Nominees For Kerbal Of The Year 2012
2012 has been a hell of a year for space flight. In fact, I'd even go as far as to say it's been the most productive year in the history of space flight to date.
With that in mind, it is my honour to present to you the nominees for the first ever Kerbal of the Year award.
Jebediah Kerman XVII (USFC)
Before we knew that there were other worlds in our solar system, our efforts were focused on taking kerbals to the Mun and Minmus. On September 19th 2012, Jebediah Kerman XVII became the first kerbanaut to fly to Minmus and return to Kerbin safely. By today's standards, that feat doesn't seem like much but at the time it was the most successful mission in the history of space flight.
What made this all the more impressive, however, was that Jebediah piloted the Jane 2 and brought it home safely less than a month after his father, Jebediah XVI, died at the climax of the Armstrong Mun Mission.
Jebediah XVII is the youngest of this year's nominees and has the distinction of being the youngest USFC kerbanaut to command a mission and the second youngest USFC kebanaut, behind Science Officer Rodbin Kerman Jr., to go into space.
As the pilot of PARP's Sticklebrick 2, Matdo Kerman became the first Kerbalanut to see an alien planet with his own two eyes when he brought the ship into orbit around Eve this September.
He was also the first Kerbal to step foot on body not in orbit of Kerbin. Leaving the Sticklebrick 2 in orbit around Eve's only natural satellite, Gilly, Matdo made an unprecedented EVA descent down to the moon's dusty surface before returning just in time to stop the Sticklebrick from crashing.
Matdo was also the second Kerbal to land on Eve itself, just two days behind Calcus Kerman of the USFC's Discovery 1.
As the commander, and sole pilot, of the Discovery 2, Rodbin Kerman was the first kerbal to land on both Ike and Duna. He achieved these two feats in a single mission, bringing the Discovery 2 down on Ike on September 28th before bringing the ship down on Duna, despite a parachute failure, the following morning.
Whilst stranded on Duna, Rodbin began to hike around the red planet and on October 30th he radioed to report that he had found "something strange". He was joined a day later by the crew of the Discovery 8 and his finding, a giant stone face on Duna, came 2nd in Kerbal Life Magazine's top 10 Greatest Discoveries of the Year, just behind the Beast Of Bop.
On November 11th, Rodbin was picked up by Commander Chadtop Kerman of the Magellan and he helped co-pilot the back to Kerbin.
Rodbin Kerman is the oldest of this year's nominees and has the distinction of being the only kerbal to walk on two alien bodies and make it back to Kerbin alive.
Here's a kerbal who really needs no introduction.
Formerly PARP's leading test pilot, Fermore Kerman achieved the kind of fame usually reserved for Kebinwood actors this year when he discovered the corpse of an alien lifeform on Jool's tiny moon Bop.
Now one of the most recognisable faces in all of Kerbin (because, let's face it, Fermore's picture has appeared on the cover of almost every newspaper and magazine currently in print), no list of nominees for Kerbal Of The Year would be complete without Fermore's name attached to it.
The Kerbal Of The Year ceremony will be held at the ISC centre on January 18th 2013. William Wiskins, head of PARP, will bring you the results shortly thereafter.
- Edward V. West, Head Of The USFC
