fireballs619
Occam's Taser
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Inspired by the 'Twelve Days of Christmas' thread, here's the place for your orbiter version of any 'ol carol. I'll start with my version of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. It may seem long, but it's actually two less lines then the original.
The Orbinaut’s Night Before Christmas
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all throughout the house,
Not a sound was to be heard, nary a click of my mouse.
For inst’d of a mouse, my joystick was employed,
To control the new add-on, with which I toyed.
With a minute to go, the crew was in place,
And all suited up to blast into space.
With intense force, and very much Delta-V,
My spacecraft, from the Earth’s gravity, was free;
After my target apoapsis was achieved,
I sat back into my seat, very much relieved;
It was then I heard, on my COM MFD,
The subtle bleep of a craft in range of me.
In the void of space, I caught a reflection,
And was able to guess this ship’s direction.
When, over the radio it was made clear,
That this mysterious ship was to draw near.
I rotated my ship, with hardly a pause,
To rendezvous with the pilot, old Capt. Claus.
He fired his thrusters, for hardly a time,
And called out the distance ‘tween his ship and mine.
“We’re closing at twenty! Now at ten! Now at one!
The velocity between us is down to none!
You rotate the spacecraft, so that we can dock,
After that is through, pressurize the airlock”
Just as he said, I switched to translation mode,
And turned my space craft in a motion that flowed.
With that completed, I had done all that I must,
It was up to Capt. Claus to give the last thrust.
As the last inches between us went away,
I flipped the switch to pressurize the bay.
I turned around in my seat, to try and see,
Old Capt. Claus floating through the port with ease.
His suit was that of an agency unknown,
It’s emblem a cabin, by which snow was blown.
Behind, through the port, came a bundle of toys,
Some of which clanked, clattered, or simply made noise.
His eyes were obscured by his sun visor’d helmet,
But it did not take long for him to discard it.
Tucked into his suit, there grew an old, grey beard,
And I knew at once he was not to be feared.
He flipped up the mic on the end of his headset,
Before telling me that I was very well met.
His present for me did not come in a box,
Instead, it was a tank full of much need LOX.
Through his newly garbed helmet, a wink was made,
And back he went, as the light began to fade.
Without there being a single word spoken,
Our crafts’ connections were safely broken.
He applied some thrust to his undocked spaceship,
Slowing the speed at which my radar blipped.
He drew away, and my signal grew weak,
I knew it’d be a full year ‘till again we’d speak.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he passed from sight,
‘Merry Christmas to all, and to all a safe flight!’
Get Creative! Oh, and Merry Christmas!
The Orbinaut’s Night Before Christmas
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all throughout the house,
Not a sound was to be heard, nary a click of my mouse.
For inst’d of a mouse, my joystick was employed,
To control the new add-on, with which I toyed.
With a minute to go, the crew was in place,
And all suited up to blast into space.
With intense force, and very much Delta-V,
My spacecraft, from the Earth’s gravity, was free;
After my target apoapsis was achieved,
I sat back into my seat, very much relieved;
It was then I heard, on my COM MFD,
The subtle bleep of a craft in range of me.
In the void of space, I caught a reflection,
And was able to guess this ship’s direction.
When, over the radio it was made clear,
That this mysterious ship was to draw near.
I rotated my ship, with hardly a pause,
To rendezvous with the pilot, old Capt. Claus.
He fired his thrusters, for hardly a time,
And called out the distance ‘tween his ship and mine.
“We’re closing at twenty! Now at ten! Now at one!
The velocity between us is down to none!
You rotate the spacecraft, so that we can dock,
After that is through, pressurize the airlock”
Just as he said, I switched to translation mode,
And turned my space craft in a motion that flowed.
With that completed, I had done all that I must,
It was up to Capt. Claus to give the last thrust.
As the last inches between us went away,
I flipped the switch to pressurize the bay.
I turned around in my seat, to try and see,
Old Capt. Claus floating through the port with ease.
His suit was that of an agency unknown,
It’s emblem a cabin, by which snow was blown.
Behind, through the port, came a bundle of toys,
Some of which clanked, clattered, or simply made noise.
His eyes were obscured by his sun visor’d helmet,
But it did not take long for him to discard it.
Tucked into his suit, there grew an old, grey beard,
And I knew at once he was not to be feared.
He flipped up the mic on the end of his headset,
Before telling me that I was very well met.
His present for me did not come in a box,
Instead, it was a tank full of much need LOX.
Through his newly garbed helmet, a wink was made,
And back he went, as the light began to fade.
Without there being a single word spoken,
Our crafts’ connections were safely broken.
He applied some thrust to his undocked spaceship,
Slowing the speed at which my radar blipped.
He drew away, and my signal grew weak,
I knew it’d be a full year ‘till again we’d speak.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he passed from sight,
‘Merry Christmas to all, and to all a safe flight!’
Get Creative! Oh, and Merry Christmas!
