Modded 64k Career game UPDATE Year2 Day36 (09/05/2017)

[Shania_L]

Day 239, Mun Surface

Spoiler

 

After spending a few hours at the second landing site Elory is finally fed up of eating sandwiches full of Mun dust and prepares for departure.

Medea transfer vessel had been orbiting on a slightly inclined plane, and with Elorys jump south its trajectory will pass a chunk (yes thats a technical term) to the north of him. Performing a 91Dv inclination change Medea ensures it will fly directly overhead on its next pass.

The ascent from Mun'r surface is the only phase of the mission which requires a pilots control ability, with the lack of a probe core due to excessive weight trimming it also lacks an antenna and electrical generation capacity. Elorys life is firmly dependent on docking with Medea before the 500Ec is drained. The ascent vehicle does however pack an impressive 2,600Dv.

With some pretty nifty manual timings and Medeas co-operative manoeuvring Elory intercepts his ride home within 1/3 of an orbit ... just as the sun sets forcing the docking to take place in darkness ...

314Dv remain available from the ascent vehicle (650 if undocked from Medea) while Medeas engines still have 1,600. The escape burn from Mun orbit will require 700Dv, it is decided to burn this from the ascent engines as much as possible and retain the higher thrust Dv for Kerbin capture.

250Dv is burned from the ascent stage followed by the remaining 450Dv from Medea setting Elory up for a Kerbin Pe of 70km.

Calculations show that around 2,300Dv will be required to capture Medea into a 150Km Kerbin orbit, with 1,320+56 available it looks as though an equivalent to 900Dv will be required from aerobraking ..... despite not having a heat shield of any sort. Fortunately Medea/Decender is relatively low density, being fairly large yet only weighing in at 2,090Kg is should be able to slow down effectively at quite high altitude and avoid the most intense heating effects of thicker atmosphere.

Contract Complete, Science from Mun Orbit. 84,563 Funds, 2 Science, 225 Reputation

 

Day 242, Low Kerbin Orbit

Spoiler

 

After another 2 days spent twiddling his thumbs falling back towards Kerbin, Elory is finally able to see his homeworld growing increasingly large through his window. A tiny burn is performed to raise his Pe to 78Km and KSC crosses its collective fingers as Medeas bulk is used to shield Elorys capsule from the possible heating effects.

The entirety of the KeroLox fuel supply is burned at Pe and the craft manages to capture to a slightly wonky 2,100x75Km orbit with maximum temperatures recorded of 520 degrees on Medeas Galaxy VR-2 engine bells.... this may have something to do with them burning fuel at the time though. Most importantly nothing burns up and all the science is safe .... and Elory too, ofcourse.

The 56Dv remaining in the ascent stage is burned at Ap to bring the Pe back outside of the atmosphere leaving Elory completely without fuel in a 2,100x104Km orbit.

Hector/Ascender IV have remained in their 150Km orbit ever since Medea departed, now that Medea has returned Hector fires up its engines burning 650Dv to perform a 2.1 degree plane change and match Medeas orbit, it will take a couple of orbits to match positions but Elory knows rescue is on its way and has time to finish his scale model of a Mun rock.

 

Day 243, Low Kerbin Orbit

Spoiler

 

Following what is quite possibly the most awkward docking to date, Hector/Ascender/Medea/Decender are once more joined as one. Medea has no RCS fuel or reaction control system so is entirely uncontrollable, Decender likewise has no RCS for linear movement, but does have reaction control .. so long as it retains Ec, the conjoined Hector/Ascender is far from being a balanced unit and has to manoeuvre itself between both other craft. We definitely need to sort this system out, perhaps some form of permanent orbital structure everything could meet up at?

Hector transfers all of its remaining KeroLox into Medea and then un-docks and burns retrograde to burnup now that its supplies are gone.

Elory transfers himself over to Ascenders capsule with all of his Mun surface samples, and his Mun Rock model, then undocks.

The empty Decender capsule is also sent on a destructive re-entry trajectory after re-filling Medeas life support stocks.

Medea, now alone again, circularises its orbit back to 150km and sits waiting with the docking adaptor for its next mission.

Elory makes an attempt at landing near the KSC, afterall he really doesnt want to have to walk very far and Kerbin is really big!

Firing his motors for re-entry he makes his best shot and enters the atmosphere for the second time in two different craft on consecutive days.

Unfortunately no photograph is available of Elory after landing, he reported serious issues with setting up the tripod. This probably had something to do with landing in the sea east of KSC.

562.1 Science and 978 funds recovered from capsule, Elory gains 5xp raising him to first class pilot.

Total mission returns 1,083.7 science from experiments, 49 from contracts.

Income from completed contracts 222,278 Funds

Total costs;

Medea Launch - 59,207

Ascender IV servicing mission - 36,820

Decender Ib Launch - 106,795

Hector Launch - 55,087

Ascender IV crew Launch - 36,289

Total cost - 294,198 Funds

In financial terms, this second Mun mission made a loss of 71,920 Funds, it did leave a functioning Medea transfer stage in orbit, however it will require 2 Hector launches to refuel rather than 1 if launched as new. With a Medea costing 59,207 to launch, it is actually cheaper to dispose of the entire system on every mission rather than trying to re-use it.

 

Day 244, Minmus Orbit

A minor (50Dv) inclination change for Helmdar IIc-Mi to increase to 88 degrees to allow biome scanning of the poles.

 

---

I am really going to have to find a way to make a good chunk of Funds pretty soon, as the vast majority of my missions are loss making. Saving up for the final R&D upgrade is becoming quite the challenge especially as my contract schedule is getting pretty stacked up with 3 star contracts I have accepted but dont want to spend out on the necessary craft to complete them.

ISRU is a possibility, but Karbonite really doesnt have much of a value and it weighs a tonne!. Karborundum is massively valuable, but well out of my acquisition range unless I get a lucky jackpot asteroid passing through Kerbin SOI ... not that I have any means of detecting (or tracking) asteroids just yet.

I will have to put a bit of thought into this, how to make a space program profitable ..... how does NASA do it? ... ohh wait

Edited December 2, 2015 by Shania_L

[Shania_L]

In which much refuelling takes place, much orbital shuffling occurs, also new 2 manned missions !

