Operation "Lyra" - A Journey from pain to success!

[thomj084]

Hi EliteKerbalPlayers,

 I was told by @Dman979 that he would be very interested to see my mission report. But what the hell is my mission? Well, if you check out the content below, you'll see what I mean....

P.S. I would like to thank the following members for welcoming and assisting me by providing examples and useful advice :-

• @Zhetaan
• @Dman979
• @WellItExplodedAgain
• @Starhawk
• @legoclone09

Spoiler

 

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OPERATION "LYRA"  - LUNAR BASE DEPLOYMENT SYSTEMS (LBDS) and PLANETARY EXPLORATION

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Throughout the glorious times for kerbal space exploration, the idea of the first kerbonauts to land on Duna was developed by two scientists, Werner "Dick" Kerman and Ross "Hmmm" Kerman. The idea was dubbed the "Constellation" program. However, the administration for Kerbal Space Program decided that this idea was too risky and too costly. This is where the idea for the "Ares 1-A" Lunar base plan was developed by a brilliant engineer, Richard "Fellowes" Kerman. His blueprint is as shown below:

Again, many senior level management decided against this plan to be a reality. However, Wernher von Kerman and Gene Kerman stated that a deployment of such a base would be fantastic and would be the greatest milestone after the success of the Kerbal Space Station. Hence, they decided to speak to the brain child of the successful and orbiting space station program, Joel Kerman , a project manager who works within Kerbal Space Center.  Joel Kerman with the help of several engineers and watching a lot of space movies developed the idea. This mission was called Operation "Lyra" LBDS. The plan was to establish a lunar deployment capability that would be cheap, safe, reliable and achievable. It's purpose, to establish a Lunar Base on the surface of the Mun and to be the foundation for the future mission for Duna!  This mission got a green light The design required the development of a Central Nervous System (CNS) that would have 5 Senior Docking Ports, a sheilfede, A probodyne slim core, around 7KW of battery, SAS and 2x Gigantor Solar Panels. This would be the foundation for the deployment system as well as the foundation for the new Mun Space Station.  The launch of this module was 2 weeks ago. 

After the successful launch of the CNS system, Joel , Wernher and Gene Kerman had another dilemma. How do you safely land these modules (shown above) on the surface of any planet, let alone the Mun. That's when  the engineers, Zhetaan and Dman979 Kerman, developed the brilliant idea for an Orbital Skycrane (copied after some mission where they landed a rover on Duna using a similar design). This gave birth to the "Aspida" Orbital Skycrane (OSC).

After several successful tests on Kerbin with all the different Ares 1-A modules, it was decided to launch this system and these three heroes were about to make history, the world's first orbital docking around Mun since the first landing on the surface of the Mun, two years ago. The tension was high but there were no turning back, the rocket was ready to launch.

The launch went smoothly where the first and second stage managed to get this system to the designated apoapsis of 70km.

The third stage burn was so successful that the launch had provided the perfect transfer window to the Mun.  It took nearly half a day due to technical problems but the system managed to arrive at Mun. 

At this moment, the fairings holding Aspida OSC was deployed and the remaining fuel within the second last stage was used to establish the orbit around the Mun. This moment was perfect for the Aspida OSC to decouple (thanks to the pilots at KSC) and establish a rendezvous orbit to intercept the CNS which is now called "Lyra" Lunar Base Deployment System.

The intercept computers stated that it will take another couple of hour to reach 1.1k away from the other module. The tension to get this right was, even more, higher than the launch. However, after several hours the successful piloting and credible planning by Joel Kerman paid off, the OSC is now in docking range with the "Lyra" LBDS. The docking was a success and it was the beginning of a costly but prosperous programme for KSC.

9

 

 

 

Edited July 24, 2019 by thomj084
Format issues, Grammar, Logic

[thomj084]

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"LYRA" - ORBITAL REFUELING SYSTEM & CHS DEPLOYMENT MISSION

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So, after the successful deployment for the foundational pieces for "Lyra" Lunar Base Deployment Systems (LBDS), it was understood that the "Asipda" Orbital Skycrane (OSC) requires fuel to land all these modules on the lunar surface. Hence the Orbital Refueling System was launched to dock with the main LBDS Station. 

 

After the successful mandatory requirements for the LBDS were met, it was then decided to launch the CHS module (the main segment for the Ares 1-A Mun Base) to be docked with the LBDS station.

