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Posts posted by pTrevTrevs
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Apollo 16 Part 1: Descartes Before the Horse:
After five lunar landings, NASA geologists were finally confident that they understood the formation of the lunar mare, vast lava flows covering the lowest points on the surface. With two landings in lunar mare, Apollos 11 and 12, two more at the edges of the mare regions, Apollos 14 and 15, and a further fifth, Apollo 13, at a formation created by the same impact which formed Mare Imbrium, the wealth of material and information available on these regions was incredible. Now, researchers turned towards the lunar highlands, where it was believed that evidence regarding the pre-mare history of the Moon could be uncovered. While Apollos 13 and 15 had recovered pre-mare lunar material, no mission had actually visited the highland region itself. Of particular interest to the planners of Apollo 16 was a region that had been under consideration as a landing site ever since the pinpoint landing technique was first proven by Apollo 12, Descartes. Descartes was much further south than any previous landing site, meaning that its material would be uncontaminated by ejecta from the Imbrium impact. Moreover, the Descartes formation the the adjacent Cayley Plains were suspected to have been formed through lunar volcanism, although only samples from the area could provide conclusive evidence for this theory. Thus the objectives for Apollo 16 were clear: sample Cayley-Descartes and determine the presence of volcanic activity in the region. Launch was scheduled for late March, 1972.
QuoteTechnical complications nearly caused the launch to be delayed into late April, as technicians uncovered a problem with Saturn V SA-511's Instrument Unit. Closer investigation revealed the problems to be relatively minor, affecting the IU's reaction wheel assembly. The problem was easily fixed, and should the IU fail in flight it could be assisted by the Command Module guidance system anyway. The countdown proceeded as planned, and Apollo 16 launched on a clear afternoon bound for Descartes.
Launch, orbit, and TLI proceeded without issue, with the IU performing adequately. Although some trouble arose when trying to maneuver the vehicle, the S-IVB's APS thrusters easily took over vehicle control and kept it on course.
One hour after launch, CSM Casper retrieved LM Orion from the Saturn third stage, which was then redirected to impact the Moon according to standard protocol.
Shortly before LOI, the panel protecting Casper's SIM bay it jettisoned. The experiment suite is identical to Apollo 15's.
Up to this point, the mission has gone virtually without incident. Casper placed the combined craft in an elliptical descent orbit and the crew powered up Orion for the landing. It was at this time, however, that the command module pilot detected oscillations in the SPS's backup gimbal system. Under normal rules, the landing would need to be aborted and the Lunar Module would be used to return to Earth.
With the two craft stationkeeping in orbit, mission controllers frantically search for a solution that will allow the landing to proceed. Time is short, however, the sun is rising over Descartes and if they wait too long, the lighting conditions will be too poor to land.
And so they wait...
And wait...
And wait.
In the descent orbit, Casper and Orion skim over the lunar mountaintops, at one point the astronauts spot the shadows of their spacecraft flying across the surface. There is no imminent danger, but the longer the CSM stays in this orbit the more unpredictable its trajectory will become, as the rotation of the Moon takes its orbital track further west, into unfamiliar terrain which could be higher than Casper's orbital altitude.
Finally the word from Houston comes through. The gimbal malfunction cannot be fixed, but it can be worked around, and with only the backup system experiencing the problem the landing can go ahead. Nearly six hours of valuable time has passed, but '16 still has its chance to uncover the secrets of Descartes.
The landing site at Descartes is situated between two relatively young craters, named North Ray and South Ray, which would have punched through the regolith and exposed the bedrock underneath for sampling. To the south of the landing site is the imposing Stone Mountain, while the scattered hills to the north were named the Smoky Mountains.
Following the landing, the crew powered down the LM to conserve battery power during the surface stay, and then prepared for sleep. While the original flight plan called for them to begin EVA 1 immediately after touchdown, the delay in orbit meant that this would keep them awake far longer than was healthy, so the spacewalk was pushed back to allow the crew some rest.
Meanwhile Casper recircularizes its orbit and begins the three-day orbital observation schedule.
QuoteSeveral hours behind schedule, the landing crew steps onto the surface for the first time. This flight carries still another major upgrade to the television cameras used for filming the moonwalks. Unlike previous missions, Apollo 16's TV footage will be streamed to an independent studio in California which will clean up the image, using computer programs to remove noise and blurriness before beaming it directly to Houston and the general public. All this happens in a few short seconds, and the result is a fantastically crisp image hitherto unseen in spaceflight. If only the networks were still carrying it...
The first order of business is the deployment of the LRV. After that, the ALSEP and flag go up, and then a short geological traverse to the west before ending the day's work.
The rover is unpacked without issue, and a short test drive confirms all its systems are in working order.
The crew then sets up the flag...
...and creates one of the most iconic photos of the Apollo era. Too bad I can't make the Kerbals salute in midair. Ah well, you people know which photo I'm trying to recreate here.
A site for the ALSEP is decided upon, about 80 meters to the southwest, and the rover ferries over the equipment in a few trips.
Not much to say about the ALSEP at this point; in fact I've already collected basically all the deployed ground science from the Moon that I can, so I'm only even doing this part for authenticity's sake.
Still hoping somebody chooses to revive the old SEP mod though, it'd be great to have a proper ALSEP again.
With the ALSEP activated, the two set off to the west to visit the area around Flag crater. This location isn't terribly significant; it is neither distinctly Cayley nor Descartes, however on this excursion the astronauts recover the largest single sample returned by an Apollo crew. This sample is 26-pound, football-sized rock nicknamed 'Big Muley", after Bill Muehlberger, the Apollo 16 field geology team leader.
Arriving back at the ALSEP site, the LMP disembarks and sets up a 16mm camera. Engineers back home have requested high-FPS footage of the lunar rover operating on the Moon, and this part of the EVA has been set aside to get it. The so-called Lunar Grand Prix involves the commander driving the rover around the site performing certain maneuvers with it to demonstrate its capabilities.
After finishing the Grand Prix, the crew drive the rover back to Orion and park it for the night. EVA 1 is complete, and while it has been mostly successful one big objective remains unfulfilled. Despite the intensive search, the crew had yet to find a single piece of volcanic material. If the two subsequent moonwalks can't uncover any either, geologists will be forced to completely rethink their hypothesis on the formation of the central highlands...
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If we’re talking about QOL and polishing work, has anybody else had trouble getting the LM ascent stage back into orbit in 2.5x scale games? Seems to me like it just doesn’t have the fuel to make it back up there. To be fair, my LMs have been flying with extra stuff added on, a small RTG for consistent electrical power, consumables storage for Kerbalism life support, et cetera, and have been launching into a retrograde orbit, but none of that should matter enough to keep them out of orbit…
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Soon...
Anathema to anyone who does not confess that John Young is the coolest astronaut in history; may Tsiolkovsky curse you for eternity so that your S-IVB cryogenics always boil off before TLI.
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2 hours ago, Lucky21 said:
It’s gonna be even better once we get the 1973 texture variants for the all-white S-IB and S-IVB aft skirt.
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I won't be surprised if this question has been asked before, but does anyone know if a "Grand Tour" launch window such as the one used by the Voyager probes in 1977 appear at a reasonable time in a new KSRSS game? I'm about ten years in to my current game and just now starting to gain outer planets capability.
