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It was 5:00 AM at the Kerbal Space Center. A small crew of Kerbals was getting ready to make history - achieving Mach 5 using the newly developed S-21 Thunderbolt, a supersonic cruiser. Making history was a habit for the Kerbals, as their goal was to constantly push the existing limits of engineering and exploration. The man who would be responsible for testing and recovering the S-21 Thunderbolt was Jebediah Kerman. Jebediah was a well-respected pilot who had many years of experience with flying and testing planes, jets, rockets, or any craft created by the brilliant minds at the Research and Development department. Jeb had a reputation for being 'almost indestructible', as he always managed to survive every test craft, including a recent race car - with rockets attached. Now, it was time to test out the S-21 - the latest and most overengineered craft developed at the KSC. Jeb walked along the plane's fuselage, inspecting the craft. Once the crew gave him permission, he climbed into the cockpit, and wore the helmet which would provide him oxygen and flight data. "Jebediah, please proceed with caution upon the only runway we have,” commanded the Air Traffic Control tower. "Copy, ATC,” answered Jeb. He ignited the Whiplash jet engines at 5% throttle, and taxied to the runway. After aligning the jet to the markings on the runway, he called out to the ATC, "Alignment complete.” "Jebediah, report craft status and complete the pre-flight checklist,” Ordered the ATC. "Flight control surfaces, check. Whiplash vectoring, check. Whiplash supersonic engines, check. R.A.P.I.E.R superjet engines, check. Fuel flow, check. Stability Augmentation System (SAS), check. The Distance by CAKE, check. ATC, pre-flight checklist complete. Requesting permission for takeoff with unrestricted climb access,” reported Jeb. "Copy, Jeb. Good choice of music. Permission granted, you may take off. Good luck." Jeb increases the Whiplashes to full throttle, and the engines’ release a gorgeous blue streak of exhaust behind the turbines. The air intakes suck in the air as the jet picks up speed, providing more and more oxygen which increases the engines’ efficiency. As the S-21 Thunderbolt raced down the runway, Jeb’s face lit up with a cheerful smile, as if he was a kid who just received candy. Once reaching the minimum takeoff speed, Jeb lifts up the jet’s nose to 35 degrees - which is extremely steep for a conventional aircraft, but the Thunderbolt was not ordinary in any sense. With two supersonic Whiplash jet engines and one hybrid jet-rocket engine, combined with wings which were made to cut through the air like a hot knife through butter, the S-21 Thunderbolt was nothing short of extraordinary. “Surpassed Mach 1. Climb rate is looking good, continuing to climb until reaching 15,000 meters above sea level,”reported Jeb. “Copy Jeb, continue climbing,” replied ATC. After a few more minutes of climbing, the jet had nearly reached the desired altitude. At this altitude, the atmosphere is very thin: meaning there wasn’t much air resistance. This was advantageous for the plane, as it could easily maintain and gain speed. However, it meant there was less oxygen in the atmosphere, which would normally result in lower engine efficiency. The air intakes were built specifically to counter this problem: the shock cone intakes worked best at high speed, high altitude environments. These intakes, working with the engine pre-coolers would help increase the oxygen flow into the engines, resulting in better combustion. “Jeb, you’re reaching an altitude of 15,000 meters. Prepare to level your flight profile to prograde,” informed ATC. “Copy ATC, leveling profile to prograde,” Jeb replied. As the Thunderbolt’s nose cone slowly angled itself parallel to the horizon, the craft’s velocity also increased. This was due to the more efficient ascent profile, which produced even less drag. The Thunderbolt was starting to pick up speed - It was flying faster than mach three now, or more than three times the speed of sound, at 1200 meters per second. Jebediah switched on the single R.A.P.I.E.R engine, as it functioned best at high supersonic speeds. It took a few seconds to spool up to maximum thrust, but the change in speed was immediately felt by Jeb, as it accelerated him through the upper atmosphere. All around the jet’s airframe formed a white streak of high pressure air, like a cloud trying to pull the craft backwards. This cloud of air slowly increased in temperature, turning orange. As it turned red, the surface temperature of the aircraft’s nose cone