 

---

Day 244, KSC

Spoiler

 

With Medea recently returned from its Mun mission, KSC mission control had managed to get its eccentric orbit under control but it was now essentially dry again. A new Hector launch was required, technically 2 will be as Medea has a greater fuel capacity, but for now just the one will be launched.

Once again the HoundDog II launch happens at night, very strange this happens so often seeing as the 155km orbit has a period of only 1.5hrs.

Hector has to manoeuvre itself around an inert Medea resulting in docking taking place at an odd angle.

Delivering 4,500litres of KeroLox (combined) Hectors job is done, it un-docks and burns for a suicidal re-entry.

Mission cost, 56,644 Funds, 2x821 recovered from boosters.

 

Day 245, KSC

Spoiler

 

In a bid to try and extract as many Funds from each mission as possible, Wernher allocates 100,000 Funds to the upgrading of the Administration Facility.

Immediately Mortimer utilises the increased abilities to raise the Fundraising Campaign to 60% efficiency, 8.2 Funds earned per Reputation point.

He also initiates the Patents licensing strategy at 60% returning 9.2 Funds per science point earned.

These strategies cost 310 Reputation and 1,674 Science to initiate, the hope is that this will allow us to generate many more Funds towards our long term goal of upgrading the R&D facility..

 

Day 245, KSC

Spoiler

 

Possibly the heaviest launch to date, 149,500kg on the pad sits HoundDog III with a new craft, the Medusa Crew Runabout.

Some bright spark in the VAB design office was pondering about the further applications of the Medea transfer stage, and its possible application as a manned vehicle.

Ripping off the standard docking port, sticking in its place a Mk1 lander can, with uprated (and retractable!) solar panels and a heatshield for aerobreaking purposes only. You end up with a vehicle capable of much longer duration missions, up to 30 days, capable of transferring small payloads on a Jr docking port but most of all, having an abundance of Dv enabling pretty easy travel for a single Kerbal anywhere in the Kerbin system ..... or for a suicidal Kerbal to send his cold dead emaciated corpse to Duna.

Medusa seen here docked with Medea allows you to see both the similarity and differences in the designs. Medusa with its forward mounted solar panels has retracted them for docking purposes.

Medusa tops off its tanks from Medea resulting in an available Dv stock of some 6,760m/sec.

Missions cost, 146,662 Funds, no recovery.

 

Day 246, KSC

Spoiler

 

Launch of an Ascender IV carrying into orbit a hero of the early days of the KSC, Scientist Podly Kerman. The first Kerbal to leave the surface of Kerbin, his terrified screams are still remembered proudly by Kerbals right around the globe. This flight will also mark another first gained by Podly, that of the first orbit completed by a non-pilot.

Launching ahead of Medea, Podly easily manages to match orbit and dock. Transferring across to the fully operational MCR (Medusa Crew Runabout) Podly de-couples and swings the nose around to leave LKO.

Having drifted clear of Medea, Podly aligns and times a 630Dv burn to increase his inclination to 6 degrees and align with Minmus' orbit. About an hour later he burns a further 2,500Dv to get an intercept 8 days later with the tiny ice world, in the process gaining another world record. 8,450m/sec fastest Kerbal ever!

Mission cost, 39,147 Funds, 2x940 recovered from boosters.

 

Day 247, KSC

Spoiler

 

As Medusa had 'borrowed' most of the fuel previously delivered to Medea, another Hector had to be launched.

Nothing different to the last (few) times really, so heres a picture of it burning up once the fuel has been delivered.

Mission cost, 56,645 Funds, 2x824 recovered from boosters.

 

Day 247, Mun Orbit

Spoiler

 

Helmdar IIc-Mu completes its biome scan of Mun, 40 science transmitted home.

Wernher gives the order to de-orbit the craft and heads home for the evening.

The Helmdar technician however decides he has 2,100Dv on a craft which he has been ordered to destroy, in a low orbit over Mun ..... could he land it? After all if he crashes it then hey, thats what he was supposed to do anyway, wheres the harm in trying?

So yeah, turns out he could, but err now we cant get rid of the debris, so the Mun just gained an unusually shaped piece of architecture.

86Dv remaining, engine bell landing, brings back memories, if only it had winglets

Helmdar IIc-Mu de-commissioned, assigned as surface debris.

 

Day 252, KSC

Spoiler

 

Launch of the Descender Ic at midnight (!) aboard a HoundDog II to intercept Medea as it passes overhead.

With both Medea and Descender having working RCS the docking goes quite well, even if both craft are swinging around excess baggage. Medea with a leaching Ascender IV and Descender still dragging its HoundDog II upper stage.

Descender Ic is structurally identical to the 'b' variant, however its fuel stocks have been switched about to support Medea in achieving greater Dv. The 8 radial (golden) tanks on the lander stage have had their Aerozine fuel mix replaced with KeroLox, this will be transfered into Medea ASAP as they are not insulated. Also the ascent stage has had its fuel stocks reduced as a mass saving measure.

Final requirements are noted down for stocks to bring up to top off all tanks, in the final (I promise) Hector launch. The HoundDog upper stage has been retained to provide initial blunt force assistance getting the vehicle moving and will be discarded part way through the first burn.

Mission cost, 107,546 funds, 2x822 recovered from boosters.

 

Day 253, KSC

Spoiler

 

Yup, the third Hector launch of this edition, payload trimmed to match as closely as possible to Medeas requirements.

Launching, ever-so-slightly late Hector spots the Medea assembly area passing only 14km above it while still accelerating to orbital velocity. 18 tonnes coming at you from behind and still managing a closing speed of some 2,000 m/sec makes even a Hector launch interesting!

Hector catches back up after performing a single go-around and docks up creating what is the largest orbital structure to date, 146 parts and just short of 21 tonnes. Perhaps it is the influence of a 155Km Kerbin orbit (clouds, water etc) but my frame rate was not happy.

Hector seen here approaching Medea with the HUD visible.

Hector remains docked storing the Liquid Oxygen in its insulated tanks until an Ascender can bring up a crew, Hector will transfer the volatile fuel as late as possible to minimise boiloff.

Mission cost, 56,580 Funds, 2x824 recovered from boosters.

 

 

---

On an OOG note, I will be out of the country on work for the next 2 weeks so am going to be unable to post (or play) until the beginning of November. But rest assured I am returning and have plenty of ideas for more launches, and a replacement for Hector!!

