I’m actually jumping the gun slightly on writing this – it’s 5:30 in the morning, I want to sleep, and the ship isn’t quite there yet. So I want to have everything ready to go once I get there.

It’s been quite a ride. I started this project, initially, after getting back from a ski trip in February, during the coldest weather of the year (minus 37 where I was, if you count windchill). It’s finishing at the end of July, after three weeks of sustained flight time, just as we’ve hit some of the hottest weather of the year (plus 37 or so, if you count humidity).

Anyway, you’re here to see the conclusion of the project! The grand finale! And we are so close now. SO CLOSE. And the sun is rising outside.

And here we are! Crossing the light year barrier.

I slowly brought the ship out of timewarp – by 10,000x it had already begun flirting with the idea of forgetting its velocity. Bringing it back down to realtime, I was pleased to note that the ship did not explode. Though its trajectory was, for lack of a better word, wonky.

It’s solar panels were, sadly, no longer producing anything. I brought Jeb up out of his seat to see what would happen. Everything seemed normal! In the roiling midst of floating-point errors and physics anomalies, my Kerbals felt right at home.

Shining Jeb’s headlamps on the solar panels was also ineffective. So I figured the last thing I needed to test is what happens when you take him for a jaunt outside the 2.2 km bubble where things have active physics and aren’t just on rails. Thrusting outwards, and then coming back in, everything seemed fine… until I turned on time acceleration again. The ship instantly disappeared somewhere into the infinite blackness of space, leaving our brave Jebediah floating helplessly in his EVA suit. A fitting end to our saga.

Now it’s time to exit KSP, and restart my computer for the first time in a month and a half.

I’d like to thank everyone for reading. It’s been, at times, frustrating and exhilarating, but most of all, it’s been fun. Until my next crazy project, this is mission control, signing off.