YAMR Chapter 1 — A Kerbal Space Program Tale

Chapter 1

SOL -4: ARRIVAL

I figure I should keep a record of the next few months, the mission being so historic and all. Maybe I'll even be inspirational or whatever.
We just finished the aerobrake. The acceleration felt like real gravity for a moment, before it became crushing. I'm glad they installed the new couches. The old ones didn't help much, being hard and uncomfortable under any circumstances, much less four gees. The view of Eve out the window is beautiful, but very, very purple. It makes everything look weird. Luckily, nothing is labeled with purple ink, else we wouldn't be able to read it.
Anyway, enough rambling on. Attached is the ship's log:

SOI CROSS EXECUTE TIME_CHANGE...DONE TIME[ET:y0d0h0m0s0] CALCULATING AEROBRAKE...DONE VERR[53.3m/s] CALCULATING BURN...DONE NODE[s300p3.1n.2r9.1] EXECUTE ALIGNMENT...DONE TIME[ET:y0d0h0m4s24] EXECUTE BURN...DONE TIME[ET:y0d0h0m5s36] TIME[ET:y0d1h4m32s23] RADIATION BELT ENTER SAFE MODE TIME[ET:y0d1h8m20s13] EXIT SAFE MODE TIME[ET:y0d2h5m19s43] EXECUTE AEROBRAKE RETRACT RADIATOR...DONE RETRACT SOLAR_ARRAY...DONE DEPLOY HEATSHIELD...DONE DONE TIME[ET:y0d2h5m23s31] ATMOSPHERE INTERFACE TIME[ET:y0d2h5m28s21] ATMOSPHERE INTERFACE EXECUTE AEROBRAKE_END DEPLOY RADIATOR...DONE DEPLOY SOLAR_ARRAY...DONE DONE EXECUTE SELF_CHECK COMPUTER...ONLINE REACTOR...ONLINE SOLAR...ONLINE RTG...ONLINE RADIATOR...ONLINE[93%] COOLANT...NOMINAL[89%] NTR_01...ONLINE NTR_02...ONLINE NTR_03...ONLINE NTR_04...ONLINE CHEM_01...ONLINE CHEM_02...ONLINE PROP_MN...NOMINAL[94%] PROP_DS...NOMINAL[97%] PROP_AS...NOMINAL[98%] HULL_W1...NOMINAL[83%] HULL_W2...NOMINAL[97%] HULL_MN...NOMINAL[99%] ATMO_CBN...ONLINE ATMO_OXY...ONLINE ALL SYSTEMS NOMINAL CALCULATING ORBIT...DONE VERR[102.7m/s] CALCULATING BURN...DONE NODE[s786p102.7n0r0] ALIGNING...DONE TIME[ET:y0d2h5m41s27] EXECUTE BURN...DONE TIME[ET:y0d2h9m29s42] LOG REQUESTED

For those of us who don't speak fluent core-dump, here's the kerbal-readable sitrep:
Engineering:

Milo says the computers are nominal, despite the excessive radiation from Eve's belt. We crossed it pretty quickly.
-The reactor looks good. No damage due to the aerobrake. Power output is consistent with the model. Emergency RTGs are looking just fine. The solar arrays deployed without issue after the brake; not a scratch on them.
-Thermal systems are, like everything else, nominal. Radiators are suffering the expected extent of wear, and coolant levels are in top shape. Pumps are running at about half capacity.
Propulsion:
-The nukes report all green. Accordingly, the cirq burn was completed right on time.
-Backup chemical rockets likewise green.
-Propellant is more than sufficient for the return journey. Michael-Aleksander (what a name) assures me that yes, there's plenty for the ED/AV.
Life Support:
-Hull integrity is near-perfect. There are a few scary holes in the first Whipple shields, but nothing got into the real plating.
-Air is nominal. Plenty of scrubbers, plenty in the tanks, et cetera.
-Aeroponics got a bit shaken up--some of the plants have broken stems, and most of their leaves are bruised. They'll live through it, though.
-Medical is just fine. Barely even touched, in fact. Nobody has gotten more than a scratch or bruise this whole trip. None of the splints have sprouted rockets and fled either, so that's good.
Mission Profile:
-All green.

We'll be landing in four Eve days, more or less. The mission has us landing next to one of the big peaks on account of the thick atmosphere. Otherwise we don't have a chance of orbiting. As it is, we don't have the mass to spare for docking RCS, so it's going to be an old-fashioned spacewalk back to the Athena. The ED/AV has wheels, since some loon decided driving a many-ton stack of explosives around on decidedly hostile terrain in high winds was a brilliant idea. They're supposed to make up for my expected terrible landing and take us cross-country to the peak.
The EDV segment has some other goodies too: a proper science rover, a base of sorts, and real showers. That's right. No more sponge-bathing. We've been on the Athena for nearly a year now, and none of us have taken actual showers since launch. The rover has six oversized wheels, seats two, and carries a big crate full of science on the back. We'll be setting up two meteorological stations: one at the landing site, and one near the top of the mountain. As for geology: The delta-vee budget accounts for a couple of pockets full of rocks to bring home as souvenirs or whatever, but we can do a lot of good work with the EDV's lab too.
Oh, and it's landed mostly by parachute. The engines only come on during the final descent, so we don't break a wheel or rupture a fuel tank. That would be bad, considering that the EAV is our only ticket out of there, and it only works from the mountaintop.
We'll be shooting little probes out as we descend, to do science to the different layers of Eve's thick atmosphere. They'll parachute down and provide a little redundant radio network after they land. Each one has equipment powerful enough to talk at the Athena in orbit. They'll be spread across a pretty big cross-section of longitude, so they should keep contact for most of the day. And, with those transmitters, they're easily able to bounce signals around terrain.
And...that looks like everything. Next sol, we'll be doing a manual inspection of the ED/AV, just to be sure.