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9 hours ago, TaintedLion said:
If you wanted to make your CMP spacewalk truly authentic you should have given him the commander helmet, since they wore the commander's EVA visor.
I thought about it, but figured it might be too confusing. Maybe next time though.
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Apollo 15 Part 2: Exploration at its Greatest:
One of the primary objectives of Apollo 15's operations at Hadley-Apennine is the discovery of anorthosite, a type of igneous rock which, although not rare by any stretch of the imagination, would serve to validate one of the leading theories about the Moon's geological history. As the hypothesis goes, the lunar maria were formed by vast lava flows which erupted during the Moon's geologically active period. As volcanic activity engulfed the lowlands pieces of the original crust, composed mainly of anorthosite, is thought to have broken loose and floated to the surface before coming to rest on the new mare's surface. The highland regions of the moon are already known to be anorthositic in composition, but if a piece of anorthosite could be uncovered in a mare-covered region like Hadley the origin of the dark lunar seas could be firmly cemented.
EVA 2 will explore the surrounding highlands, namely Hadley-Delta, as well as begin the search for anorthosite on the valley floor. EVA 3 will take the astronauts westward into the Imbrium basin, where it is hoped anorthosite may be more abundant if none is found in the vicinity of Hadley. Either way, the next two days will be extremely busy for all three astronauts, as the CMP continues his schedule of lunar observation from orbit.
QuoteEVA 2:
Descending Falcon's ladder for a second time, the two astronauts climb aboard their rover and begin the drive to the southern edge of the valley. This time they're going a little further east than yesterday, hoping to investigate the nearby mountain.
Pretty soon the ground starts to rise up, and the rover begins to struggle up the challenging terrain.
No Apollo moonwalker has ever been so high above the surface, and unless the terrain at Descartes or Tsiolkovsky turns out to be higher than it appears, none will ever be so again. A nearly thirty degree slope, however, is making it continually more difficult to scale the slopes, and the moonwalkers elect to turn back before they make a mistake which could strand them on the mountainside. Regrettable, because the LRV's TV camera picked up a promising looking rock just a little further up the moutain.
The rover descends by a more easterly route which passes by a prominent crater. Seeing nothing of particular interest at the site and behind schedule from the unexpected difficulty of climbing Hadley-Delta, the crew press on and come to a scheduled stop on the plain a little ways past the crater. Here they disembark and begin sampling.
On the way to a second stop, however, they notice something like a small pedestal just off to the right...
"I think we found what we came for"
Indeed, this rock is a chunk of anorthosite, placed before them almost as if they were meant to find it. Chipping off a sizable chunk, the LMP delicately places it in a sample container labelled No. 15415. Back on earth it will become affectionately known as the Genesis Rock. Originally thought to be a part of the Moon's primordial crust, later analysis would determine this to be untrue. Even so, the rock is still one of the earliest lunar samples yet recovered, formed approximately four billion years ago during the lunar pre-Nectarian period, that is before the impact which formed Mare Nectaris. An incredible find, to be sure.
Upon arriving back at the LM, the crew erects the American flag. Apollo 15 is the only lunar mission in which the flag was not raised on the first EVA.
Following that, they make a short visit at the ALSEP site to check up on the station.
The commander also uses a drill to take a deep core sample. The machinery proves more difficult to operate than expected, and the core tube can only be inserted partway into the surface.
With these chores done, the crew return to the LM for the night, clocking in EVA 2 at just over two hours.
Aaand, Command Module break!
Endeavour makes one of her periodic plane-change burns to keep her orbital track over the landing site, in case an emergency liftoff becomes necessary.
QuoteEVA 3:
The following day, the crew emerges onto the surface for a record-breaking third time. Today they will drive the rover about five kilometers to the west, into Imbrium proper, where they hope to collect lowland material to compare to that from previous missions.
Now, I had to drive way further west than Apollo 15 did historically because my objective was to collect science from the Mare Imbrium biome, which doesn't extend into Hadley. There's no way a lunar rover could have made this drive for real, but in KSRSS anything is possible.
Having arrived at their furthest station a little under five kilometers from Falcon, the crew disembark and go through the routine that is by now second nature to them. Photograph, document, comment, sample, store, repeat.
On the return journey, the astronauts sample another piece of anorthosite.
One last stop at the ALSEP allows the astronauts to perform a final checkup on the instruments and recover the core sample from yesterday's activities.
Before closing out the final EVA, the mission commander performs a little science experiment of his own. Using the sample drill and a small feather, he demonstrates Galileo's theory of gravitational attraction by dropping both objects and watching them fall to the ground at the same speed. The rover's camera captures the entire thing, and it soon becomes one of the more endearing memories of the Apollo 15 mission.
Once that's done, however, he drives the rover to its final parking spot about one hundred meters southeast of Falcon, where it will record video of the lunar liftoff later today.
Once back at the LM, his LMP ascends the ladder to help load samples and other equipment for the return journey, as well as dispose of any garbage or other dead weight such as the now unnecessary PLSS backpacks.
After a short break, the ascent countdown kicks off, and in no time at all Falcon is orbitbound.
A controller in Houston operates the LRV's television camera to make the first recording of a lunar liftoff.
Meanwhile Endeavour awaits the lander's return in orbit, and before docking the astronauts aboard the LM photograph her with her SIM bay displayed in full detail.
The reunited crew jettison Falcon, and then spend the next two days in lunar orbit, completing the aerial reconnaissance program laid out for the mission. Also during this time the PFS-1 subsatellite is deployed from the service module.
Endeavour now sets to work photographing two sites which had been in darkness when Falcon landed on the Moon. Copernicus, the prominent crater in the center of Oceanus Procellarum, is currently the favored target for the last landing of the program. To have Apollo 19 or 20 set down near the crater's central peak would be a fitting grand finale for an extraordinarily successful program.
The other site encompasses two points of interest; the unusually bright crater Aristarchus and the neighboring Schroter's Valley. Schroter is a sinuous rille much like Hadley, only much larger. Especially intriguing to geologists is the broad tadpole-like head at the valley's end. This winding canyon, combined with the shining gem of Aristarchus itself, is the prime landing site for Apollo 18.
After two days of observation, Endeavour lights her SPS and heads for home.
Unlike previous flights, however, the crew's work isn't done quite yet. the day following TEI, the command module pilot exits the CM's hatch to perform an EVA the likes of which has never before been attempted.
Although much less glamorous than his crewmates' work on the plains of Hadley, the CMP's task is still crucial. In order for the SIM cameras' film reels to be returned to Earth they must be physically recovered by hand. This task will take about half an hour, under ideal circumstances, although Houston is willing to grant some leniency to allow the spacewalker to enjoy himself.
Author's Note: Honestly, this kind of spacewalk must have been one of the most amazing things an Apollo astronaut could have hoped to do. It must have been enough to make the CMP's seat almost envied by some...
Surrounded by the blackness of space, the spacewalker can still see the waxing Moon receding behind him.
As he works his way back up the service module, the LMP stands in the hatch to assist and photograph him. His work completed, he crawls back inside for the two-day journey home.
On today's issue of "Yeah nah mate, can't be bothered replicating that", the Apollo 15 parachute failure. Historically, the command module's hydrazine valves sprung a leak during descent, burning a hole through one of the parachutes and seriously threatening another.
