two. The Artemis lunar missions will last longer, but not as long as a Mars mission would have to.

Absent a permanent moon of any substance, the Mellanoids are able to get their relatively short turnaround missions done thanks to the coorbitals. If Mellanus were still a trojan, it'd have emptied out the Greek Camp. Omen would never get particularly close, and it'd take over a year to make a round trip to it. It'd be just as hard to reach as Mars or the Main Asteroid Belt. But since Mellanus is in a horseshoe orbit, for about a year at a time every 6-15 years it is within spitting distance of some celestial body or another. Every 18-19 years that celestial body is the magnificent planet Omen with its own system of moons. When it's not Omen, it's the coorbital asteroids.

Propulsion wise it is not that much easier to reach the Omen coorbitals than it is for humans to go to Mars. You still have to escape Mellanus and keep accelerating on top of that.

But instead of bringing all of the comforts and necessities involved in the long-term habitation of space with you to a distant planet, you can get away with using capsules that are not much more advanced than what we were using in the Apollo era. The long term habitation problem is solved, leaving the only major problem left that of propulsion, of vehicle design. And since Mellanus is relatively small and they aren't shy about using nuclear rockets, the propulsion problem isn't that big of a deal. in a way, Omen and the coorbitals are a crutch. By the 2340s Mellanoid space programs still had not undertaken crewed interplanetary missions beyond the coorbitals. But, at least in Star Trek, human spaceflights to Europa & Jupiter were being undertaken in the 2020s. These missions would have had to take years! that said, there is a reason Omen has been such a focus--and it's not just because it is so culturally important.

The Omen System

Since the dawn of the Mellanoid space age, there have been six Omen apparitions.

Years given are Earth Years

1) 2300: Two nations launched robotic flyby attempts this year. One succeeded, but it was little more than a spinning photopolarimeter which could take a grainy image of Omen and a magnetometer which produced useful magnetic field readings. 2) 2315: Two failed atmosphere probes for Oldsky, one successful robotic lander on Rival, one successful robotic lander on Spark, and successful orbit insertion of a robotic Omen orbiter which continued to send back photos of Omen and its moons right through to the next conjunction. During the lifetime of this orbiter, Oldsky was conclusively shown to have complex life. 3) 2329: First crewed missions. There is a crewed landing on Rival, a crewed orbiter mission for Oldsky. It had originally intended to operate out of a small space station placed into Oldsky orbit a year in advance, but this station was covertly destroyed by Zaldans, and the orbiter mission was repurposed as a mere flyby, which fails, leading to first contact with Zaldans. 4) 2344: The most important year yet--the beginning of space archaeology. It's also the year asteroid Temma departs Mellanus and makes its own flyby of Omen. 5) 2358: International grand tour involving orbiters and landers on every planet including Oldsky. Leads to formation of United Mellanus Space Program. 6) 2373: Fission-impulse rockets have made regular interplanetary travel between Mellanus and Omen possible on any year. 7) 2387: Oldsky is now a colony of Mellanus.

Mellanus is on the border of the Zaldan sphere of influence, and with the increasing expansionism of the Cardassians and the tragedy of what they had begun to do to the Bajorans, the Zaldans desired military bases on the stars near their industrial colonies and their homeworld. These bases had to provide deuterium, so they needed to be located in a system with a gas giant, and also function as repair stations. The stars surrounding Mellanus were poor candidates--there are no M-class habitable planets around the nearby stars, and the only other gas giants were hot Jupiters or brown dwarfs which would make deuterium extraction difficult.

The Zaldans respected the non-interference directive, but not if it meant a gaping hole in their security. They would set up a military base on Omen's M-class moon Oldsky. There was an orbiting space station and a surface base, connected by cargo transporters and shuttlecrafts, staffed by military officers and a few civilian personnel, not unlike Deep Space Nine, but considerably more of a frontier for all involved. There was also a space station built in very low orbit of Omen, designed to scrape the atmosphere for deuterium to fuel freighters. These ships would be undetectable to the mellanoids as long as ships entering the system avoided activity during close encounters and all ships entering and leaving the system hid their photon wakes behind the Sun, resulting in fairly complex routing.

During the 2329 Omen apparition, a spacecraft that had been intended to fly by Omen had a severe failure, akin to Apollo 13. Still over a month from home, with no prospect but a horrible death, they were famously rescued by Commander Halen's ship, EZM-407, marking official first contact with the Zaldans. They were returned to Mellanus and the Zaldans finally landed, showing the world that not only were Mellanoids not alone in the universe, they weren't even alone in their own solar system.