Edited December 2, 2015 by Shania_L

[legoclone09]

I'll second this. Shania_L, your designs and attention to vehicle lineage give it all a very "real" feel. I wonder if there's some inherent subtlety in 6.4x that encourages incremental changes to lifters like that.

What happened to the 5th Kerpublic?

Anyways, great career log. I'm going to play with these mods now, looks awesome!

[CatastrophicFailure]

What happened to the 5th Kerpublic?

IIRC his game suffered from fatal file shenanigans, also known as FFS. Taking a nod from history, that Kerpublic didn't last long either.

@Shania_L: As I said elsewhere, much different approach to solving problems. You do much with very little (I forget those mini docking ports even exist).

Any particular reason you made the plane-change burn prior to the ejection burn going to Minmus?

And have fun on your vacation(?). Now I'll have a couple of weeks to catch up

[Shania_L]

I had to inclination change before ejection burn due to Minmus not being anywhere near an equator crossing point of its orbit. Had I ejected then incline changed I would have missed Minmus by a long way and ended up quite embarrassed

Yes its a very in-efficient way to get to Minmus, but the craft was already in equatorial orbit, to match Medea for its re-fuelling, so its a case of bite the bullet, either wait ages for a plane alignment, or burn an extra 600Dv to incline the orbit. Medusa has the Dv to spare so I went for it.

For future launches its something I'm going to have to work on, if I launch at an angle from the ground (as I do for direct ascent missions) then I'll never get LKO meet-ups between sub-craft, or I am going to have to wait for Minmus to cross Kerbins equator and launch equatorialy.

Not sure 2 weeks in a German factory counts as a vacation!! I expect Ussari boots on Duna before I return!

[CatastrophicFailure]

Just don't trust the emissions tests

[DivisionByZero]

You've really stuck with this career game! I'm back after some hiatus and started over on my own 64k career game. I'll have to read the rest of your updates but this looks really cool.

Cheers!

[MatterBeam]

Thank you for your hard work. I really like your serious approach to things and incremental innovation in the designs.

[Sauron]

What's the tech tree mod of choice here?

[MatterBeam]

What's the tech tree mod of choice here?

I believe it's community tech tree. It's best if OP confirms.

[Shania_L]

What's the tech tree mod of choice here?

The tech tree is possibly the only stock aspect of this game, (with an odd personal tweak to an individual part or two).

Bear in mind this is still a 0.90 install, due to incompatibilities I will wait until I max out the techtree (and thus avoid any issues from repeated science making progress easy) before I try to upgrade to 1.0.x (or perhaps 1.1 if I take ages at it

Also, yes I am back now, so I'll get another episode out ASAP, thanks for all your patience and continued interest in my play

[CatastrophicFailure]

She's back! How was Germany?

wait it is "she" right? Or I'm gonna look very foolish...

[Shania_L]

CatastrophicFailure said:

She's back! How was Germany?

wait it is "she" right? Or I'm gonna look very foolish...

Germany, cold! but at least drier than the UK atm

Hardly foolish, the name would certainly indicate female to the majority of readers.

But without further ado, right back to the rockety bits!

 

---

Day 254, KSC

Spoiler

 

The selection of crew for the currently under construction 3rd Medea mission has divided not only the pilots, but also the veterans of the early days. Scientist Nelsy Kerman has been selected for the third flight, which will also be the first attempt at a landing on Minmus (although Podly will be the first Kerbal to pass through the SOI in Medusa).

Launching at dusk aboard an Ascender IV Nelsy is essentially payload for the probe controlled orbiter.

Climbing into a 127x190km orbit Ascender is able to intercept Medea within half an orbit. Holding some 20km away to allow the lingering Hector tanker to unload its volatile LOx cargo and clear the area, Ascender then moves in to dock.

With the cryogenic liquid oxygen stored in non-insulated tanks aboard Decender, and the Liquid Hydrogen (which will still boiloff) in the insulated HoundDog II upper stage we are operating on a time limit, Dv is literally evaporating into space.

The undocking ballet is simplified by the symmetry of having Podly and Nelsy's Ascenders here at the same time, Decender and Medea gently back away and allow the orbiters to extract the adaptor.

When Medea returned from its previous Mun mission it was parked in an equatorial orbit to ease intercepts with the KSC launch site. However it now needs to leave LKO at 6 degrees to align with Minmus' orbit, direct ascents from KSC save a great deal of fuel by launching directly into a Minmus aligned orbit but this would make re-fuelling and crew missions very difficult to intercept. The tradeoff is that Medea is now going to have to perform a costly low orbit plane change manoeuvre ... hence retaining the HoundDog upper stage.

280Dv is provided from the upper stage before it is jettisoned, aligned retrograde and its de-orbit system is fired. The remaining 350Dv comes from Medeas own stock. Plane change now complete Medea aligns itself for the ejection burn.

Medea/Decender could perform an efficient transfer to Minmus costing some 2,200 Dv, but this would take the best part of 14 days to arrive and unlike robotic probes Kerbals (outside the atmosphere) have a lifespan limited by the amount of lifesupport carried, in this case around 28 days. So we need to spend an additional 300Dv to cut the transfer time down to 8 days.

Mission cost (Ascender IV) 39,371 Funds, 2x939 recovered from boosters.

 

Day 254, Minmus

Spoiler

 

Shortly after Nelsy ejects from LKO, Podly, aboard Medusa, becomes the first Kerbal to cross over into Minmus SOI. Performing a quick EVA in very high orbit Podly can just about make out the minty planetoid against the dark background. Minmus however, is only an incidental target in his mission plan, he is here to scavenge important discoveries from the twin Lunic II landers which are still in low orbit, the planetary science is to be left for Nelsy.

Targeting the first of the landers, Podly performs a tiny 4Dv burn to ensure his Pe is at a similar latitude enabling a much easier intercept.

Contract complete, Science from Minmus orbit. 90,499 Funds, 1 Science, 114 Reputation.

1,180Dv is burned at Pe to capture Medusa into an 18x70km orbit, only a tiny tweak from the retro-RCS system is required to setup an intercept with Lunic IIa in 3/4 of an orbit.

Using only the RCS to match velocity with the drifting lander causes Medusa to actually gain 17Dv for its main engines through mass reduction.