Luckily the Apollo spacecraft was capable of landing on two chutes and the crew is promptly recovered, safe and ready to sign some unapproved stamp covers...
Up next, Apollo 16 and the seriously most underrated moon mission in history. Fight me Apollo 15 fans, John Young cometh; and quickly at that....
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6 hours ago, taniel0401 said:
Hi!
How easy it would it be for me to make a white version of the apollo parachute mount/parachutes and maybe even the nosecone? Perhaps someone already has made a patch/new config?
Reason being, that models look great and fit very well with my crew vehicle design (looking like a love-child of a ATV and Crew dragon) but the mismatched colours just feel odd
Any help/tips are much appreciated!
There should already be white variants of all the command module parts in the dev branch, along with Skylab and boilerplate variants.
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Apollo 15 Part 1: Apollo's Zenith:
That's right, part 1. These J-series missions are gonna be about twice as much work to cover as my earlier ones, so I'm gonna split them into two parts, one from launch to the end of EVA 1, and the other from the start of EVA 2 to splashdown.
Historically, Apollo 15 was planned to be the last H-class lunar landing, scheduled to land at Censorinus crater sometime in early 1971. With the decision to launch Skylab as a dry workshop causing the cancellation of Apollo 20 and the Apollo 13 incident spooking NASA into cancelling Apollos 18 and 19, the decision was made to make Apollo 15 the first J-class mission instead, so that scientists could get the absolute most out of the few remaining flights. With this revision to the mission profile came a retargeted landing site, Hadley Rille. Rilles in themselves are particularly fascinating, riverbed-like formations that exist only on the Moon; geologists theorize that they are collapsed lava tubes or remnants of the Moon's volcanic past, however the site of the rille at Hadley is unlike any other place on the Moon. Located between the vast Mare Imbrium and the towering peaks of the Apennine Front, Hadley Rille features a diverse array of geologic specimens, and a single mission to the site would have the opportunity to sample three unique formations: the Imbrium basin, the rille itself, and the Apennine highlands. Originally considered as a grand finale for Apollo 19 or 20, Hadley was chosen as the ideal place to push the new J-class hardware to its limits, hopefully proving to Congress that Apollo was still worth supporting by the wealth of discoveries it yielded.
The Apollo 15 spacecraft represented the ultimate evolution of the Apollo moonship; in the CSM a new suite of scientific instruments and high-powered cameras derived from Corona-era reconnaissance technology enabled the command module pilot to study the lunar surface from orbit like never before. While the SIM bay's two cameras would work in conjunction with a laser altimeter to produce high-fidelity maps of the lunar surface, two boom-mounted spectrometers would study the surface in search of evidence of ancient volcanic activity. After recovering the crew from the lunar surface, the spacecraft would also deploy a small subsatellite to study the lunar gravitational field and measure the levels of plasma particles in the vicinity of the Moon. To support all the new equipment, the command module pilot would perform a spacewalk during the return journey to retrieve film canisters from the SIM cameras, making history as the first person to perform an EVA in deep space. The Lunar Module, meanwhile, was entirely redesigned in some respects. A larger DPS nozzle, longer propellant tanks, and a steeper descent profile all combined to enable more mass to be placed on the lunar surface; an advantage which would be exploited through the addition of the Lunar Roving Vehicle, more diverse ALSEP experiments, and additional consumables to stretch the maximum surface stay to three days. The Ascent Stage features reworked plumbing which would route waste products into the Descent Stage in order to lighten the craft and enable every possible gram of surface material to be hauled back into orbit, while the astronauts' spacesuits featured extensive redesigns which, among other things, increased comfort and mobility, increased consumables endurance, and allowed for easier recharging of the PLSS backpacks to provide up to three EVAs on the lunar surface. The LRV, which would make the ride to the lunar surface in a formerly empty quadrant of the LM Descent Stage, would be unfolded like a sofa bed and lowered onto the ground, after which it would be capable of taking the astronauts farther from their landing site than they could have hoped to achieve on foot. It featured a series of photo and color television cameras which could be operated by a controller in Houston, allowing geologists on Earth to supervise a moonwalk for the first time, pointing out features to the astronauts that they wanted retrieved or investigated. Additionally, the rover's camera could be used to acquire external footage of the lunar module's liftoff from the surface, as well as film of the landing site following the crew's departure.
Set to be the most ambitious flight to the Moon yet attempted, Apollo 15 sat on Pad 39A on a clear afternoon in may 1971 (historically July), ready for liftoff...
QuoteSA-510, the Saturn V for the Apollo 15 flight, was the first not to feature ullage motors on the S-II interstage. After numerous successful flights it was determined that they were unnecessary, and that the S-II could reliably ignite without them. Aside from that, SA-510 was virtually identical to its predecessors in every way; the new production run of Gen 2 Saturn Vs utilizing F-1A and J-2S engines had not yet arrived at the Cape by this time, but were expected to come into service in time for Apollo 18.
About halfway through the S-II's burn, one of the outboard engines experienced a loss of thrust and was shut down by the IU. While this briefly concerned mission controllers, the anomaly occurred late enough into the flight that it would not be mission critical. Acting on experience gained during the similar incidents on Apollo 6 and Apollo 13, flight controllers instructed the IU to burn the four remaining J-2s slightly longer, using the S-IVB's APU thrusters to maintain heading in spite of the unbalanced thrust on the vehicle.
Having overcome this small hurdle, Apollo 15 continued into orbit and onward to the Moon without further incident.
Approximately two hours before LOI, the panel covering Endeavour's SIM bay was jettisoned, exposing the instruments to the environment.
Shortly after LOI, the spacecraft began instrument observation of the surface as the landing crew waited for the sun to reach the proper elevation over Hadley.
Once Endeavour had placed the combined spacecraft stack into the descent orbit, Lunar Module Falcon undocked and began the harrowing descent to the lunar mountains.
In order to clear the imposing mountain range, Falcon followed a revised descent profile which required it to level off earlier and descend to the valley at a steeper angle than previous flights. A similar technique was employed by Apollo 14 at Taurus-Littrow, but it was on this mission that the revised descent profile truly proved its worth.
Despite the larger engine, Falcon still comes to rest on the valley floor with a considerable thump, startling the crew. This should not have been unexpected, however, as LM-10 is the heaviest lander yet to fly, almost dwarfing all the previous vehicles.
Unlike previous missions, the landing crew will sleep before exploring the surface; meanwhile the CMP begins his own mission in orbit. With greatly expanded responsibilities compared to previous flights, he will have his own CAPCOM in Houston and his own schedule to allow him to perform at maximum efficiency during his three-day solo flight.
QuoteSome six hours after landing, the mission commander descends Falcon's ladder, captured in unprecedented detail by the new HD color television camera mounted on the LM's MESA.
Once on the surface, the crew immediately gets to work deploying the rover. If you've read my previous posts you'll know that this is where I hit a major snag. At first, the rover's deployment hinge was getting stuck in place and refusing to unfold. I traced this issue to a strut on the rover itself which was originally installed as an aesthetic piece to support the television camera; unfortunately in copying the LRV over from the SPH (where I designed it) to the VAB the strut was inadvertently misplaced onto the wall of the LM's descent stage. Luckily, one of the crew is an engineer and was able to remove the strut, allowing the LRV to unfold. Heck, you can still see the offending strut in the bottom-right corner of the above photo.