Several ships visited Mellanus over the next few years on primarily diplomatic missions, but the Zaldans still kept hands-off, sharing only a minimum of information with the Mellanoids. Not many Zaldans had Halen's affinity for the slimes, and they saw mellanoids as lowly uncivilized savages--and their flowery polite diplomatic language only confirmed this to them. It wasn't before someone really stood up to them--a space program engineer who had gotten tired of standing in the sidelines while his people were being insulted--that the Zaldans finally found a glimmer of respect for the mellanoids.

There had been plans to fly a Mellanoid astronaut to Oldsky in exchange for allowing Zaldan researchers to visit Mellanus, and even early talks of embassies and sharing of the Omen infrastructure, when the Zaldans just… disappeared. Completely cut contact.

If sharing their solar system with rude bullies (who, yes, could have wiped them out a dozen times over yet decided not to so at least there's that) wasn't scary enough, those rude bullies disappearing without a trace was even scarier. On a scale greater than even the Apollo program, nations rushed to assemble their missions to visit Omen and Oldsky to figure out what happened to the Zaldan Military Base. Their robotic probes launched on off-years didn't return any answers--crewed exploration and actually landing mellanoids on Oldsky would be the only answer.

There was also the fact that recovering technology from Oldsky could potentially be transformative--the right technology in the wrong hands could destroy the world. This is spaceflight at its most competitive. This was no longer a game--recovering the alien technology was potentially life or death.

After the first contact with the Federation and the series of revolutions and reforms that lead to the current political situation, one of the main unifying rallying cries for mellanoids was the notion that they deserved the right to sovereign exploration of their own solar system. Outsiders--whether Zaldan, or Federation, or Dominion--would not develop any part of the system!

Ok, the Federation can provide some baseline infrastructure to protect Mellanus from invasion, but space exploration is OUR COMMON HERITAGE!

The current age of Mellanoid Space Exploration is characterized by extensive permanent infrastructure development. Since the 2360s, Mellanoids have been building research stations on Oldsky, Lake, and Rival. Setting up an industrial capability on another planet from scratch is hard to do, but Oldsky has a stable climate year-round and a breathable atmosphere. Much of Oldsky is a desert, and even the "humid" regions are quite dry, but it's still more habitable than literally any other planet in the solar system except for Mellanus, which makes it practical to build using traditional methods.

As of 2380, more people are living and working on Oldsky at any given moment than are doing so in Low Mellanus Orbit. Oldsky station visitors includes geologists, biologists, space archaeologists still studying what remains of Zaldan activity on Oldsky, civil engineers, aerospace engineers, construction workers, miners, marine biologists, submarine helmcrew, aircraft pilots, spacecraft pilots, rover drivers, doctors, astronomers, and even a few tourists selected by raffle.

Propellant infrastructure has been established to keep the fast interplanetary rockets zipping along. At this point, it is possible to stay on Oldsky permanently, but so far, all visitors to Oldsky are temporary, and on years when Omen is inaccessible even with nuclear-fission-impulse rockets (i.e, when the Sun is between it and Mellanus), only a skeleton crew remains to maintain the stations.

Oldsky will probably not have its own self sufficient industry and capacity for its own space program any time soon, but it does have a spaceport serviced by reusable launch vehicles.

Phaser-thermal rockets are used for heavy lift launches from Mellanus these days, but conventional chemical rockets are still used on Oldsky, fueled by hydrogen and oxygen split by electrolysis. There is an oil refinery on Oldsky, so kerosene/oxygen rockets are possible too. things remain somewhat low-tech on Oldsky. Imported vehicles can be powered by batteries, but there aren't let any lithium mines on Oldsky--good deposits have yet to be discovered--so internal combustion engines powered by oil are sadly being used. The Oldsky Planetary Protection Office on Mellanus intends to phase out fossil fuel engines as soon as the planet is capable of producing its own high-energy-density batteries… whenever that is… also, between you and me, they really ought to get more aquatics flying on these missions. what an aquatic astronaut could find on Oldsky might be quite shocking.

Anyway outside of the Omen system and Oldsky Glerbuh has had its fair share of robotic exploration and crewed expeditions. Two of the four ice giants have also been visited by robotic flyby probes, and Glarpi (the innermost ice giant) has had a robotic orbiter. The big crewed grand tour expedition to explore all four ice giants and there moons was one of the major science goals of the 2380s outside of exploring and developing Oldsky. However, it had to be modified to turn into a rescue mission for a mellanoid starfleet officer who was stranded on a planet orbiting a nearby star called TE-92. It's a whole thing. If they manage to rescue them maybe they'll write a novel about it.