Podly goes EVA to recover the valuable data Lunic harvested from the surface of Minmus, 28 separate reports are safely stored back aboard Medusa.

Once Podly was sufficiently clear, mission control remotely instruct Lunic to burn all of its remaining fuel to deorbit and retire the craft. Turns out that even with only 16.8 Dv that is possible!

Again using only RCS Medusa completes a 9Dv orbit adjustment to meetup with Lunic IIb the next time around. Repeating the procedure, another 30 reports are safely collected and transferred into Medusas storage.

Lunic IIb having much more Dv than IIa (A whole 21m/sec) is easily capable of performing its own retirement burn.

Having expended all of the onboard RCS fuel, Medusa has achieved its minimum mass configuration and therefore maximum Dv available from its engines, 1,812m/sec.

However on plotting a return to Kerbin trajectory it is noticed that the travel time is alarmingly high, an efficient 450Dv burn to leave Minmus will take 21 days to fall to Kerbin .... Medusa is carrying roughly 21 days of lifesupport at this point. Burning an additional 150m/sec will cut 7 days off the transfer time which should allow Podly enough time to capture, match orbits and be 'rescued' by the awaiting Ascenders in LKO.

With high energy transfers in both directions, this means that the minimum duration Minmus mission is 22 days, for Medusa carrying 28 days of lifesupport this is close, but do-able. Concerns however start filtering though KSC for the recently departed Medea carrying Nelsy Kerman and 24 days of lifesupport!

Contract parameter complete, crew report over 6,000m at sector K-16 (report taken @ 27,000m) 28,280 Funds, 16 Science, 5 Reputation.

(This contract was intended to be a part of Nelsys mission, but as Podly flew over the location unintentionally I wasnt going to ignore it)

 

Day 255, Minmus

Spoiler

 

Medusa performs its Minmus ejection burn, 600Dv for a Kerbin atmosphere intercept in 13D 3H.

Medusa carries a hefty heatshield intended for multiple uses, however it is preferable to use the majority of the 980Dv remaining on board as this provides a more reliable capture method. (2,500m/sec of de-celeration willl be required)

 

 

 

 

---

So yeah, a little mis-calculation there on my part, I really didnt realise how long it takes to fall back from Minmus. Ooops, sorry Nelsy!! I hope you dont starve to death in the cold dark void between planets

Edited December 2, 2015 by Shania_L

[Shania_L]

Day 256, KSC

Spoiler

 

2D after Nelsy Kerman aboard Medea left LKO on an 8D transfer to Minmus.

Crisis talks at mission control, after considering data based on Medusas Kerbin return trajectory and applying it to Medeas estimated mission profile it has become very clear that Nelsy will not infact have enough lifesupport to return (alive) to Kerbin. Medea, being fully automated would obediently return to LKO with or without a live crew member and it would fall to one of the established pilots to fly up and collect the science Nelsy has yet to collect.

Medea carries 19 units of lifesupport and due to some funky maths this equates to around 21 days of life (a kerbal uses slightly less than 1 unit a day).

With the outbound trip taking 8D, and estimates based on Medusa coming in at 14-20D for the return trip this leaves no time for any exploration of Minmus, or even any time in Kerbin orbit upon return for Ascender to match orbits and rescue Nelsy. Medea is also incapable of performing Kerbin aerobraking so cannot afford to be so aggressive on its return profile as Medusa can.

Options for rescue at Minmus are extremely unlikely, Medusa is the only other craft capable of the mission in existence and it is currently falling back towards Kerbin and will be for at least the next 11D it would then require re fuelling and an 8D flight back out to Minmus by which time Nelsy would be long gone.

There are 2 Ascender crew transports docked together in LKO, fully fuelled they carry 1.8K Dv each as well as 18D lifesupport. Currently neither are fully fuelled, but draining one craft to top up the other, then using the partially fuelled ship as a booster for the full one would enable a transfer to Minmus. Without the 1kDv required to capture at Minmus however it would end up as a flyby and poor Nelsy would only be taunted by 18D worth of snacks flying past him at high velocity as his air supply dies.

It was at this point that the crisis meeting fell silent, the members present coming to the realisation that they may well lose Nelsy, a rookie on his first mission for the KSC.

The solution is simple, use a bigger booster!!

Build a new Ascender IV, stripped down of all non-essentials and with slightly stretched tanks. Then, instead of launching it on a HoundDog I, strap it on top of a HoundDog II and use its upper stage as a transfer stage.

With both Ascender and HoundDog II being regular production items, this mashup can actually be built in only 1D3H ! it immediately gets top priority ahead of all other build programs. We will not let Nelsy die out in the cold void of space ... not on my watch!!

 

Day 257, KSC

Spoiler

 

Already completed however was a small technology demonstration flight for an upcoming Verity programme mission. KSC researchers had already flown NTR into LKO for simple instrumentation tests, however they had never actually been fuelled or had their performance measured, today that changes.

Verity VII-Pre weighs in at just over 1t, however it should be capable of performing a free return trajectory around Mun. Being so light it is able to launch atop a simple HoundDog I lifter. Liftoff at dawn.

Circularising at 150Km HDI still has fuel in its tanks, but it has to be cut loose whilst we can guarantee it will burnup. A 2,320Dv burn is plotted to throw Verity around the Mun and return without need of further course correction.

The Rockomax 'Shiba' NTR burns pure liquefied Methane and produces this incredible pink plume ... also 13KN of thrust, but mostly the plume resulting in a 3min burn.

 

Day 258, KSC

Spoiler

 

There are a lot of techs in the VAB who are owed a lot of overtime, also a long sleep, but they have managed to put together a rescue ship for Nelsy in less than a day and a half.

Rushing it out to the pad just in time for the next alignment of Minmus, Ascender IVb is blasted into the night sky.

Being a direct ascent flight we are able to launch directly into a 140Km, 6 degree inclination orbit negating the need for any plane change burns.

A few hours later the upper/transfer stage fires again burning 1800 Dv before it is dry, Ascender is then jettisoned to burn the remaining 700Dv from its extended onboard supply. 8D 5H transfer to Minmus. Nelsy only launched 4D ago himself, and has yet to even reach (halfway) to Minmus but he already has a rescue ship chasing him!

4H later the transfer stage reaches its Ap of 19.5Mm, firing its de-orbiting system it heads for destructive re-entry.

