History Fanfic / TheNextFrontier

* ThrowItIn: In order to keep the story from becoming dated due to "First Flight's" updates or actual updates to the game (more moons, historical events being added, additional features), the story is deliberately written a little vague so the author can say "Sure, that's always been there."

* NoBudget: Played straight in the backstory, averted nowadays... up to a point. Some reference is nevertheless made to the fact that the Kerbin Space Agency are ''not'' an OrganisationWithUnlimitedFunding.

* ValuesDissonance: Invoked and then defied, ''hard''. Apparently, someone in the media back on Kerbin suggested that taking sides on the whole Miranda thing was "cultural imperialism". Jeb feels compelled to write a rather testy blogpost explaining that no, Crimes Against Humanity are not "part of their culture". [[ThrowItIn This was inspired by someone on the SpaceBattles forum thread taking a similar position]], which didn't go down well.

* FirstContactTeam: Played with; he [[VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram Kerbals]] can't send a full team of anthropologists, linguists and so on along on their first interstellar mission because the ship just isn't big enough, but thanks to the [[SubspaceAnsible FTL communications system]] they have the anthropology and linguistics departments of every university on Kerbin and Duna for MissionControl. The actual in-person contact team are three veteran astronauts, one engineer who helped create the AlcubierreDrive and one skilled CommunicationsOfficer who's supposed to [[AliensStealCable scan for radio and TV signals]] [[LearnedEnglishFromWatchingTelevision so they can start picking up the language]] if they ''do'' find some aliens.

The Kerbal Space Program has come a long way in the thirty years since their first manned launch. Permanent settlements on Duna, extensive asteroid mining operations, an orbital habitat in the works... Not too shabby for something that began with a bunch of enthusiastic amateurs building sounding rockets out of scrap metal.

''The Next Frontier'' is a ''VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram'' fanfiction -crossed over with ''something'', but that'd be a spoiler- by a guy who prefers to be known as "Jake Grey", or sometimes just "Tropers/{{Jake}}" (autor of ''Fanfic/DoingItRightThisTime''). It's now complete and can be found [[http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=159483 here]], [[http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/the-next-frontier-ksp-something.266217/ here]], [[http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/cross-post-the-next-frontier-kerbal-space-program-spoiler-redacted.869/ here]] or [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/1069433 here]].[[note]]It ''used'' to be on the official ''Kerbal Space Program'' forums too, but the mods declared it HarmfulToMinors.[[/note]]

* GameOfNerds: [[ShoutOut Scott]] [[LetsPlay/ScottManley Kerbley]], the chief engineer, is a fan of a Kerbal team sport very similar to {{Cricket}}.

* FlatWhat: Jeb lets one out when he hears "Bob just exited the ship with a lot of guns."

''The Next Frontier'' is a ''VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram'' fanfiction -crossed over with ''something'', but that'd be a spoiler- by a guy who prefers to be known as "Jake Grey", or sometimes just "Tropers/{{Jake}}" (autor of ''Fanfic/DoingItRightThisTime''). It's now complete and can be found [[http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=159483 here]], [[http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/the-next-frontier-ksp-something.266217/ here]] or [[http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/cross-post-the-next-frontier-kerbal-space-program-spoiler-redacted.869/ here]].[[note]]It ''used'' to be on the official ''Kerbal Space Program'' forums too, but the mods declared it HarmfulToMinors.[[/note]]

* NegativeSpaceWedgie: The [[AscendedMeme Deep Space Kraken]] turns out to be one of these. It's also the key to faster-than-light travel.
** Apparently, Kerbals gained FTL drives by firing probes repeatedly into a NSW near their home system, then took the data they got from the returned probes and cobbled together a drive based on that. Even ''they'' don't completely understand how it works.

* HiroshimaAsAUnitOfMeasure: Used regularly in Jeb's blog. The pusher plate for the hypothetical OrionDrive design is described as massing as much as an entire "Pioneer-type Mun lander", which is Kerbin's equivalent of an Apollo-Saturn V, and on another occasion he claims to have so many ebooks stored in his laptop that taking them all with him to the Mun would have required its own mission. Out-of-universe, ''Starfarer 1'' is described being as comparable in size to a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panamax Panamax]] container ship.

''The Next Frontier'' is a ''VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram'' fanfiction -crossed over with ''something'', but that'd be a spoiler- by a guy who prefers to be known as "Jake Grey", or sometimes just "Tropers/{{Jake}}". It's now complete and can be found [[http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=159483 here]], [[http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/the-next-frontier-ksp-something.266217/ here]] or [[http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/cross-post-the-next-frontier-kerbal-space-program-spoiler-redacted.869/ here]].[[note]]It ''used'' to be on the official ''Kerbal Space Program'' forums too, but the mods declared it HarmfulToMinors.[[/note]]

--> '''Kurt''': "What can I say? We're a small Air Force, I have to wear several hats."//

* ShoutOut:
** As noted above, the TNF universe apparently has a game called [[VideoGame/BuzzAldrinRaceIntoSpace Buzz Kerman's Race Into Space]].
** One of the blog entries discusses an SF novel Jeb read once about a method of detecting intelligent life. It's actually a reference to ''Nemesis'' by Creator/IsaacAsimov, in which the interplanetary [=EEG=] thing was crucial to the plot.
** The dwarf planet shaped like a female kerbal's... something reproductive[[note]]let's just say MaleToFemaleUniversalAdaptor is averted here and leave it at that...[[/note]] is lifted more or less directly from ''Series/RedDwarf''.

* SchizoTech: The kerbals are still using spacecraft propulsion technology that was already well on the way to obselesence when humanity left their home system several centuries earlier... on the spaceship fitted with their prototype ''warp drive.'' Having FasterThanLightTravel but no ArtificialGravity also counts, something that most contemporary theorists don't think is actually possible, but the Kerbals had a NegativeSpaceWedgie to poke with a stick; their understanding of the underlying physics of its working principles is ''very'' incomplete.

* HumansThroughAlienEyes: Downplayed pretty heavily what with NotSoDifferent being a big theme, but still played straight.

* BurningTheFlag: Happens to a Blue Sun flag on Kerbin during a protest march.

* ExecutiveMeddling: "Hanfrod at KSC" tries to keep the irrepressible Jeb in line, without much success.

* HigherTechSpecies: With the sole exception of FTL, humanity is this to the Kerbals.

* FlagBurning: Blue Sun has ''not'' made itself popular with the average Kerbal on the street.

** HumanityIsFlawed: Fortunately, [[NotSoDifferent so are the Kerbals.]]