[ghostedgrim]

The Avina Mission- Prolouge

001

"The chances I'd get thrusted across space weren't high, but people were still convinced that this would happen to my crew and I. I mean, really, what are the chances I'd get thrusted into a galaxy far, far away? Absolutely 0%!"

Those were the last words planet Earth heard from the Avina I space crew.

A year ago, Dr. Duncan had discovered hyperspeed. Six months ago, Progect Avina was created. The name Avina comes from the doctor's cat of all things. Five weeks ago, the Avina I crew were sent on their first mission. The goal- to use hyperspeed for the first time ever to travel to the space station on Jupiter, then back to Earth.

They were supposed to return within two days... people theorize the crew miscalculated the directions and got launched out of the solar system, other's believe they ship exploded.

-●☆☆☆●-

"Sir, I'm intercepting a signal of sorts?"

"Signal of sorts? CT-4509, please elaborate on "signal of sorts," if I had known you clones were so bad at interpreting signals I would've never allowed the general to assing you to my ship," Lieutenant Cain grumbles something under her breath as she looks over the clone's shoulder.

"The signal is weak, but the source is close, the sound is far too grainy to make out any words, if someone is even speaking ma'am."

"And the source?"

"It's from an unmarked vessel, ma'am. We're not yet close enough for visuals, but so far, the scans show it isn't imperial or even from anywhere in this galaxy." Lieutenant Cain speaks to the captain through her comms. After a few orders are sent out, a shuttle is sent to investigate, and the Star Destoryer shifts course, searching for the signals source.

After what feels like forever, the mysterious vessel comes into view. The vessel itself is quite crude in build. There's something printed in bold on the ship, but the letters are a language no one on board recognizes. Whoever made it was either some stupid engineer or a backwater planet that just discovered space travel.

"Ma'am, the signal has cleared out. It's on repeat," the clone plays the audio, it's still grainy but more clear. "Hustion, this is Avina I do you copy? Huston, do you copy? Jupiter Satellite Omega 5, do you copy?...Caution fuel levels are at, 15%, turning on emerging power... FUCK! Is there anyone out here! Does anyone copy! Mayday! Our fuel is depleted, our navigation isn't working, half my crew is dead! We are unarmed." The signal fades out before repeating itself.

"Well, at least they speak the same language. How old is the signal?"

"At least two days old ma'am."

"Pull up the visual feed of the troopers on the shuttle investigating the vessel"

-●☆☆☆●-

Five clones total, plus some random pilot the empire hired. Hopper ensures his helmet is secured before walking onto the small vessel. He and his brothers are caught off guard when there's absolutely no gravity on the vessel. For several moments, the men drift, trying to find purchase on the walls to collect their bearings. This vessel lacks any sense of direction aside from forward or backward, implying whoever created this, made it without artificial gravity.

The lights keep flashing red, and an electronic voice repeats that only 2% of the backup fuel remains. The men drift until they find themselves in a small space with ten tube-like pods, and 6 have a red line across the front along with an unfamiliar lettering. Inside those 6 pods are six frozen bodies. However, two have seemed to thawed, leaving grotesque decomposing corpses within. There's almost no heat on this vessel. Looking at the pods, these creatures must be from a frozen over planet, which would explain the need for pods to keep them frozen.

Hopper and his men explore forward until they reach a dead end. For several moments, he looks around, only to realize there was a hole above him that led to the cockpit. Four bodies drift within it. The cockpit is tiny and cramped, two seats, with buttons, and leavers all around. It was a miracle a single person could fit. Now, back to those four bodies. Their suits are thick and bulky, and the helmet was like a fish bowl. Either these creatures are thick or a bit too dramatic with their layers.

"Hopper, my scans show their alive, but their vitals are weak." Hopper looms over the data pad in his brother's hand. Sure enough, the four creatures before them were alive, but they won't stay that way for long. They need medical aid and fast. He drifts to Dive Bomb, who's drowned himself in what Hopper thinks is their data logs.

"What have you found, Dive Bomb?"

"Sir, these creatures have a hyperdrive, a weak and roughly scraped together one, but it's functional. Or it was till they lost fuel. It's a miracle they're alive at all. They've been traveling with hyperspeed for around five weeks! Whatever they are, they're definitely not from this galaxy."