Mission cost, 52,513 Funds - 2x827 recovered from boosters.

 

Day 259, Mun

Spoiler

 

Verity VII arrives at Mun following its free return trajectory, all onboard fuel has been burnt so no corrections can be made anyway. The retrograde Mun orbit uses Muns gravity to slow the craft and fling it back into Kerbins atmosphere.

Verity itself consists of little more than the NTR and its cryogenic fueltank and the support/control systems required to operate the probe. Conforming to Wernhers strict instructions on the use of nuclear technology the probe is designed to re-enter the atmosphere behind a protective shield before splitting and the dangerous NTR being recovered by parachute.

 

Day 261, Kerbin

Spoiler

 

Coming in on a steeper trajectory than anticipated, Verity VII heads for a 40Km Pe. Fortunately the parachutes and separation had been programmed in advance on timers as the only part (other than the non-retractable solar panels) which fell victim to the 12G aerocapture was the antenna, rendering the probe uncontrollable for most of the decent.

(due to x64 having much higher orbital velocities than stock, the flame effects appear the instant anything touches 91km, even if there is no actual heating/drag effects, which is why the panels are still intact in this image)

The timer was slightly slow, but Verity successfully jettisoned the fueltank/heatshield just before landing safely in the ocean.

Mission cost, 43,535 Funds, -2x939 recovered from boosters - 4,418 recovered from landed NTR.

9 Science recovered.

 

Day 261, Minmus orbit

Helmdar IIc-Mi minor (25Dv) burn to change inclination and altitude, 88deg @ 600km to chase last illusive parts of biome scan.

Day 262, Minmus

Spoiler

 

Despite the fact that he does not possess enough lifesupport to complete his mission, Nelsy has been informed of the rescue attempt and that he must actually prolong his 1D stay to as long as it takes for Ascender to arrive, possibly giving him 3D to explore Minmus. Either way, this was his big moment in history, he, Nelsy Kerman would be the first Kerbal to set foot on the Minty wonderland!!

Entering Minmus SOI at over 1.3Kmps Nelsy performs a small 28Dv burn to tweak his Pe to an equatorial 21Km altitude where he will perform his 1,200m/sec capture burn only 1H later.

Safely captured into a roughly 20km orbit, Nelsy cannot wait to get down onto the surface and stretch his legs, de-coupling Decender from Medea he checks his fuel capacity, 1,600Dv! and thats with some excess fuel stored in the ascent vehicle too, he should be able to hit many, if not all of Minmus' biomes with that much. At least he will have a busy 3D wait.

 

 

Edited December 2, 2015 by Shania_L

[CatastrophicFailure]

Hmmmmm.

Udachi, Nelsy. Udachi.

[GarrisonChisholm]

So yeah, a little mis-calculation there on my part, I really didnt realise how long it takes to fall back from Minmus. Ooops, sorry Nelsy!! I hope you dont starve to death in the cold dark void between planets

This is some way to ensure return readers!! *makes appointment for the end of tomorrow's shift*

[Shania_L]

"The KSC hereby denies any and all claims that the currently unfolding tragedy involving Scientist Nelsy Kerman was anything other than simple mis-calculation. Any claims, or leaked documentation clearly stating the fact, that this was a cheap ploy to boost ratings are to be considered heresy of the highest order!"

[Shania_L]

Day 262, Minmus (Continued)

Spoiler

Following on immediately from last weeks episode, we return to Nelsy Kerman on his historic first manned decent to the surface of Minmus.

Decender I, despite having completely dry outer tanks(the gold ones) still has over 1,600Dv an exact figure is unknown due to additional fuel being carried in the ascent stage and it not being counted by the calculator. Either way, he has a lot of fuel to play with.

His first target for landing is the Highlands ... not planned its just what happened to be underneath when he hit the ground.

Soft touchdown at an altitude of 4,870m on Minmus' Highlands biome, Nelsy successfully manages to stick the flag in the ground ..... even if he did manage to put on the wrong space suit .... orange suits are pilots, Nelsy is a scientist and should be yellow

Contract complete, Flag on Minmus, 122,075 Funds, 250 Reputation.

Performing all the science carried on the lander (except the goo can) Nelsy transmits home everything he can at 100% and stores the rest for physical transfer.

Returning to his capsule to perform a short 37km hop south to a landing zone in the slopes biome, this landing point has been targeted to a contract required location. Surprisingly the rep managed to keep a straight face when he asked KSC to explore the 'Krakens Crevice' region of Minmus ... certainly Nelsy couldnt....

Repeating all of the standard science, Nelsy also completes the two extra required surface EVA reports.
Contract Parameters complete, 22,609 Funds, 8 Science, 8 Reputation , twice.
Combined with the parameter completed by Podlys overflight that completes the Minmus survey contract for an additional 169,156 Funds, 32 Science, 58 Reputation.

The process of performing a small hop, re-landing and repeating all of the science is then performed in the Midlands, the Lowlands and then the Flats biome.

Descender Ib seen here skimming low over the surface between landing points.

A contract requiring more in-depth science is completed with a final landing in the Flats region.
Contract parameters complete, Surface laser scan 17,775 Funds, 5 Science, 19 Reputation.
Surface Hydrogen Scan, 15,561 Funds, 5 Science, 16 Reputation.
Surface Seismic scan 17,784 Funds, 18 Science, 18 Reputation.
Mystery Goo sample taken, but retained for physical data transfer back at KSC.


What did we tell you about the laser Nelsy? DON'T look at it while it is firing!!

Decender carries only 3D of lifesupport, the rest is still aboard Medea in orbit, even so with the sun getting low on the horizon Nelsy decides to turn in for the night, and makes what will be the first overnight stay on the surface not only of Minmus, but any other world.


With the Ascender IVb rescue ship will 4D out, Nelsy now has to deliberately not head home and patiently await rescue.
The descent stage still has 625Dv aboard!!

Day 263, KSC

Spoiler

Having only been slightly delayed by the rush production job of Ascender IVb, the latest offering from the Lunic probe lander division comes off the production line. The appropriately named Lunic III is another vessel headed for Minmus with a specific contract to complete, multiple surface seismic scans. KSC is really getting its head down and trying to complete cash-cow missions to build up enough Funds for the final R&D lab upgrade (6.3Mil)


Blasting off from KSC just after midday directly into a 6 degree north inclination removes the need for any plane change manoeuvres as Minmus' orbit track is passing directly overhead.