and the leading edge of the wings was exceeding 4,000 degrees celsius, or over 7,000 degrees fahrenheit. “ATC, requesting to switch modes on the R.A.P.I.E.R engine. I need more juice,” Jeb requested. “Permission granted, Jeb. Switch the R.A.P.I.E.R engine to closed cycle and use oxidizer. Close the air intakes as well, it will increase overall efficiency,” ATC replied. Jeb closed off the air intakes for all the engines, and switched the R.A.P.I.E.R engine to closed fuel flow cycle. This mode basically turned the R.A.P.I.E.R into a rocket engine, although it was extremely fuel inefficient. Closing the air intakes also killed the Whiplash jet engines, which were no longer functional at this speed. As the jet’s speed skyrocketed, Jeb was reading the flight data which was displayed on his helmet: Mach 3.7. Mach 3.8. Mach 3.9. Mach 4.0. Mach 4.1. This data was also being received and monitored by ATC, where all the kerbals were anxiously holding their breath. Jeb was doing it. Their S-21 Thunderbolt was going to reach mach 5! Suddenly, Jeb’s flight readouts started to freak out. There were blaring red lights flashing everywhere, and Jeb also started to freak out. “Guys, we have a proble-”, Jeb was cut out in the middle of his sentence by a loud explosion. The S-21 Thunderbolt had lost control and rapidly disassembled itself, turning into a multi-million dollar, high altitude fireworks display with a thundering boom. Upon receiving this information, everyone in the ATC gasped in awe. All which was left of the Thunderbolt was scraps and pieces of wings, just falling through the air like a leaf in the wind. They couldn’t believe it: Jeb had died?! Surely he couldn’t.. But the vital reports from his suit suggested otherwise. More than losing the Thunderbolt, the Kerbals mourned the death of Jebediah Kerman. One of the kerbals at the ATC was inspecting the explosion with her binoculars. At first, she didn’t see much; just some falling fuel tanks and wings. Then, she spotted the cockpit. Jebediah was hanging from the side! “GUYS! JEB IS ALIVE! LOOK!”, screamed the woman. Jeb was indeed alive, and he had just let go of the cockpit sides. He was free falling from nearly the edge of the atmosphere, with little to no protection, as his helmet was broken and his suit was burned to crisp. Everyone at the ATC celebrated his remarkable survival. However, it wasn’t over yet. His parachute still had to deploy successfully, or he would splat onto the ocean, which would feel like hitting cement at the speed of 150 miles per hour. This should not be too much of a problem for Jeb however, as he has used his personal parachute thousands of times before; It was common for the Kerbal engineers to forget to add parachutes or even incorporate an escape mechanism into their crafts. They thought it was simply unnecessary, time taking and expensive. Once Jeb reached a safe altitude and speed, he deployed his chute. It opened up like a popcorn bursting outward, and slowed him down significantly. From there on, he glided his way over to the KSC, where he landed on the grasslands near the ATC. Multiple kerbals were awaiting his return, and they guided him to medical attention. Jeb was also known to recover from injuries quickly, as he was always eager to go on the next mission. “That was fun! When is the next ride?”, wondered Jeb, with his usual enthusiasm. “You’ll see,” replied the KSC Director, Elon Kerman. A few months after the Thunderbolt incident, Jeb was ready to get back into action. He was going to visit Elon Kerman for his mission briefing. “Good afternoon Mr. Elon,” greeted Jeb. “Good afternoon Captain Jeb, it’s nice to see you on your feet,” replied Elon. Jeb was not the only one coming to this meeting, there were other kerbals as well. “Jeb, I’d like you to meet your team for this mission. Your co-pilot will be Valentina Kerman, who has flown multiple orbital missions and is quite skilled in orbital maneuvers,”said Elon. “Greetings Mr. Jeb, it’s an honor to meet you sir. I’m looking forward to working together, as you have been my role model growing up,” said Val. “Bill Kerman will be your team’s engineer. He’s quite good with numbers,” Elon introduced. “Hello sir, I’m Bill. Pleasure to meet you,” said Bill with a friendly smile. “Yes, I believe I’ve heard about your work. Weren’t you the chief engineer for the lunar lander, Moonlight? It’s quite a remarkable feat,” said Jeb with approval. “And last but not least, here is Bob Kerman. He’ll be your team’s scientist. He’s not the bravest individual, but he sure is aclever one.” “Hello Mr. Jeb, I’m Bob. Nice to meet you,” said Bob.