After the successful docking of the CHS module,there was a waiting period of 30 minutes to land this module on the lunar surface, The landing area is precisely 22km away from the original landing made by Jebediah and Bob Kerman. The fairings around the CHS module were safely removed and it was successfully docked with Aspida OSC. The OSC then successfully established the route for the landing site dubbed "Ares 1-A". 

After several tense minutes of modifying and verifying all the flight controls and descent mechanisms, the first module for the Mun base has successfully landed on the surface of the Mun. The "Aspida" OSC then undocked with the CHS and landed successfully next to it. It was now a waiting game to get the right opportunity for the OSC to dock with the LBDS Station to be refueled and to get ready to deploy the other modules for the Mun Base.

Edited May 28, 2016 by thomj084
Grammar

[thomj084]

Wow @Tiber9, I was about to give up on the posting further content here when you liked it! I genuinely though people lost interest as there are other fantastic projects out there. I appreciate the like.  So here is a further update about the mission.

I basically used the CHS module technique to land my next module, the Habitat module. However during my descent, I saved the habitat module but my sky crane (which was wobbly and nearly out of fuel) kamikazed onto another nearby area of the Mun. I'm just bloody fortunate that no Kerbonauts were lost but I lost about √ 202,000. So yeah! I have to launch a new sky crane but with more SAS controls! 

Edited May 29, 2016 by thomj084
Grammar

[thomj084]

So after long hours and some near destruction like experience, I present to you the following transcript.

KSC Flight Director: This is mission control, "Asipda" has just sent us a visual confirmation. We have now established "Ares 1-A" Mun Outpost

"Everyone shouts and screams full of joy and happiness"

Jill Kerman to the Board of Directors: See I told you 

Edited July 24, 2019 by thomj084

[Geschosskopf]

Thanks for the base design ideas!  I like the combination of KPBS modules and what look like USI Karibou wheels.

[thomj084]

No problem!  I now need to land my Kerbonauts to start using this base! So I have already tested and developed my Orion MPMC. I'm now in the process of my final design for the "Altair" Lander. 

Edited May 30, 2016 by thomj084
Grammar, Picture

[Dman979]

Haha!

I like it! Sorry I didn't keep checking this, I forgot to subscribe.

If you haven't launched the second tug yet, I'd suggest adding a set of landing legs to it. That way, you don't have it flying off and exploding, and you can land it for future use.

[thomj084]

A further update to everyone! I have successfully now landed 6 Kerbonauts next to the Mun Base! Here are some pictures

The Launch of the unmanned "Altair" Lander Module through a probe and the 6 Kerbonaut crewed "Orion" MPMV that will rendezvous with the unmanned Lander Module.

The rendezvous and establishing the orbit with the "Orion" MPMV and the "Altair" Lander.

The successful landing of the "Altair" landing module.

The flag planted on the "Farside Crater" where the base and the lander is.

A photo poses from all 6 Kerbonauts in front of the Mun Base, Callsign "Ariel 1-A". Now these lot can get on and start working plus MOAR science 

Edited May 30, 2016 by thomj084
Grammar

[thomj084]

Hey Dman, 

Appreciate it!

[WellItExplodedAgain]

@thomj084 

It looks awesome! I love the design. Great job with the launch vehicles and the sky crane!  

[thomj084]

Appreciate it @WellItExplodedAgain . Now this has been successful, my intention is to develop a successful rover design for further planetary explorations.  Since I'm using USI Life Support, I need to ensure they have all the necessary supplies & scientific capabilities to explore beyond the premises of the Mun Base! This would also be an adequate opportunity to design an ExoMars probe mission which I like to call ExoDuna to deploy a probe on Duna!

[WellItExplodedAgain]

6 hours ago, thomj084 said:

Appreciate it @WellItExplodedAgain . Now this has been successful, my intention is to develop a successful rover design for further planetary explorations.  Since I'm using USI Life Support, I need to ensure they have all the necessary supplies & scientific capabilities to explore beyond the premises of the Mun Base! This would also be an adequate opportunity to design an ExoMars probe mission which I like to call ExoDuna to deploy a probe on Duna!

I would love to help you out with your missions. Feel free to PM me if you need anything.

[thomj084]

Sure!