Being a little under-mass for the HoundDog II lifter, Lunic III is thrown into a slightly high 160km orbit and the upper stage still has a little over 2,000Dv remaining.

This is used along with an additional 500Dv from the Lunic III transfer stage to boost the payload into a 9D Minmus transfer orbit.


The HoundDog upper stage attains a maximum Ap of some 28Mm, where its retro-rockets fire to easily put it onto a sub-orbital trajectory. Meanwhile the Lunic transfer stage retains a little under 1,300Dv, most of which it will use to capture at Minmus in 9D time.

Day 264, Minmus

Spoiler

So it turns out Nelsy is not a very patient Kerbal.

Having had a quick nap, Nelsy decides that Minmus' night is far too long and lights up the darkness of the Flats by igniting his LV-909 motor and making a long burn due north.


Being on the far side of Minmus at this point having Kerbin rise above one horizon at roughly the same time as Kerbol rose over another was quite the welcome sight. Once Nelsy felt he had travelled far enough north to retain solar power collection at the surface he performed what will be the sixth and final landing of the Decent stage in the Poles region at 85degrees north.

Nelsy hops out for a quick photo opportunity and as an escape for the ear bending KSC controllers were giving him over radio. He had only 118Dv remaining in the descent stage (he had used nearly 500Dv getting here) KSC rather bluntly pointed out that his ride home was parked in an equatorial orbit, and that every single m/sec he could save in the ascent stage meant getting back to Kerbin would not only be faster, but would reduce the amount of aerobraking he would need to perform.

(It seems Nelsy managed to put the right spacesuit on this time too)

With all the science done and stored or transmitted home, Nelsy is ordered to use up all of the Dv in the decent stage before cutting it loose and continuing his climb with the ascent engines. This means there will be no permanent memorial of his landing other than the flag, unlike the Mun landings which retain the parked landing stages.


In order to reduce the cost of the required 90 degree plane change, Nelsy boosts up to an Ap of 231Km directly over the equator, this then results in a fairly cheap (for most other planets) 153Dv burn to match inclinations with Medea again.

With one final 36m/sec burn Nelsy plots an intercept after 3hrs and 1.5 orbits. 1,050Dv remaining in the ascent stage converts to 630 once docked to Medea ... enough for a high energy escape and Kerbin intercept, leaving the 900 from Medea for retro-braking ..... that just leaves us around 1,200Dv short of being able to avoid any aero-breaking (without a heatshield)


Now with only 11D of lifesupport aboard, Nelsy cannot get back to Kerbin even using all his Dv for the most high energy trajectory, he is entirely reliant on Ascender IVb.

 

---

My excuse for a short episode this time is spending Saturday at the Cosmonaut exhibition at the London Science Museum. Impressive display of early Soviet space tech, mostly from Energia private collection... very very Kerbal !! If anyone gets the chance to visit London before March its definitely worth a visit.

 

Edited December 2, 2015 by Shania_L

[GarrisonChisholm]

[quote name='Shania_L']"...claims, or leaked documentation clearly stating the fact, that this was a cheap ploy to boost ratings are to be considered [B]heresy[/B] of the highest order!"[/QUOTE]

I just realized this implies that this KSC is managed as a Theocracy, which is a fascinating concept from a business/managerial perspective. :P

[Shania_L]

Fascinating concept possibly, but sadly treading far too close to the law regarding religious content in messages for my liking. I'm not looking for a locked thread or a ban!!

=========================================*Imagine there is a separating line here*========================================

Day 267, Minmus

Spoiler

 

After hanging around in orbit of Minmus for 3 days, Nelsy finally receives confirmation from KSC mission control that Ascender IVb has entered Minmus SOI with a full payload of Mint flavoured snacks!

Performing a minor 45Dv burn as soon as it enters SOI (and regains radio control signals via Min-Net relay satellites)  Ascender aims for an intercepting course with the Low-orbiting Medea.

1H40M later a 1032Dv burned at Pe(16km) captures Ascender into a 24x232km orbit, which will intercept nicely 1 orbit later with Medea.

 

Day 268, Minmus

Spoiler

 

With somewhat predictable outcomes it isnt until Ascender moves into position to dock with Medea, that someone at KSC remembers that Medea isnt Medusa... Medusa retains the Jr docking port from the Mk1 Medea ... the current Medea has been upgraded to a standard size docking port, because thats progress right?

Nelsy could board Ascender and live on its22 days of supplies, but it has nowhere near the Dv to even escape Minmus, he could escape Minmus aboard Medea, and die of starvation before he gets back to Kerbin.

Or he could get out and manually transfer across each full Lifesupport wedge from Ascender and swap it with the empty ones on Medea.

After shuffling wedges about on a 15+ minute EVA, 3 new fully stocked lifesupport wedges have been swapped with 19 units (about 23 days) and also a full wedge of UDMH/NTO fuel for the ascent motors ~ 100 liters, or 150Dv. Nelsy is suddenly in a much better position.

The ascent motors now have 780Dv, with about 950 in Medea herself, this is around 500 more than Podly had in Medusa on his return to Kerbin ... but Podly had a heatshield Nelsy does not.

At the soonest opportunity Nelsy lines up and burns 550Dv from the weaker ascent motors on a less aggressive 15 day transit back towards Kerbin. With 1150Dv in the combined tanks, he hopes it will be enough to achieve some form of Kerbin orbit

 

Day 269, Low and getting lower by the second Kerbin Orbit

Spoiler

 

Podly Kerman makes his final course correction and aims Medusa at a 65Km Pe, he also plans to burn 450Dv to aid the whole not-dying-in-a-massive-fireball thing.

This is only the second time something has been re-entered from such a high altitude, and the previous attempt was an 800kg probe core on a much less aggressive trajectory, it endured 1200degress and 12G. Medusa weighs more like 2,750kg and has a lot more delicate components including a Kerbal and many science reports.

Retracting all antenna and solar panels as he drops below 150km Podly can do little else but hope now. Hitting 8,540m/sec (orbital) at the 91km atmosphere intersection Podly gets himself another speed record.

Podly finds that having your engines sticking through the heatshield really makes the heatshield not work too well, (I think they needed to be recessed a little further into the craft as the re-entry heating pretty much ignored the shield) This lead to the engines only being able to be run in bursts to avoid overheating issues.. and the associated explosions .. screaming and death.