"I'll call the captain." Hopper drifts back onto the imperial shuttle. Moving from zero gravity to artificial graved made his limbs feel like lead. "Captain Rhys, permission to bring the creatures we found on the shuttle on board. From what my men have found, they were a crew of ten, six died, and four are barely alive. They're not from our galaxy, and I don't think they're from any of the neighboring galaxies either, sir. They've been in hyperspeed for around five weeks. It's a miracle they're still alive."

Fortunately, the captain allowed us to bring the strange vessel on board, and the creatures were rushed to the med bay. Hopper now stands guard within the room of one of the creatures. He wasn't present for the first few tests, but apparently, the doctor concluded our air is safe for the creatures. He watches as the nurse removes the helmet from the creature, and for a moment, everyone is shocked. Hopper had expected something more...icy, blue skin, maybe some frost, or fur, but no...the creature before him was human.

☆☆☆ ☆☆☆ ☆☆☆ ☆☆☆ ☆☆☆

VOTE HERE TO PICK A CODENAME FOR GN READER

Thanks for reading. The idea for this fic kinda hit me out of the blue. Updates will be inconsistent. Now I do have ideas of that'll happen throughout the fic, and I plan for it to take place during the events of The Bad Batch. I really hope to make a full story of this because I believe that this concept deserves to be written.

[lonestarflight]

"At the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the payloads for the STS-41-D Space Shuttle flight are shown loaded in Discovery’s cargo bay. With the orbiter in the vertical position at Launch Pad 39A, the payloads are, from top to bottom, OAST-1 a 102-foot-tall, 13-foot-wide Office of Application and Space Technology solar panel), the Satellite Business System SBS-D, Telstar 3-C, and Syncom IV-2. The six day mission is scheduled for launch on Aug. 29, 1984."

Date: August 14, 1984

NASA ID: KSC-84PC-0552

[electronickingdomfox]

"The Covenant of the Crown" review

Novel from 1981, by Howard Weinstein. This is the first novel set in the TMP era (not counting the movie novelization), though strangely enough, they still refer to Kirk as "Captain". I didn't love the story A LOT, but it was a fine read with good characterization and entertaining plot. This author seems to love McCoy, so he receives the main focus, while Kirk moves to a secondary position, and is absent from most of the novel. Spock and McCoy's bickering is fun, with a really bitchy Spock, and a somewhat pitiful, somewhat childish McCoy. The Doctor is going through a middle-age crisis, and his vulnerable portrait is kind of tender.

As for the plot, is a bit unusual, since sci-fi elements are scarce, and instead, the story takes the form of a traditional quest to restore the rightful king to the throne.

Some spoilers ahead:

The neutral planet of Shad, rich in valuable minerals, has been torn by civil war for decades, between the Loyalists (partial to the royal family and supported by the Federation), and the Mohd Alliance (warlike and secretly aided by the Klingons). Whoever wins the war, will determine if Shad enters the Federation, or becomes a Klingon satellite.

Almost twenty years ago, Kirk had been a Federation envoy in the planet, and had befriended the King. But back then, the advance of the Mohd Alliance forced the royal family into exile. Things are looking more hopeful now, and it's about time for the King to return and finally bring unity and peace to Shad. The Enterprise is thus tasked with the mission of bringing him there. Problem is, the King is very, veeery old now, and he dies soon after arriving to the Enterprise. The full weight of Shad's restoration falls then on his only daughter, Kailyn. But she's in her early twenties, and very inexperienced. (Why is it that these fantasy kings always wait until they're at least 60 to produce a heir? Seems very risky, if you ask me. I guess this is something that Kailyn has in common with Disney princesses). Anyway, Kailyn lacks confidence in herself, compounded by her chronic illness, which she doesn't know how to treat herself, and forces her to take shots regularly or die. Also, before being accepted as Queen of Shad, she must retrieve the crown (hidden in a different planet) and pass a test. Rightful heirs to the throne always have some psychic powers, which make the crown's crystals react upon touch.

The plot diverges then, with the main story following Kailyn, McCoy and Spock going in a shuttlecraft to a most inhospitable planet to find the crown. As Klingons are likely to sabotage Shad's unification, Kirk stays in the Enterprise, hoping the Klingons will follow him, and not notice the shuttlecraft's course. Kirk's subplot revolves around him trying to find out who in the ship is the Klingon spy, who's been feeding info about the mission to the enemy.

