It was 6 launches, 3 successes, 1 catastrophe and 1 abort. Kafricans have collectively completed over 100 orbits of our blue Marble The Wilbus Program came to a close with the concurrent testflights of the Tylo II Missile, carrying the Zephyr 2 man capsule into space for our march to the Munar landing at the end of the decade. For each launch it was a cold crisp day, the skies as perfect as any other day at the Angus spaceport. Being treated to a breakfast of Steak, Eggs and Coffee as set in tradition by William O’Neill, before being whisked away for final medical checkouts. Technicians would then assist them into their shiny spacesuit, bearing the Kafrican flag and their name in the form of a patch.
Daniel Lopez, hailing from a family of Strelkans, who had moved to Strelkan Suid Kafrika, he made a career successfully flying missions during the many wars of the last century, before becoming a Kafrican citizen only 3 years ago. Despite this, he immediately enlisted in the Kafrican Airforce as a test pilot, before applying to the space program in 2201 to be trained on the Wilbus spacecraft. His name was pulled out of a hat to be the first Kafrican in orbit since the days of the Kroman involvement in the Joolian Coalition. Arriving at Launch Complex 14, Daniel would step into the Wilbus capsule, much like the two astronauts before him, who climbed onto the Jane missile, yet this time, his vehicle, powered by the stage and a half Farnese Missile which had proven to be one of the most reliable vehicles Central Kafrica had designed. An Airforce man on an Airforce designed missile, pleasing the top brass of the Airwing commanders, joined and watched by an entourage of friends, including former commanders and trainers from his days as a pilot, Daniel would be strapped into the Wilbus on that fateful morning.
As he left the pad, under the assuring flames of the reliable missile, built by Kafrican engineers, on the shoulders of those who had came before, he cried out “LIFTOFF AND THE CLOCK IS OPERATING!” To the blockhouse at the Angus spaceport who were controlling the flight. At t plus two minutes and forty seconds, the Skirt, holding the equipment for the outer two boost phase engines detached at the 4g sense mark, with the LV-105 Sustainer engine, keeping the vehicle on its path to orbit. At T+5:00 it was over, Booster Engine Cutoff, or BECO, successfully placing Wilbus Farnese 3 into a Low Kerbin Orbit. As the sun set on his first revolution, he reported seeing what appeared to be fireflies, floating around his capsule. After banging on the hull of the spacecraft, he would see more, glistening in the fleeting sun as he retreated over to the dark side of his orbit.
Meanwhile back on the ground, engineers were rolling out Wilbus Farnese 4, the next mission, which would carry Eric Sanders into orbit, just before Daniel Lopez was set to break his orbit and return home. 2 days would pass between the liftoff of the first and second Kafricans in orbit for nearly a century, Colonel Eric Sanders, of the Kafrican Special Forces was to take the next great leap in our space journey. He was born in Bown, not too far from where the Farnese Missile was developed, growing up he had an interest in the worlds space programs, however most of them lacked a civilian branch with major activity. He would eventually sign up in 2201 after being invited to do so by FASK administrator, Kerman Kerman XV, a descendent of the Kerman Kerman from New Grestin all those years ago. Being accepted and passing all the tests with flying colours, as was to be expected from an active Special Forces man. He took a break in his spaceflight training, it is alleged that during this break he took part in operation small fish to capture Effry Sexstein at his island. Resuming his training in late august he would pass his Wilbus proficiency exam prior to his flight. The launch vehicle, as it did 2 days previous, performed flawlessly, however, during ascent he began calling out pressures lower than nominal, yet the ground told him to continue to an orbit. In a later address, televised to the world President Blimp Drimp would deliver the following speech:
“Fate has ordained that, the man that went to space to explore in peace, will remain in space, to rest in peace. The brave Kafrican, Colonel Eric Sanders, in his last moments, knew that there is hope in his sacrifice. Facing it head on as it took him. He will be mourned by his family and his friends; mourned by his country; mourned by his Mother Kerbin. A mother who dared to send one of their sons into the unknown. In the past, men looked at the stars and saw their heroes in constellations, in modern times we now do the same, only our hero has become one with the stars. May Colonel Eric Sanders be blessed by god, may he rest in peace amongst the stars. Thank you.”
Following this disaster, FASK would take a 30 minute break in the manned program, during this time, they would send Sentinel 4 around the dark side of the Mun, taking imagery before it was slingshotted out into interplanetary space, the first time since the 2060s that a Kafrican object had left Kerbin’s loving gravity. Returning to manned flights in early March, the capsule had had a slight redesign, adding a redundant antenna, as well as a redundant oxygen bottle, that should a leak occur again can be activated to give the astronaut the oxygen to get home.
This reworked capsule brought another two Kafricans into the heavens unknown: Fred Cooper, a former commercial airline captain for Air Kafrica, and Navy Veteran Captain Carol O’Connor. The flight of Fred Cooper went flawlessly from start to finish, his mission lasting just over 2 days, it wasn’t comfortable for him but this is space, where every gram is shaved off, even if it means the creature comforts at home aren’t as dignified nor efficient. He saw the same firefly phenomenon as Daniel Lopez. “Around me now if i rotate the spacecraft, firing my roll jets in Fly By Wire mode. Thousands of small flickering lights on the sunset here. I feel almost as if I'm seeing the spirit of all of our fallen comrades up here. They’re flickering brightly like a thousand souls. All those that we lost up here and all those that we lost at home during the last century. It’s, It’s really quite touching here.” Following 3 days in space, the retropackage fired and jettisonned. The parachutes deployed after the plasmaball of reentry. The g-forces building up before a soft splashdown in the Bay of Westray, being picked up by Imperial Union recovery forces at the mouth of the bay.
It was planned that the final mission for the Wilbus program would carry Nathaniel Sanchez into orbit, however with the Launch Escape System being needed on Wilbus Farnese 6, the roster was reallocated so that Captain Carol O’Connor could fly in orbit. The failure was linked to a misaligned guidance gyroscope in the Farnese Missile, causing it to believe that it was laying on its back at launch. Quick thinking from Captain Carol would allow for him to escape death on this day, being only moments away from pointing towards the ground when he manually triggered an abort. The Landing system performed perfectly after the rockets above him pulled him violently away from the stricken capsule.
The next step for our space program is flying 2 men into space, on the Zephyr Capsule, launched on a Tylo II Missile. Assigned for the first crewed mission, date pending, is Carol O’Connor and Timur.
Glory to the rising of the Sun and the Stars. Glory to the ones who took flight. Glory to the United States of Central Kafrica. May the fallen rest among the rising of the Sun, may we never forget them as they rest in peace as a star in our skies.
God Bless the United States of Central Kafrica
God Bless the spirit of Colonel Eric Sanders (2165-2203)