I am a little embarrassed to admit that it took me a couple days to figure out what was wrong with the whole thing. No matter, what counts is that it's on the surface now, and I can fix the flaw on future missions.
The commander gives the LRV a short test drive to ensure all is working properly before being joined by the LMP. The two now set off on the first traverse of the mission; a short drive about 1.5 kilometers to the southwest, where the rille comes close to the foot of Hadley-Delta, the large mountain to the south of Falcon's landing site. Or at least, that's where the rille would be, if KSP were able to actually render formations as complex as sinuous rilles in KSRSS. Unfortunately, all I get is a barely noticeable depression in the general area.
Although the rover has a supplementary oxygen tank onboard for the astronauts to draw from, the possibility of the rover breaking down still necessitates a walkback limit, whereby the crew cannot go so far away from the LM that they cannot walk back before their PLSS consumables expire. Because of this, each EVA involves them driving out to the furthest station on the map before slowly working their way back to the LM. Here, the astronauts collect samples from the area between Hadley Rille and the mountain, captured on the rover's television camera. Oh, by the way, I'm using a few new TUFX profiles made by @ballisticfox0, they're really great for emulating in-flight photographs!
The drive back follows a more northerly route across the plain and includes a stop near the bank of the rille (just pretend it's there, alright), where the LMP photographs the commander retrieving equipment from the rover with the rille and Mount Hadley in the background.
Upon return to the LM the crew retrieves the ALSEP package and carries it to a spot about 120 meters west-northwest of Falcon for deployment.
With the Hadley Base ALSEP up and running the crew perform a few final housekeeping activities around the LM in preparation for tomorrow's moonwalk. The rover is parked about twenty meters from the hatch and the nonessential surface equipment is stowed. Altogether this EVA clocks in at about one hour and forty-five minutes.
As the crew onboard Falcon rest, Endeavour continues its studies in orbit. Due to the high latitude of Hadley, the spacecraft's orbit is significantly more inclined than other missions, and because of this the CMP is the first to sight a number of unique features which had hitherto been unknown. Of primary importance is the photography of future landing sites at Copernicus, Schroter's Valley/Aristarchus, and Tsiolkovsky. During this time the CMP experiences minor trouble with the tape drives and storage of the recorded data, but most what he collects can be streamed directly back to Earth instead of taking up space on the spacecraft's valuable film.
Also, while I'm at it I guess I should point this out: I think it's due to my using the Kerbalism compatibility patch by @Grimmas, but the mapping camera in the SIM bay acts like it doesn't have any sample space remaining even though it's not collected anything. I've been able to fix animation issues on the other SIM experiments myself by modifying his config, but I'm not sure how I would go about fixing this one.
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On 12/29/2021 at 11:20 AM, lemon cup said:
I've had this issue before with robotics. Of course it might not be related to yours, but could be worth a shot:
Try setting Autostrut: Disabled to all parts of the Rover after you've landed and are ready to unfold, including the hinge mechanism.
Yep, that was my first thought, but I've checked it over and I don't think autostrut is causing this issue. I could have missed a part, but I'm pretty sure that I never even used the feature when designing the rover.
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A little preview of the Falcon on the plain at Hadley:
Unfortunately I'm having some issues getting the LRV to unfold. Right now I think it has to do with the rover being slightly larger than the empty bay for it in the J-series descent stage, and I don't know if there's an easy way to fix that in-flight, short of tampering with my persistent file to have the hinge be unfolded already. Hell, I feel like that would cause more problems that it's worth. Worst case scenario, I hyperedit a new rover up there and continue from there, but I don't think I'll be getting this done anytime soon.
In the meantime I have some satellite launches to show off, I guess.
KH-1 Hexagon on Titan-IIID:
QuoteExplorer 43 on Delta M6, anachronistically launched to heliocentric orbit, because the spacecraft's historical MEO/HEO regime was tapped out in terms of solar wind and charged particle science:
QuoteDSP 1 on Titan 23C. This spacecraft was the first in a series of satellites designed to detect ICBM launches and nuclear detonations, both to safeguard NATO against a nuclear strike and ensure compliance with nuclear test ban treaties:
QuoteOf course, I don't get anything out of launching a satellite like this, but it's fun to pretend. Maybe someone should set up a contract pack for military orbital launches, with orders for navigation constellations, missile detection satellites, SIGINT and ELINT payloads, and good old-fashioned optical reconnaissance spacecraft.
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2 hours ago, lemon cup said:
These are awesome!
1. The kerbals frolicking together is just pure gold, do you use EVA Follower to get these shots?
2. I actually really enjoyed the narrative here, along with the context from your successful rendition of Apollo 13. There's a ton of neat facts that I did not know about these missions.
Keep up the great work.
Thanks, I do use EVA Follower for the surface traverse shots. Starting next mission it’ll probably be featured a lot less since I’ll have the LRV to use instead.
If you like these narrative-style mission reports, you should read A Man on the Moon by Andrew Chaikin. It’s where I first learned about lots of the little anecdotes I try to write in, and it also made up the backbone of the source material for HBO’s From the Earth to the Moon.
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Apollo 14: An Early Visit to Taurus-Littrow:
[Author's Note]: In our timeline, had the Apollo 13 landing successfully explored the Fra Mauro formation, Alan Shepard's Apollo 14 crew would have landed near Littrow crater, specifically at a point a little west-northwest of it on the edge of Mare Serenitatis. After *the incident*, Apollo mission planners decided that Fra Mauro was a more geologically-important site, given its potential yield of old pre-Imbrium material, and so the original H-3 Littrow landing site went unused. Since KSP does not model oxygen tank explosions and jury-rigged LiOH canisters, however, I had no such complication with '13's mission. Because of that I'm free to explore the original Apollo 14 landing site at will, except I figured that landing at H-3 Littrow would mean abandoning Taurus-Littrow on Apollo 17, which in my mind was unacceptable. The small valley in the Taurus mountains is one of the most geologically intriguing sites on the lunar near side, perhaps second only to Hadley Rille, and I'll sink this entire space program into the ground before I let it go unvisited. That orange soil is mine, dammit! Anyway, I've tried to contrive an in-universe explanation for the change in landing sites, since I guess I'm basically writing these in a style echoing ETS or Ocean of Storms now.
