Hephaestus Disaster

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Hephaestus Disaster
D9f593f24b4904b87a98791dd9e6cbfb.png
Hephaestus rubble in the Kivu Ocean
Details
Date15 October 2022; 17 months ago (2022-10-15)
4:45 p.m.
LocationKivu Ocean
OperatorAether Industries
CauseTechnical malfunction
Statistics
Deaths
EstimatedCrashZone.png

The Hephaestus Disaster was the crash of a Jackian-Eleutherian space mission on October 15, 2022. Two astronauts died when it crashed into the Kivu Ocean. Mission Hephaestus was originally sent by Aether Industries to fix the satellite Project Poseidon. The cause of the crash was believed to be a technical error with the spacecraft's operating system. Doors

Mission Log

Aether Industries Mission Log: Mission Hephaestus
Captain Theofilos V, First Officer Connor Heisenberg
October 15, 2022

3:00PM - Mission notification - Project Poseidon satellite sustained meteor damage, requires repair. Mission codename "Hephaestus"
3:30PM - Astronauts Theofilos V of Eleutherios and Connor Heisenberg of Jackson activated for mission. Both specialists in orbital repair.
4:00PM - Course plotted with new DoorsOS operating system - using Doors, control personnel are able to upload coordinates, trajectory information, and all other essential factors to the spaceship's computer live from the ground, and do any necessary adjustments from the control center itself.
4:15PM - Astronauts briefed, prepared to launch in T minus 15 minutes
4:30PM - Launch in 3...2...1...
4:31PM - Launch successful, trajectory and course plotted, everything seems smooth
4:35PM - An anomaly is detected in the control tower...

Hristina III is monitoring the launch from her computer in the Aether Industries control center when her monitor went blank. Not unusual per se, sometimes the Doors monitors would go to sleep when not actively being used. What is unusual, though, is every other monitor went blank as well. Panic built inside of her as her boss announced that Doors, the so-called "state of the art" operating system, had failed. This meant the spaceship was no longer receiving its trajectory, speed, and direction coordinates, since all of that information was being transmitted over Doors. Hristina could only watch in horror as the space shuttle began plummeting towards Earth, uncontrolled.

Meanwhile, in the cockpit of the space shuttle, Captain Theofilos pulled every lever and pushed every button to try and find the manual override button, to no avail. DoorsOS was also integral to the operation of the spacecraft, and with no Doors came no control. FO Heisenberg called Mission Control, screaming into the handset at anyone, in a desperate plea for help.

No help would come. At 4:45PM, the spacecraft crash landed into the Kivu Ocean, killing both astronauts.

Reactions

  •  Jackson: Jackian President Sydney Johnson stated, "The events that have occurred today have been staggering, tragic, and eye opening. One of our brave astronauts, along with an eleutherian astronaut were killed today, and many more were injured. This is an extremely tragic day in Jackson, and will always be remembered. 10/15, never forget."[citation needed]
Other nations
  •  Paleocacher: The Paleocacherian Department of Foreign Affairs stated, "The government of Paleocacher is deeply saddened by the events earlier today which resulted in the deaths of two intrepid explorers. The government of Paleocacher promises to give all possible assistance to our allies Eleutherios and Jackson. To that end a sealift ship of the Kivu Fleet which was sailing to Andaluzia to supplement our continued support to the efforts to cleanup the oil spill from earlier this year is being diverted to the coast of Northwestern Ecros to search the approximate area where the shuttle is believed to have crashed into the sea. They and seaplanes from Nara Island will be in the area in the next five to ten hours."[citation needed]
  •  Pavulturilor: Pavulturilori Director of Foreign Affairs Yair Lev stated, "We mourn and grief the death of two brave explorers, our warmest condolences are sent to their families, and hope that such disaster will not happen again, the only ones to be blamed are the ones who allowed an insecure craft as this to be used, we hope no such fallacy will be done again."[citation needed]
  •  Reykanes: "This is terrible. This is such a unprecedented news for everyone here. We would like to pay our respects to the explorers and their families and believe nothing such as this will happen ever again. The start of the decade has been stressful for everyone. Two years and so many things happened. We are always here if assistance is needed."
Non-national entities
  • Forward Software Company: The CEO of Forward Software Company, John Olon, stated, "As most people know, earlier today, two innocent astronauts have died today while landing Project Poseidon. Many have been placing the blame, on our flagship product, Doors. Although it may seem so, due to our advanced computing algorithms, the error must have been caused by user error, not our operating system. We do not want to contract from the tragic events that have unfolded today, nor do we want to place the blame on anyone. We are just here to set the records straight."[citation needed]