After a touch-and-go aerobreaking pass Medusa is captured into a 56x3,634km orbit inclined at just over 9 degrees, with around 550Dv remaining. 625m/sec would be required to plane change to 0, so Podly combines it with a Pe raising burn to get a decent compromise 107x3,642km @ 4.2 degrees, fuel tanks finally dry Podly can now only sit and await rescue.

 

Day 269, Elsewhere in LKO at the same time.

Spoiler

 

The two Ascender craft which brought Podly and Nelsy into orbit have been sitting patiently awaiting the return of their crew. now is their time to return to life, however neither craft on its own has the fuel capacity to match Medusas final parking orbit. As is the life of a robot craft, one Ascender is drained and sacrifices itself to a fiery end in order to allow the other to achieve its goal.

Burning 800Dv to raise its Ap up to 3.4Mm, followed 30minutes later by a 260m/sec plane change burn, this is not going to be a rapid interception.

 

Day 270, LKO

Spoiler

 

Ascender IV performs the last burn required to match Medusas terrible orbit, another 150Dv at Pe and an intercept should happen in 2 orbits time!

Finally as the last few minutes of the day pass at KSC, and the sun rises for Medusa/Ascender the two craft acquire visual contact and home in to dock!

Medusas lifesupport is refilled from Ascenders ample supply and Podly (with arm-fulls of science reports) gratefully transfers into the cosy confines of a re-entry capable vessel! With Ascender barely having enough Dv to de-orbit itself nothing can be done with Medusas orbit and it must be left for another craft / another time!

Podly initiates the re-entry sequence and watches his home for the last 22 days disappear into the black of space.

 

Day 271, Somewhere in the desert east of KSC

Spoiler

 

Podlys capsule touches down safely, completing an epic 24 day mission (including the ascent/decent in Ascender with the 22D Medusa mission). The first Kerbal to enter (and return from) Minmus, the first non-pilot to leave low-orbit, the first meetup with a separate craft in orbit around another body (twice), Kerbal speed record (twice), first Kerbal ego to be measured in lightyears.

Capsule recovered 6,000km east of KSC, 6,200Funds returned.

377.4 science recovered (566 eaten by admin building strategies and turned into funds)

Podly gains 4xp and achieves Lvl 1.

Mission costs;

2x Lunic II = 151,710

Medusa = 146,662

Hector refuelling = 54,997

Ascender IV crew launch = 37,267

6,200 Funds recovered from capsule.

Total cost = 384,436 Funds, However Medusa craft remains in LKO, requires re-fuelling and its orbit tidied, but otherwise perfectly serviceable.

 

 

====================================*Imagine separating line here*====================================================

What with forum updates and whatnot its been quite a wait since my last post, hope this tides you all over !!

I know you all want to see if Nelsy survives and so do I honestly! but he has a 15 day fall from Minmus ahead of him and I have other missions in progress which will be reported as they happen.

Maybe its just me not using it right, but I havent got used to this new forum yet ... first day though so ill give it a chance, just annoying that I cant direct post links and for some reason my left/right cursors are disabled in the text but up/down are not. (they work in other windows, even to scroll the page, but not to move the cursor!

And the dividing lines! how do I do dividing lines!

Edited December 2, 2015 by Shania_L

[CatastrophicFailure]

KAS FTW!

 

there may be a (somewhat klunky) solution to the "ridiculous load times" problem. I went back and set all my pic-heavy posts on the last page to spoilers. The first new post kicked it to a new page, so I never got to see how it compared once the cache cleared. Bit labor intensive, but might be a way forward on these pic-heavy threads in the short term. 

[Shania_L]

10 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

KAS FTW!

 

there may be a (somewhat klunky) solution to the "ridiculous load times" problem. I went back and set all my pic-heavy posts on the last page to spoilers. The first new post kicked it to a new page, so I never got to see how it compared once the cache cleared. Bit labor intensive, but might be a way forward on these pic-heavy threads in the short term. 

Hmm, I'll give that a try, this page certainly loads faster the second time! Old forum still loaded contents of spoilers even when collapsed, seems this one actually waits till you open them

Looks like I need to find myself a picture, all the cool kids got themselves shiny avatars now ... what to use though?

[Shania_L]

Day 271, KSC

 

Spoiler

One cannot truly understand an environment until you have made it your home. Visiting and then returning home may gain you insights, but without long term occupation, it will forever remain alien.

To this end the Pandora institute, with a healthy dose of private funding, has been ordained to look into the concept of maintaining a permanent off-world population. Initially orbital, but if it proves feasible surface bases could be created for detailed long term study.

As with all things, this one begins small, and tests the water with the self titled Pandora Orbital Habitat. Launching atop the KSC's largest rocket we are still 'restricted' to ~10t in low orbit for a single launch.

Pandora is not only at the top end of HoundDog III's mass capacity, it is also bulky and destined for a high (500km) orbit. To this end the upper cryo-stage has been stretched and additional fuel has been stored in the stations internal structure, for transfer to the stage once fuel has been burnt off. These changes raise the total craft Dv to somewhere around 9,500m/sec, with its 10 tonne payload.

Dumping the core stage once it has run dry, HoundDog has already shed its fairings at the atmospheric boundary for even the minimal mass benefit it will gain. This allows us a first glance at the payload, most of which is taken up by the orbital laboratory.

Boosting up to an initial altitude of 190Km, so a minimal orbital track can be established, the Pe is then brought out of the atmosphere and boosted up to the desired 500km. The upper stage retains just enough fuel to circularise (literally having 7m/sec remaining) the station itself does however possess RCU and a small fuel supply which was not required.

A decoupler was not required below the station, it was mounted directly onto its own docking port, the lack of de-coupler inertia though required quite a pause before the upper stage de-orbit system could be fired without risking Pandora. Rather unsurprisingly, the 7m/sec fuel remaining in the upper stage became more than enough Dv to de-orbit itself once the hefty payload had been removed.
One solar array had to be deployed earlier than intended due to having to survive an entire night cycle on restricted battery life, deployment ensured the precious cargo would not be lost to such a petty reason, even if it does look a bit silly.