While the crew of Aquarius explored the Fra Mauro highlands in April of 1970, their command module pilot aboard Odyssey exploited his unprecedented time alone in lunar orbit to perform the first detailed orbital geological studies of the Moon. Equipped with top-notch training from renowned geologist Farouk El-Kerman, Apollo 13's CMP arrived in lunar orbit more prepared than any of his predecessors to examine the mysterious terrain of the Moon from above. During one of his passes over the Taurus Mountains, on the edge of Mare Serenitatis, the pilot found himself staring intently at a peculiar valley between two large massifs. Lunar highland material spilled down from the peaks onto the valley floor, but much of it was still covered in the smooth, dark mare material seen further west in Serenitatis proper. What's more, this valley displayed telltale signs of volcanic activity, raising new questions about the region's geological history. While the Apollo 14 mission slated for October of that year was already preparing to visit a site a little north of this area, its crew quickly agreed to the switch upon examining Odyssey's developed film and photographs of the area. Only six months remained before launch at this time, but the crew charged headfirst into a new round of training to learn the new mission, practicing everything from the more strenuous travel across the hilly massifs to the steeper descent profile necessary to clear the mountains on the way in. By launch day these three astronauts had easily become the world's top authorities on this small patch of lunar terrain that had been virtually unknown less than a year prior. Apollo 14's commander could not be blamed for his overzealousness; after spending the last five years on medical suspension due to a disease of the inner ear, Jebediah Kerman was eager to get back in the pilot's seat. Besides the return of its noteworthy commander, Apollo 14 features a number of interesting peculiarities which have been included to help bridge the gap between the so-called "H" missions, of which Apollo 14 would be the last, and the upcoming "J" missions. The command module Kitty-Hawk was loaded down with more propellant and consumables than any previous moonship, and was also equipped with the unique Hycon camera, a modified aerial reconnaissance camera designed to be mounted in the circular window of the command module's hatch. The Hycon was electrically operated, designed to compensate for the spacecraft's orbital velocity, and could obtain higher-resolution topographic images of the lunar surface than any camera previously flown onboard a manned spacecraft. During the mission it would be used to image future landing sites, specifically Descartes. On future missions the Hycon would be replaced by yet more powerful cameras in the command module's SIM bay. All things considered, the new equipment and competent crew made for an excellent lineup to end the first act of Apollo lunar surface exploration.
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Due to Taurus-Littrow's high latitude and the mid-autumn launch date, Apollo 14 necessitated a launch window set several hours before dawn, marking the first nighttime launch of a Saturn V, and indeed the first manned night launch in NASA history. Enticed by this unique spectacle, thousands crowded the nearby beaches to witness the launch.
Now added to the list of "Things That Happened But Which I'm Too Lazy to Recreate", the Apollo 14 docking incident. Antares is coming with me whether she likes it or not.
Of course, as is standard now, the S-IVB stage is sent crashing into the Moon to provide data to the ALSEP seismometers. Once the Apollo 14 station is deployed at Littrow, future lunar impacts will be detected on all three seismometers on the surface, allowing the point of impact to be precisely triangulated according to each sensor's data.
Apollo 14 is the first of my lunar missions to not make use of a full free-return trajectory due to its remote location. Instead the spacecraft traveled on a so-called hybrid trajectory, not quite free-return but capable of being corrected to one in case of emergency. Apollo 13 was on such a trajectory when its accident happened in OTL.
Another first for '14's mission is the use of Kitty-Hawk's SPS to place the combined spacecraft into the lunar descent orbit. Previous missions' LMs all landed with a mere sliver of fuel remaining in their descent tanks, and the already-slim margins will only become tighter as the J-missions introduce heavier equipment loads. To compensate for this, Apollo 14 is testing a new technique which will save some DPS fuel at the expense of the Service Module. As a fortunate side effect, this also allows the command module cameras to obtain images from a much lower altitude, a circumstance which will be enormously beneficial to the Hycon camera.
Compared to previous flights, Antares's pitchover comes early, in order to level out the descent rate to avoid the Taurus Mountains. As the grey landscape comes into view once more, the astronauts are greeted with a magnificent view of the valley, sprawling across their field of view, opening up to the vast Sea of Serenity in the distance.
Shortly after, Antares comes to rest on a slight slope almost exactly midway between the North and South Massifs. This is a few kilometers west of the historical Apollo 17 landing site, which was positioned to provide access to the nearby Sculptured Hills as well as the Massifs. I chose a more westerly location in order to obtain science data from both the lunar lowlands biome (to the east) and the Serenitatis biome (to the west). Without the luxury of an LRV, anything I collect will need to be reached on foot.
EVA 1 kicks off almost immediately after landing. Apollo 14 has a tight schedule to uphold if it is to get the most out of the Taurus-Littrow valley. Limited by the astronaut's own foot-mobility and their restrictive life-support budgets, much of what this valley holds will remain frustratingly out of reach.
Of course, the first half of this EVA is business as usual; contingency sample, ALSEP, flag, plaque, et cetera. Only after around thirty minutes of this practically-routine work do the astronauts begin their long-distance exploration with a hike to the North Massif.
Although appearing steep from a distance, the North Massif is surprisingly easy to climb, and with minimal effort the crew have arrived at a small shelf offering a commanding view of their surroundings. They take a moment to photograph and sample the terrain before returning downhill to the LM.
While still challenging, the more easily distinguished terrain of Littrow has given Jebediah and his LMP a much easier time reaching their objectives than the crew of Apollo 13 had at Cone Crater. Tomorrow they will test their limits again, exploring the South Massif and the western entrance to the valley, hoping to obtain material from the nearby Mare Serenitatis.
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Meanwhile, the CMP aboard Kitty-Hawk continues his observations, seen here photographing Tsiolkovsky. This iconic farside crater is quickly gaining interest from the geology teams, who are still lobbying aggressively for a farside landing near its central peak. Satisfied with the hitherto unbridled success of the Apollo landings, NASA administration has given tentative approval for studies involving a landing here on either Apollo 17 or 18.
Kitty-Hawk has actually remained in the descent orbit for a few hours after the landing to exploit the unique advantages it offers her photography equipment. Now, I can't actually remember which region of the moon these photos show, but I'm going to assume the top is Mare Imbrium and the bottom is Descartes. Don't really have any evidence to back that up, but it seems right to me.
On an unrelated note, here is a low-altitude orbital photograph of Antares's landing site. The large peak just to the right and bottom of center is the South Massif.
Back on the surface, EVA 2 has just begun. Today's excursion will be more heavily focused on geology than yesterday's, beginning with a visit to a crater a short way to the south.
On the outbound trip, the crew note the stark difference between the steep, rocky terrain of the North Massif and the smooth, forgiving ground on the valley floor. The contrast here is much more noticeable than on Earth's valleys of comparable size, where often much flat floors are practically nonexistent. Or so I've been told, I live on the Gulf Coast and see real mountains about once every four years.
One thing that isn't smooth, however, is the rim of this crater. Houston quickly shoots down a suggestion to climb inside it.
The South Massif appears slightly farther away than it first appeared, but it's still within walking distance. In no time, the two moonwalkers are perched a few hundred feet above the valley floor.
The slope here is much higher than on the North Massif. The astronauts now struggle to gain ground as it rises ever higher.
Anyway, what kind of space enthusiast would I be if I didn't play golf on Apollo 14? I was gonna hit the ball down into the valley, but Jeb kind of turned and drove it further up the mountainside. Guess in hindsight he might have wanted to avoid hitting the LM...
With that little celebratory moment complete, the astronauts now turn east and start descending the massif by a different route.
Before the final leg of their trip, they stop by the ALSEP and do a final checkup on its systems.
The pair then head westward toward the valley entrance and Serenitatis proper. By this they plan to collect a variety of material from around the area, ranging from the light highland debris to the dark and powdery mare regolith.