Meanwhile, Kailyn and the others aren't having a fun time looking for the crown. The shuttle crashes upon landing, there are horrible storms in the surface, Kailyn falls ill, a savage tribe captures them and wants to sell them as slaves, McCoy is feeling too old for this shit, and Spock has to babysit the two princesses (Kailyn and his dear Doctor). If this wasn't enough, Klingons have, in fact, noticed the shuttlecraft and followed them. So it seems there won't be much landing party for the Enterprise to rescue later. And at this point, I have to ask: "Why, Kirk, WHY did you send this landing party to such hostile planet!!?" Spock, I can understand, but McCoy and the only heir to the throne? (you know, the one who should be ALIVE, in order for the mission to be successful at all?). As it turns out in the end, Kailyn's presence was necessary, because the crown's guardian wouldn't give it to anybody else. But I'm not sure Kirk and the others were aware of this at first.

Throughout her adventures, Kailyn matures a lot and grows confident and self-sufficient, so of course she becomes a worthy queen. However, she had developed a misplaced crush on McCoy. And when the Doctor finally rejects her, and explains that he loves her "but not like that", she has a hard time. Now, McCoy's attitude had been less than stellar, and he shouldn't have been such a flirt and mislead her. But at least this receives the proper criticism, and the author doesn't turn Kailyn into a trophy girlfriend for McCoy to feel younger.

Spirk Meter: 0/10*. Judging by Weinstein's Star Trek comics, this author leans much more into...

McKirk: The novel opens with Kirk in McCoy's cabin, while the Doctor counts his gray hairs in the mirror and complains about getting old. And Kirk (as the good husband he is) assures him that he's not that old and still looking fine. Later Kirk pulls him out of bed, where McCoy is lying depressed, to bring him to his surprise birthday party (and Kirk's very anxious about McCoy not liking the party idea, since he's feeling so bad about his age). Then Chapel is gossiping about how Kailyn follows McCoy everywhere, and probably has a crush on him, and Kirk hears this. Chapel is like "uh, oh... spoke too much in front of the wrong person...". As result, Kirk has a bedroom discussion with McCoy (no, literally, McCoy was just getting into bed). And Kirk confronts him with the typical "what the hell are you playing at!?". And McCoy retorts with a "what about ALL the things you did in the past!?". You get the idea... There's not a lot more, since Kirk almost disappears from the story later. But consider McCoy's literal definition of love in the novel:

"Caring about someone more than I care about myself... enjoying someone’s company through thick and thin... trusting completely..."

Reminds you of anyone?

There's also a bit of Spones, though they spend most of the time bickering with each other. But Spock is protective of him, and McCoy is a bit clingy. Specially in the latter parts, their dynamic becomes more like that of two proud dads for Kailyn. There's also this exchange:

“Spock,” McCoy said slowly, “Kailyn’s in love with me.” The Vulcan raised an eyebrow. “Indeed?” “Don’t act so surprised. I happen to be quite lovable.” “I have never doubted that, Doctor,” Spock replied wryly.

*A 10 in this scale is the most obvious spirk moments in TOS. Think of the back massage, "You make me believe in miracles", or "Amok Time" for example.

[spacefrontier]

Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off the pad at the Kennedy Space Center during STS-51-I. August 27, 1985.

STS-51-I's primary mission was the deployment of three communications satellites. The Australian Aussat-1 and American ASC-1 were deployed on the first day of the mission, and the Department of Defense-leased Leasat 4 was deployed two days later. All three satellites reached their geosynchronous orbits without issue.

Discovery over the Pacific Ocean during STS-51-I. Typhoons Pat and Odessa can be seen. This is the first ever photograph of paired typhoons taken from space.

Discovery also performed a rendezvous with the malfunctioning Leasat 3 satellite, which was repaired during two extra-vehicular activities performed by Mission Specialists William Fisher and James van Hoften. Both EVAs totaled 11 hours and 46 minutes, owed in part to an issue with the Space Shuttle's Remote Manipulator System.

STS-51-I on-orbit crew portrait, from left: Mission Specialist James van Hoften, Mission Specialist William Fisher, Commander Joe Engle, Pilot Richard Covey, and Mission Specialist John Lounge.

Discovery completed STS-51-I on September 3, 1985 when it touched down on Runway 23 at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Discovery landing at Edwards Air Force Base, completing STS-51-I.

NASA 1, 2, 3, 4