Drescapade Resurrection.

[Jakalth]

Now to continue the mission.

 

Lets get the new and improved(now with SAS) science module down to the surface.  First off, disconnect it from the Lamp Post 4.

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Next, we plot it's trajectory and burn for deorbit.

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With the de-orbit burn completed, we ride this puppy down until we are close enough to perform a suicide burn.  I missed taking a picture of the suicide burn somehow, probably due to the landing site being far from ideal and trying to correct it's location while descending...  Anyways, landing goes off well enough with the landing gear down.  I ended up landing once again, in the dark...  Why do I keep letting myself do this?  The landing lights are not very good for dark landings it ends up...  In fact, they are nearly useless...  But the craft is down, and on the crater wall, not a good spot to be.  Yes, the picture is how steep the crater wall is...  22.3 degrees.

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The drive down the crater wall was a bit scary.  I would rather not do that again...  *looks over at the evolution shuttles*  Crap...  I nearly lost the craft on at least 4 separate locations.  I ended up having to take several small hops using the landing engines to make mini descents back to the surface.  It all worked out somehow as I drove the science module in to line with the habitat module.  This is where I get to test my extremely careful alignment of the landing gear on the habitat module and the running gear(wheels) on the science module.

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The alignment was even better then I had hoped for.  I was thinking I'd need to get the help of a few kerbals to lift one of the two modules slightly to get a good hard dock between the ports, but no need.  The locked together just fine once I had everything lined up nice and strait.  This is due to my testing of the parts on Kerbal and my careful calculations(guessing) to compensate for the difference in gravity.  Beautiful.

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[Jakalth]

And now a word from one of our sponsors.

 

Every Kermen knows us, and every Kermen loves.  We are the largest supplier of Snacks and Snack supplies this side of the Eastern Continent.  Yes, we are Snack-O-Mart!

 

To Improve your convenience of snacking enjoyment, we have increased our distribution range to sites beyond!  Dres.  Yes Dres!  Now available in a space station near you.  It's Snack-O-Mart In SPACE!!!

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And to further bring you the enjoyment of Snack satisfaction, we also have sites supplying our great snacks on the surface of Dres!

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How did we get all the way out to Dres you might ask?  Science!  Rocket Science!!!  VROOOMMM!!!!  Every Kermen loves rockets!

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Kermen come from miles around to get there snacks at Snack-O-Mart!  So come on over!

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Bring a friend.  Bring their friends.  Bring the whole family!  We are the best supplier of snack and snack supplies on Dres!  We are also the only supplier on Dres.  So come on over!  We're open day and night.  Available at a surface base near you!

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[Jakalth]

Now lets get the science rover down to the surface.  This vehicle can rove around Dres gathering science and processing it on the spot.  It's a rather long and ungainly vehicle though, and the light gravity makes it a bit less stable then I was hoping for...

 

First off, lets undock it from the Lamp Post 3.

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Using it's RCS pack I'll maneuver it into a slight altered orbit so I don't have any issues of collisions during descent burns.  That would be bad...  But now that it's far clear of the Lamp Post 3, we'll shed that RCS pack, since it's only job is now completed.

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And we'll begin it's deorbit burn.  Full power to the engines and deploy the radiators.

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This looks like a good enough time to start the breaking burn, so that our touch down doesn't become a smack down.

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And the last few second under low thrust to bring us down nice and gentle.  Landing light were a bit much, but why not.

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And now that we are down it's a slow and careful drive to the Dres surface base.  The base and the Snack-O-Mart are quite inviting after the long trip.  Quite inviting and busy!

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The science rover turned out to not be the most drivable craft I have every made.  It's actually to light to really get much traction and it's size makes maneuvering a bit sluggish.  But it gets the job done.  Lots of science equipment and an on board science lab to process it all makes it a still usable science grinding rig.  If a bit lacking in the style department...

 

I tried docking the science rover with the surface base, but the design of the two craft means their docking ports don't line up.  Even with the muscle power of a few kerbals to try heaving the base up higher, it was no luck.  Oh well, it wasn't actually designed to dock with it but I had to give it a try anyways.

Edited February 16, 2016 by Jakalth

[Jakalth]

And now for something the Kerbals have been waiting for.  The surface runabouts.  Basicly 3 Kermen vans, but with a wide stance and off road tires.  This will let them move about easier in this low gravity enviroment.  Explore the surrounding crater for resources, and perform general crater shenanigans.

 

Undocking was easy and the module pulls away slowly but smoothly.

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After jettisoning the rear docking adaptor, the burn for Dres descent was easy.  Just enough thrust in the center aerospike engine to bring this craft down nice and smooth.

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Landing was a little shaky do to the narrow landing gear in the center, but it stayed upright.

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With the craft landed, I could finally detach the runabouts from the lander.  After the mandatory explosion of decouplers, and the dust had started to settle, we were left with 3 of the craft on their wheels, as designed, and only one of them still standing on it's back.

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Switching to the 4 runabouts, one at a time, only required a little wiggling to get them all 4 ready to head over to the nearby surface base.

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I lost one of the runabouts after being a little to enthusiastic when the craft got some vacuum after a sudden dip in the terrain dropped away under it.  But the kermen survived the accident so I rescued him with one of the remaining 3 runabouts and parked them around the surface base for convenience.

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Though the light gravity of Dres makes it ideal for landing and refueling, driving around on Dres is another matter.  The light gravity applies its own challenges to maneuvering and grip that can only be experience, else where, on places like Minmus.  The craft without SAS on, are a little skittery and don't hold a strait line well, but with sas on, accelerating turns into a wheelie a little to easily.  Maybe should of made the runabouts a bit heavier...  But they are still fun to mess around with.

 

After dispersing the runabout around the surface base, I brought down the Lamp Post 3 and landed it near the base as well.  Only 600m away is close enough for now.  I could always move it closer later on.  Time to refuel the Lamp Post 3 as well.

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In the crater, and the space around Dres is getting pretty cluttered now.  Looks like a busy airport with all the craft wizzing around.

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Only a few things remain to do at Dres.  Land the Lamp Post 2, Bring down the Indignation for refueling, dock the fuel modules with the evolution station, Land the 2 fuel transfer vehicles, land the Lamp Post 4, and finally send the dresteroid tug on it's mission.

Edited February 16, 2016 by Jakalth