Along the way, they come across a rock that seems particularly out of place. Given its light color when compared to the surrounding area, it is suspected to be a piece of highland breccia, thrown into the valley by some kind of impact. Post-flight analysis of the samples returned from this boulder would conclude that it had originated in Littrow crater itself, and was thrown lose by the impact which caused it. Oddly enough, Apollo 14 managed to recover a sample from its original landing site around fifty kilometers from where it should have been.
Their prizes in hand, the astronauts make their way back to the LM and step off the lunar surface. With liftoff scheduled for a few hours from now, they will have little time for rest between now and the docking with Kitty-Hawk.
And again, from here on out there's little to report on that hasn't been seen several times already. Typical ascent, rendezvous, docking, jettison, and TEI. Hardly fascinating, but at least I try to get unique photos on each mission.
I can also brag that with the help of MechJeb landing guidance, I've just about nailed the targeted lunar reentry. With a little fidgeting with maneuver nodes I'm able to splash down in the Pacific Ocean south of Hawaii pretty much every time. Maybe one day I'll hyperedit a recover ship out there in advance and try to land within visual range of it.
With this report I've actually caught up to myself. I haven't flown Apollo 15 yet, but hopefully I can get to it this week. I was able to make a personal modification to Grimmas's BDB Kerbalism patch to fix the animations on some of the SIM bay instruments (literally just had to add the parts to the list in the file that fixes animations for things like the MESA pallet). Next AAR will probably be on the various satellite launches that have happened. Pioneer 10 went up earlier today, DSP-1 last night, and Jumpseat about a week before that.
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7 hours ago, Saltshaker said:
Does anyone have a good Mun rover craft/subassembly file or ideas on how to stuff one into the J-class LEM bay? I don't use BG or other robotic parts mods. I figured this is the best place to ask.
Gonna be pretty difficult to fit anything with wheels in that quadrant without some way to fold it up. You might be able to store the bulkier parts in the descent stage’s inventory slots and have a Kerbal attach them on the surface during EVA, but it would be a pretty awkward solution no matter what.
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2 hours ago, DaveyJ576 said:
The fall of 1963 was an important one for Gemini. The program was struggling with the paraglider, and most importantly the Titan II launch vehicle was experiencing a lot of teething problems, not the least of which was a severe longitudinal oscillation known as pogo. Test flights were experiencing a pogo rate well above what NASA felt was safe for astronauts. The Air Force's Ballistic Systems Division (BSD) didn't care much about solving the pogo issue, because as long as the pogo was not affecting the performance of the missile in its mission of delivering a nuclear warhead (it wasn't), the Air Force had little incentive to spend time and money correcting the issue. Indeed, the BSD was worried that working on the pogo issue may actually delay the introduction of the missile into active service, and they heavily resisted doing anything about it. NASA also had some valid concerns about combustion instability in the 2nd stage engine, and overall parts and manufacturing reliability. The Titan II had only a 50% end to end reliability record to that point. NASA was so worried that in October 1963 they initiated a study to look at the feasibility of shifting the launch vehicle to the already flown and tested Saturn I.
Some very high level meetings and discussions took place between the BSD and NASA and the bureaucratic log jam was cleared. The Air Force intransigence melted away and thy began to incorporate the recommended pogo suppression equipment in some of the test missiles. In November 1963 they had a full up success with the test flight of missile N-25. The issues were all then quickly resolved and the Titan II turned in sterling service to both NASA and the Air Force.
But let's say for the moment that NASA got spooked by the Titan problems and actually shifted Gemini to launch on the Saturn I. Here is my interpretation of how that would look:
The design of the Gemini spacecraft and the adaptor section was already well along in the fall of 1963. A sudden shift to the Saturn I would have most likely resulted in something of a jury rig when it came to fitting the spacecraft to the S-IV, although this Delta adaptor works quite well in game. Changing the spacecraft adaptor section and all of its internal systems would have resulted in an unwarranted delay. Also, the much greater explosive power of the Saturn I while sitting fueled on the pad would have necessitated the switch to a LES. The ejection seats already fitted would not have gotten the crew far enough away from the fireball. The added complexity of the LES would have been offset by the removal of the ejection seats, gaining quite a bit of space inside the already crowded spacecraft interior.
The book On the Shoulders of Titans: A History of Project Gemini by Barton C. Hacker and James Grimwood, gives a great explanation of the issues surrounding the Titan II, but unfortunately does not provide a lot of details about how the Saturn I would have been configured for Gemini. We can only wonder...
Ideal timeline.
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7 hours ago, lemon cup said:
I always like seeing extended Saturn I concepts; the rocket was really underused historically.
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14 hours ago, flamerboy67664 said:
Awesome AARs man, but something I noticed with your pics and also previous posts...
I seem to recall from my days of simming whole Apollo missions with AMSO in Orbiter 2006 and reading NASA docs, didn't the crew activate the LM (turning on stuff like antennas and comms, and extending LDG) before LOI to check if the LM is bad and they would go mission abort with the free return trj if so?
Uhh, I’ve always understood that the LM was temporarily powered up during the translunar voyage to check it out and give television audiences a tour inside it, but its legs and antennas weren’t deployed until reaching lunar orbit (but before undocking from the CSM). If a problem with the LM had been discovered then the crew could always perform some sort of lunar orbital observation contingency mission and then return to Earth by using the SPS to perform a standard TEI.
10 hours ago, TaintedLion said:Is that a little Ocean of Storms reference I pick up there?
Possibly.
Actually, theOcean of Storms scenario for Apollo 13 is in turn a reference to an actual simulation that had been run during the training for Apollo 13, in which the SimSups threw a cabin depressurization at Ken Mattingly while he was alone in the CSM and Lovell and Haise were “on the surface” in the LM. Flight controllers didn’t pick up on the issue until some 45 minutes later because it was triggered right as Odyssey slipped behind the Moon, but Mattingly noticed the depressurization and donned his spacesuit to wait it out.
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Apollo 13: Jim Lovell, Eat Your Heart Out:
Apollo 12's spectacular touchdown at Surveyor Crater opened a whole new realm of possibilities for Apollo lunar exploration. Instead of being constricted to broad surveys of the Moon's geographical regions, missions could now focus on specific landmarks or locations of interest. One such location was the Fra Mauro formation, in particular Cone Crater. Fra Mauro was formed by debris ejected from the same impact which created Mare Imbrium, and was therefore not composed of the same material as the surrounding Ocean of Storms. It was, in a sense, an island in that ocean. More intriguing to geologists, however, was what lay underneath Fra Mauro's wrinkled terrain. When the Imbirum impact formed the highlands of Fra Mauro, it covered up the original lunar surface which had originally made up the area, shielding it from whatever impacts and volcanic activity happened afterward. Because of this, scientists believed that a deep study of Fra Mauro would yield valuable information about the Moon's origin, maybe even producing samples of the original lunar crust. Key to this expedition, then, was Cone Crater. Cone is a relatively young crater, but it was thought to be large enough to have punched through the layer of Imbrium ejecta which composed most of the highlands to reach the underlying material. In addition to seeking a deeper glimpse into Cone, Apollo 13 will also be the first lunar mission to not land on a lunar mare, so if all else fails the mission will almost certainly recover a much different collection of sample material than was collected by Apollos 11 and 12. The eager optimism of the science teams is by no means universal, however. The number thirteen has long been an object of superstition and dread, and while it is superstition alone which fuels certain people's doubts about the mission, some have noted the ominous alignment of mission parameters which cause the unlucky number to show up again and again in timetables and plans. The required launch window for Apollo 13 will lead to the Saturn V lifting off at exactly 1:13 local time, in the 24-hour format commonly used by mission itineraries this becomes 13:13. The voyage to the Moon will have the spacecraft entering the Moon's sphere of influence on April 13, 1970, at which point the crew will be far enough away from home that a mission abort would require several days to complete. Additionally, some have raised concerns over the name chosen for the Apollo 13 command module, Odyssey, which refers to "a long journey, fraught with many hazards". Although few real concerns are present as the launch countdown begins, some find themselves more troubled over the perfectly sunny launch of Apollo 13 than the violent and stormy launch of its predecessor a mere five months past...
