ESS Constellation

[septemberWaves]

8 hours ago, DerekL1963 said:

What mod is providing your aeroshells?  And how did you get the rover down from there?

The aeroshells are from Procedural Fairings.

The rover got down by tipping forward and backward using the reaction wheels. I did actually discover that in Duna's gravity, the reaction wheels are powerful enough to turn it the right way up if it's upside-down, which is quite convenient.

[septemberWaves]

Mun Base Deltoton

Mun Base Deltoton is a base that will be assembled on the Mun using Altair-C landers (basically Altair descent stages with a couple of minor modifications and with the payload mounted on top). It consists of three modules (counting the rover lander) and will be landed in the Deltoton Crater at the northern rim of the East Crater. This landing site was chosen because it provides a good path down into the larger impact crater as well as having several biomes nearby, and also because scanning satellites detected an anomaly near the crater rim which warrants further inspection.

The base is assembled with three launches of an Ares V rocket. The first launch sends the habitation module and a Leo Minor SMV, the second launch sends the science module, and the third launch sends the Leo SMV.

Spoiler

Ignition.

Liftoff of Deltoton 1.

Commencing gravity turn.

Breaking sound barrier.

Booster cutoff and separation.

First stage cutoff and separation.

Fairing separation.

Confirmation of booster recovery.

Circularizing.

Circularization complete.

Ignition.

Liftoff of Deltoton 2.

Fairing separation.

Confirmation of booster recovery.

Circularizing.

Circularization complete.

Ignition.

Liftoff of Deltoton 3.

Fairing separation.

Confirmation of booster recovery.

Circularizing.

Circularization complete.

Transferring the modules to the Mun.

Each module separates from its KDS and performs a minor correction burn.

The modules arrive at the Mun and circularize.

Deorbiting Deltoton 1.

The anomaly is large enough to be visible from this altitude.

Anomaly confirmed to be a large arch. Material appears to be different from the surrounding Munar regolith.

Deltoton 1 has landed. The landing site is not good though. Luckily there is fuel remaining in the Altair-C descent module.

Deltoton 1 has landed.

The Leo Minor SMV separates and the ladder is deployed. Unfortunately the brakes were not engaged on the rover, and since it has no independent control it was left to roll across the surface for a while.

Deltoton 2 has landed.

Deltoton 3 has landed.

The Leo SMV separates from the descent module.

 

Munar Sortie Mission 2

This is the second crewed mission to the Mun as part of the Constellation program. The crew of this mission are Valentina Kerman (Orion Pilot), Julella Kerman (Scientist), Marlie Kerman (Engineer), and Berella Kerman (Altair Pilot). This mission will have a longer duration than the previous one, as the crew will stay on the Munar surface for a little over 13 days to study the Munar surface in detail, perform experiments in Munar gravity, and study the anomaly (that is now designated the Deltoton Arch).

The Altair lander is launched first. It has had some modifications since MSM1, and now has more fuel in the upper stage as well as improved power storage.

Spoiler

Ignition.

Liftoff of MSM2-Altair.

Fairing separation.

Confirmation of booster recovery.

Circularizing.

Circularization complete.

Back on Kerbin, the crew of MSM2 are launched.

Ignition.

Liftoff of MSM2-Altair.

Confirmation of first stage recovery.

Circularizing.

Circularization complete.

Spacecraft deployment.

Approaching Altair.

Docking successful.

Transferring to the Mun.

The KDS separates and executes a maneuver to ensure that it crashes into the Mun.

The spacecraft reaches the Mun and circularizes.

The crew transfer into Altair, which then undocks from Orion.

MSM2-Altair has landed on the Mun.

 

Now surface operations can commence.

Spoiler

Valentina is the first to exit the Altair lander, and walks over to the Leo SMV.

She drives the SMV over to Altair so that the rest of the crew can enter it.

The first part of the rover excursion involves travelling to the Deltoton Arch to survey it.

The arch is found to be composed of a different material to the surface regolith. It is also discovered that it is a good location to plant a flag.

The crew return to the rover and prepare to journey down the side of the East Crater into the impact basin.

The rover handles very well on steep slopes in the Mun's low gravity.

They stop halfway down in a midlands biome to conduct science experiments and plant a flag.

They stop again several kilometers south of Mun Base Deltoton. Here some more data and samples can be gathered, this time from the large impact basin of the Mun's East Crater.

After doing science, they return to base.

Berella leaves the Leo SMV to pick up the Leo Minor SMV. The smaller rover has been rolling across the surface uncontrollably because it does not have independent control and the brakes were left disengaged. The rover was sent to the Mun mainly as a backup for the larger SMV.

Berella drives the rover to the base and enters the habitation module.

Then the other crew members also enter the habitation module.

After spending 13 days on the Munar surface, the crew prepare to return to Kerbin.

Spoiler

The crew all return to the Altair lander.

AME ignition, and liftoff from the Munar surface.

Circularizing.

Approaching Orion.

Docking successful.

The crew transfer to Orion, and then the Altair ascent module undocks and de-orbits.

Leaving the Mun.

Service module separation.

Re-entry and landing are successful.

 

Surface Science Bonus: 1656

Spoiler

Not counting the data for "Recovery of a vessel returned from orbit around the Mun", this mission returned 1656 science points from three separate biomes.

 

Edited March 9, 2017 by eloquentJane

[Angelo Kerman]

Really like the Altair designs you've come up with.

[septemberWaves]

8 minutes ago, Angel-125 said:

Really like the Altair designs you've come up with.

Thanks. I'm quite pleased with how I've got them to look. The descent module is somewhat overpowered for the Mun, but that's fine because I can probably use the same descent module for Vall and it's not likely to require too much modification to be able to work on Tylo.