With the orbit stabilised at 501x501km at only 0.055degrees inclination the station is brought to life, hinged, telescoping booms unfurl long arms to mount large solar arrays far from the docking ports and possible gung-ho docking attempts, 4x gigantor arrays will provide more than enough power for the researchers who will live aboard in the coming years. Around the base are alternate standard and jr docking ports in 3x symmetry, there is an additional standard port facing 'down'. Communications are handled by a pair of comminictron 32's mounted on the end of the booms, each is capable of omni communications out to 32Mm.
Incidentally, this payload is a new record, (obviously) 10.500kg to a 500km orbit, even if the payload was used to store fuel, it is not self propelled.

Also on this day, 4 KCT upgrade points have been bought with 120 science, (8+16+32+64) these were spent on the research category, 2sci earned per 86,400 build points. This works out at 2 sci per 150 tonnes of construction, a fully loaded HoundDog III tops out at about 148 tonnes, so thats quite a convenient marker, 2 sci gained per HDIII built.

Day 272-273, Minmus

Spoiler

Lunic III arrives in the Minmus system, no trajectory adjustments required, aimed at a 25km Pe. Not requiring to capture to a fully 'low' orbit only a 1,010m/sec burn is plotted, this still takes the low thrust transfer stage 3 minutes to execute whilst passing over the Greater Flats at 1,250m/sec.

Capturing to a 447x25km orbit Lunic burns a further 44m/sec at Ap to get the cheapest inclination change and to fly over its intended landing zones.
Falling back towards Pe a further 44m/sec burn is performed to put Lunic on a collision course with the planetoid, this allows Lunic to shed its fairings and de-couplers and ensure they will all impact the surface.

Lunic IIIa (upper lander) remains on an impact trajectory, the transfer stage and Lunic IIIb burn 115Dv to regain a more inclined and circular orbit. The two landers are identical clones, both packing excessive Dv reserves (~3,500m/sec each), especially for such a low gravity world, they will be able to biome hop and perform multiple contract requirements which will more than pay their way.
Lunic IIIa heads for the first such contract, Issued by Rockomax there are 5 closely clustered sites requiring surface seismometer scans ... I'm sure it will provide really useful data for producing large rocket motors ... but who am I to question them? it is an exceptional contract paying out handsomely.

With only a pair of AIES EX-1 SAT motors (6.2KN total) aboard, I was expecting these landers to be under powered but they were more than capable of handling the 750Kg craft .. to the extent that for low altitude manoeuvring I ended up throttling them to 50%.

Putting down softly within 500m of each location Rockomax had specified Lunic IIIa dutifully performed the required seismic scan, and Rockomax held up their end of the bargain and paid in full.

5x contract parameters complete, 50,901 Funds, 29 Science, 8 Reputation
Contract complete, 391,520 Funds, 58 Science, 123 Reputation.

Meanwhile, Lunic IIIb still attached to the orbital transfer stage burns the last of its 250Dv, aiming for a collision at Wenkel corps test sites. Wenkel is also paying (not as impressively) for 3 surface sites to be seismically scanned. Ditching the transfer stage to its death dive, Lunic IIIb lines itself up for a landing under its own power.

Putting down on the gently inclined (and well named) slopes biome, Lunic IIIb easily hops between the 3 locations and transmits the data home.

3x Contract parameters complete, 28,280 Funds, 16 Science, 5 Reputation.
Contract complete, 169,156 Funds, 32 Science, 58 Reputation.

This mission has to go down as one of the most profitable ever performed (possibly second to the LV-N sub-orbital log toss)

Mission cost, 131,172, - 2x827 recovered.
Contract income, Rockomax - 646,025 Funds, 203 Science.
                            Wenkel     - 253,996 Funds, 80 Science.

Total mission Profit - 770,503 Funds.

Day 274, KSC

Spoiler

Up until now KSC mission designers have been unable to find effective ways to get non-pilots into space, Ascender IV with its probe core is a possibility however it is old technology and is limited in where it can get to or return from. For some reason there is no (structurally sound) 2 occupant capsules available, this leaves a large jump up to the 5 tonne, 3 man capsule. Launching this is well out of reach of HoundDog I, HoundDog II could manage it, but without any kind of service module, which leaves a full HoundDog III launch requirement.

It has not gone un-noticed by outside observers that since its first flight HoundDog III has been muscling its way into a dominant position, and with this latest development, the venerable HoundDog Ib may lose its last monopoly, manned flights, and be looking at imminent retirement.

For the second time in 3 days 145 tonnes of HDIII blasts off the pad into the last rays of the day, this time carrying Sigbert Kerman flying alone on a trial flight of Ascender V before it is rated for 'live cargo delivery'. With its payload massing only 9,500kg this launch is somewhat more rapid than Pandoras.

Sigberts initial climb peaks at 138km, having discarded his fairings (and escape tower, yup safety too what is going on) at the edge of the atmosphere he is carried up on the cryogenic upper stage, which will then re-ignite to boost him further into a 501x1,454km orbit.

We even tested the Launch Escape system. In a simulation of course, real rockets are expensive!

Spoiler

 

 

This orbit is not accidental, it will allow Sigbert 4 orbits to test his systems before intercepting with the empty Pandora staion.
Ascender V carries 1,410Dv for its hypergolic LV-909 motor, it also packs twin KAS canisters and 35 days of lifesupport (for 1 Kerbal, about 12 for 3) With its vastly increased mass, this leaves Ascender V having similar orbital capabilities to Ascender IV, but at 9.5t this is about all HDIII can reliably loft. An orbital vehicle for 3 Kerbals capable of independently transferring to Mun or high orbit, will require a larger launch vehicle.

The upper stage is retained till Ap then detached and its re-entry system activated, successfully burning up.

Mission cost, 105,440 Funds.

 

Edited December 11, 2015 by Shania_L

[GarrisonChisholm]

"Mission cost, 131,172, - 2x827 recovered.
Contract income, Rockomax - 646,025 Funds, 203 Science.
                            Wenkel     - 253,996 Funds, 80 Science.

Total mission Profit - 770,503 Funds."

 

Wow.  That is incredible-  and weren't you really hurting for funds a while back?  What a turn-around!  Time for some ridiculously expensive rocket experimentation. :]

More profit than my program has ever made on one flight.

[CatastrophicFailure]

Cool a space sta--

 

wait a sec what happened to poor Nelsy??