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At T-minus 43 minutes, Swing Arm 9 is detached from the spacecraft and moved to a standby position approximately six feet from the command module hatch. At T-5:00 the arm will be moved to its fully retracted position to clear the way for the ascending vehicle.
In the meantime the launch umbilical connections begin to fuel and pressurize the cryogenic propellant tanks on the second and third stages of the booster. Three tail service masts at the base of the first stage provide auxiliary power to the vehicle and feed telemetry back to the firing room several miles away.
And at 13:13 on the nose, the call "Tower Clear!" echoes through the LCC at the Cape. Kennedy's work done, the launch director hands off control to Mission Control at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston.
The Saturn V assigned to Apollo 13 is SA-508. Although mostly identical to her predecessors, '508 has been slightly modified in order to collect necessary data for the upcoming J-series missions beginning next year. When these extended missions fly they will carry a considerable amount of extra equipment, including extended consumables supplies, the Lunar Roving Vehicle, and the Scientific Instrument Module, all of which will lead to significantly heavier spacecraft, which in turn will require more capable Saturn Vs. To prepare for this, SA-508 has been loaded with more propellant than previous Saturn Vs so NASA can evaluate how the vehicle performs with a heavier launch weight approaching that of the J-class parameters. Because of this, Apollo 13 is noticeably slower to clear the tower than earlier missions, and overall acceleration is slightly reduced.
In order to limit the force of acceleration on the crew during the launch to 3G or less, the center engines of the first and second stages are programmed to shut down earlier than the four outboard engines. Typically this is done shortly before staging, but on Apollo 13 the inboard engine shut down approximately two minutes early. This is believed to have happened because the Saturn guidance computer detected an abnormal intensity of pogo oscillation caused by a cavitation in one of the S-IIs turbopumps, and triggered the early inboard-out to alleviate it. While far from mission critical, the mission required a longer burn of the outboard S-II engines and the S-IVB to compensate.
The S-II inboard malfunction notwithstanding, Apollo 13's launch and TLI proceeded without incident. After the flight, the crew would remark that this shutdown must have been where the number 13 affected the mission. Once settled in the translunar flight profile, Odyssey retrieves the lunar module Aquarius from her adapter. Following this the S-IVB will be redirected to impact the lunar surface to provide seismic data for the Apollo 12 ALSEP, making it the first of the Saturn stages to do so.
Some halfway between the Moon and the Earth the crew experienced a slight mechanical failure when the stirring fan inside one of the cryogenic oxygen tanks failed to operate. While causing concerns of a severed electrical connection at first, no further symptoms were found, and the mission continued ahead. By this point in the program enough missions had been flown that EECOMs could make quantity estimates for remaining consumables based on previous flights, and beginning on the next mission the cryo fans would be removed entirely, having been deemed a potential failure point in the environmental system.
Sorry, but the black cat under the ladder isn't gonna catch me...
Anyway, Odyssey with Aquarius in tow arrives in lunar orbit right on schedule.
By this point, Powered Descent is a familiar routine, and the flight to the hills of Fra Mauro encounters few obstacles. It is noted, however, that the amount of fuel remaining in the descent stage tanks was lower than on Apollo 12, which in turn was lower than on Apollo 11. Upon closer study, it is realized that the growing list of extra equipment being hauled to the lunar surface will eventually cause the LM to burn too much fuel on descent and potentially risk an abort or crash. A solution will be developed for future missions.
Despite the tighter margins, however, the Apollo 13 landing crew proved to be the calmest thus far. The lunar module pilot even found an opportunity to look up from his instruments and snap a photo of the earthrise while awaiting PDI. Ironically, the astronaut responsible for the first earthrise photo is currently flying in the LM's left-hand seat. CDR Roy Kerman was previously the command module pilot on Apollo 8, making him the first person to fly to the Moon twice. In addition to two flights in Project Gemini, this amount of flight time makes him NASA's most experienced astronaut, and few can think of a better choice to command the first visit to the lunar highlands than him.
Gliding silently over Fra Mauro, Aquarius arrives over Cone Crater, which is captured on film by the camera aimed out the LMP's window. Unexpectedly, however, the terrain around the planned landing site it rougher than it appears in orbital photographs, featuring scattered boulders and steeper than expected slopes. Realizing this, the crew level off their descent and search for the earliest suitable landing site downrange of their target. Such a spot is easily found, and in no time at all Aquarius sets down directly over it.
With LM-7 resting comfortably at the base of a Fra Mauro hillside, the most memorable phase of Apollo 13 can now begin.
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Crawling through Aquarius's hatch and down its ladder, Roy Kerman realizes the dream which has chased him ever since his first lunar voyage eighteen months prior. As the gravity of his accomplishment sets in, he raises his outer visor and takes a moment to marvel at the spacecraft which delivered him and his crewmate to the surface of the Moon. Once back in lunar orbit, he will detach the armrest on his side of the cockpit and return it to Earth. After the mission, Roy will have it mounted on a plaque and presented to the Grumman engineers as a sign of thanks.
All these sentimental moments must wait, however; right now there's work to be done.
Having joined the commander on the surface, the LMP begins to prepare the ALSEP for deployment. Like on Apollo 12, the first of two EVAs on the surface is dedicated to deployment of the ALSEP and other activities around the immediate landing site.
Apollo 13's ALSEP features a new experiment station. the Lunar Ionographer is designed to measure the levels of charged particles and solar wind present on the lunar surface, as well as studying the sparse lunar atmosphere. Due to space and weight limitations on the H-class LM, the materials study device flown on Apollo 12 has been excluded in favor of this delicate new instrument.
With its third flag on the Moon, America now possesses all three spots on the victory podium, Gold, Silver, and Bronze. The filthy Europeans can have their FIFA wins, because they'll never make up for missing this.
Before closing out the EVA, the astronauts take a short hike up the hillside towards Cone crater. This traverse is focused primarily on collecting samples that would need to be passed up due to time restrictions on tomorrow's longer expedition. Additionally, by examining the route now, it is hoped that the crew will have an easier time navigating towards Cone the next time they head out. If only it were that simple...
Cresting the top of the hill, the astronauts spot the rim of Cone Crater looming in the distance, although farther away than hoped for. This is likely the best view between the LM and the rim, so the pair study the route they expect to take on tomorrow's journey before returning to Aquarius for the night.
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In the meantime, the lone occupant of Odyssey is much busier than previous CMPs. Apollo 13 is the first mission which involves any real geologically-focused observation from lunar orbit; all previous flights focused on landing site investigation. While Odyssey is tasked with photographing certain prospective sites, it is emphasized that the primary object of interest at a given site is its geological significance rather than its ease of access or practicality. This maxim means that the Apollo 13 photography itinerary features such sites as Littrow Crater (above image), Hadley-Apennine, Aristarchus, and the Marius Hills.
During a pass over Littrow, however, the CMP notices something unexpected; a small valley to the south of Littrow, wedged between the Taurus Mountains and Mare Serenitatis. Looking closer at the valley, he notices features which can only be volcanic in nature. In addition, the large massifs flanking the valley to the north and south appear considerably different than the dark mare-like material of the valley floor. Shifting his gaze northward again, the once-interesting crater Littrow now appears dull and unremarkable by comparison. Eyes glued to Odyssey's window, the CMP snaps off photo after photo until this region, which will become known as Taurus-Littrow, sinks out of sight. When the photos are developed post-mission the geologists will wholeheartedly agree, everything about this site makes it perfect for a landing, while the trajectory engineers balk at the idea of sending a LM down through much mountainous terrain. Despite certain objections, Taurus-Littrow is immediately bumped to the top of the list of prospective landing sites, and soon the original Littrow H-3 site designated for Apollo 14 is abandoned altogether in favor of this new location. As a partial consequence, mission planners also feel that, should Apollo 14 successfully explore this valley the plan for a fourth H-mission will be eliminated. Pending '14's success, Apollo 15 will be reclassified from the H-4 mission to the J-1 mission, making it the first to carry the LRV and the first to explore a landing site over three days. As a further consequence, Apollo 15's original landing site at the crater Censorinus will also be abandoned, being ruled as unworthy of the investment of a J-mission. By August of 1970 the long-enticing site at Hadley Rille will be tentatively assigned to Apollo 15s flight the following Spring.
Besides studying the lunar surface, Odyssey must also make periodic plane change maneuvers with the SPS to keep its orbital track above Aquarius's landing site, in case a mission abort requires the surface crew to launch and rendezvous early.
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Surface Day 2 has begun, and staggering out of their awkwardly rigged hammocks the crew at Fra Mauro prepares for the trek to Cone crater. Ideally they will reach the crater rim and collect photographs and material from its immediate interior, but should they fail to travel that far they will be compelled to settle for whatever they can find. This is the chief fear in the back of the commander's mind; the poor conditions at the prime landing site forced him to set down farther away from Cone than planned, and should navigation prove difficult they may not have enough oxygen to reach their objective. Even so, confidence and anticipation well up inside him as he descends Aquarius's ladder for the second time.
Following a short check-up on the ALSEP, the two astronauts set off towards Cone, moving as directly as possible towards the crater, fighting to maintain their bearing against treacherous slopes and obstructive boulders.
The ground steadily rises as they pass the high-water mark of the previous day and the lander disappears beneath the hills. The commanding view from the day before is gone now, betraying a much more confusing landscape. The astronauts find themselves easily misdirected, deviating to the left or right of their desired path because of small craters, large pieces of ejecta, and unsafe-looking drifts of soil. As they struggle to summit each new ridge and hope for another sight of their prize, the two gulp down loads of oxygen and strain their suit's cooling systems. Mission controllers soon become worried that the astronauts may overexert themselves and be unable to return to the LM.
Finally, the explorers summit a ridge which allows them some visibility of Cone crater, but to their frustration and astonishment the rim appears even farther away than it did from the earlier ridge. At that moment the flight surgeon in Houston recommends the crew abandon the search; by now they have used over half of their oxygen and their suit's electrical systems are struggling to handle their rising body temperatures. Reluctantly, Apollo 13's crew takes one final look at Cone crater, so close and yet so far. They search for whatever sample materials they can find and begin the disappointing trek back to Aquarius.
After taking a few hours to recover from their ordeal, the crew blasts off from Fra Mauro, by this time eager to rejoin their comrade in orbit and return home.
As Aquarius pitches over, the LMP catches a final glimpse of Cone crater just outside his window, as if it were taunting him. If only he'd had a set of wheels, he would have made it.
Some time later and all three crewmembers are back aboard Odyssey. The CMP had enjoyed a very successful mission with no issues comparable to his friends' failure to reach Cone. The only notable hiccup was when the MOCR EECOM noticed a momentary decline in cabin pressure right before Odyssey slipped behind the Moon, but whatever fears this may have caused were dispelled when the ship reemerged reading nominal levels. Ultimately the abnormal readings were chalked up as an instrumentation error.
There aren't many historical photos from Apollo 13 that I could recreate this time, but I was able to get one (however uninspired it may be). Farewell Aquarius, and we thank you.
From here on out the mission slowly winds down, typical TEI, typical transearth voyage, and typical reentry, culminating in a splashdown just south of Hawaii some three days later.
Having passed out from the G-forces on his Apollo 8 reentry, Roy Kerman has braced himself for another brutal descent. To his surprise, however, Apollo 13 proves to be the first mission to absolutely nail the ideal reentry corridor. Taking advantage of its lifting body aerodynamics, the command module flies with the relative grace of a magic carpet over the Pacific Ocean, with decceleration barely exceeding 7G.
Anyway, there you have it, the odyssey of Apollo 13, the "failed success", "NASA's darkest hour", or something like that. Whatever, Ron Howard will make a film about it in twenty years and we'll get Ed Harris to learn backwards Spanish for the role of Gene Kerman.; trust me it'll be great.
These are getting pretty long to write up; but I'm really appreciative of all the positive feedback I'm getting from them. Hope y'all continue to enjoy my AARs.
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2 hours ago, YourAgony said:
Hi Benjee10, I have a short question for you and I hope you can help me further ....
Is there somehow the possibility that you might find some time and maybe make two small texture changes for me ....
I'm a big fan of your mods and a big fan of the Space Shuttle Challenger, so now to my questions and requests ...
Is it possible that you could adjust the vertical stabilizer and the outer elevons so that they look like the Challenger?
There’s a submod for this that focuses on texture variants, I think it’s called SOCK Recolored or something like that. You might do better to ask there.
Also Challenger had a slightly different tile pattern around her side hatch, as well as more TPS tiles on the sides of the payload bay like Columbia had on her earlier missions.
[1.12.5] Bluedog Design Bureau - Stockalike Saturn, Apollo, and more! (v1.13.0 "Забытый" 13/Aug/2023)
in KSP1 Mod Releases
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I built it in the SPH around one of the structural panels from Making History. The hinges which allow the back and front to unfold are from the SOCK Canadarm, and those sections themselves are built around a backbone of cubic struts. The rover wheels are also Making History, and the greebles on the rover are mostly from BDB. The foil-covered boxes on the front are Pioneer Orbiter parts, the deck at the back holding the surface scanner is the Skylab/Spacelab science pallet, the high-gain antenna is from Strawman (best I could do, given the circumstances), and the seat backings are Ranger batteries. I folded the whole thing up according to the real LRV's design, slapped a decoupler on the bottom, attached a structural panel and a regular hinge, saved the whole thing as a subassembly, and imported it to the VAB where I mated it to the LM's descent stage.
@CobaltWolf, next time somebody asks you to make the LRV, direct them to this post and tell them that if I can figure this out so can they.