Pipcard

Introducing the Aerospace Research Agency (ARA) (a 2.5x scale career that aims to go interstellar) First sounding rockets of the Sagittarius program (note: dates are inaccurate as Kerbin's day is now 7.5 hours)

Named after the constellation known as "the altar," the Aerospace Research Agency (ARA) was founded with the goal of exploring and expanding kerbalkind into the Kerbol system and beyond. Its motto: "Constellations of Innovation" [This will be a new career with the Breaking Ground DLC and the main mods being the Unkerballed Start tech tree, Kerbal Construction Time, Galaxies Unbound, Modular Kolonization System, and Far Future Technologies (and other mods by Nertea). I've read that stock parts are more balanced for a 2.5x scale system, so Sigma Dimensions was used to change the size. Galaxies Unbound has a config but I had to manually edit the Sigma Dimensions config file to get it to work. The rotation period of Kerbin has changed to 7 hours and 30 minutes (1.25x longer), but the clock still measures days in 6-hour intervals. This is slightly annoying, but just divide the number of days by 1.25 to get a more reasonable value.] [update: I just installed the Kronometer mod which changes the date format based on the local day length. The dates have been corrected below. Note that there are more than 426 days in a year - 506 days (with the occasional leap day) lasting 7.5 hours each to be exact.] Table of contents Mod list (similar to quasinaut's "kinda ksp2" modpack but not the same), not including most dependencies: (last updated 2024-04-19) Y1, D5 to D28 - Suborbital first steps The first program of ARA would be known as Sagittarius (the archer), a designation for suborbital missions. A rudimentary launch complex nicknamed "Kaus" (the bow) was prepared to support this program. (It would eventually be upgraded and called the "Beta Arae" launch complex.) Y1, D7 Y1, D5 (6 h, 24 m) - The White Dwarf 1 (WD-1) sounding rocket (using a small 0.625 m "Mite" solid rocket booster and twisted fins to enable spin stabilization) launched Sagittarius 1 to a height of 25 km while transmitting temperature data. Almost 4 minutes later, it crashed into the ground. For captions, I use Historian Expanded with my config. (The Historian dates below are for a 6 hour day and not accurate) Y1, D15 Y1, D12 (5 h, 42 m) - The upgraded White Dwarf 2 (WD-2) sounding rocket (using the longer "Shrimp" SRB) launched Sagittarius 2 higher into Kerbin's atmosphere, reaching 42 km. In addition to temperature, it measured pressure. Y1, D24 Y1, D19 (5 h, 42 m) - The Brown Dwarf 1 (BD-1) sounding rocket used 4 small LV-T05 "Cogswell" liquid rocket engines and 1.25 m propellant tanks. It launched Sagittarius 3 past the designated boundary of outer space (91 km), achieving an altitude of about 150 km. Y1, D33 Y1, D26 (5 h, 42 m) - Sagittarius 4 demonstrated the first parachute recovery of a suborbital rocket. As a new rocket did not need to be built, this BD-1 was reused on days 34 27 and 35 28 for Sagittarius 5 (recovered from the ocean) and Sagittarius 6, which used Mystery Goo™ containers to collect even more scientific data.

JAXA+ | Japanese Crewed Jupiter Mission "Raijin" (2050-2060)

The Raijin Jupiter mission ]ands on Ganymede in December 2057 before returning to Earth in 2060.

2057-12-13 - Leaving the lander behind, the Raijin Jupiter Orbital Vehicle raised its orbit from 500 to 1100 km to reduce exposure to radiation redirected by Ganymede's magnetic field. On December 15, the JOV departed Ganymede to return and dock with the main Jupiter Piloted Vehicle (which was currently orbiting Jupiter between the orbits of Ganymede and Callisto) on December 20. After going around Jupiter for one more time, the JPV performed its departure burn on January 1, 2058, making a distant flyby of Callisto over a day later. The return to Earth took another 2 years. The JOV undocked to decelerate by 5000 m/s before releasing the crew return capsule, which splashed down in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on February 18, 2060. Leaving Ganymede Jupiter Departure Return to Earth

More like New Year's.

2057-12-06 - Leaving the refueling tank behind, the Raijin Jupiter Orbital Vehicle departed Callisto on a Hohmann transfer to Ganymede, the largest moon of Jupiter and the Solar System as a whole, and the only moon with a significant magnetic field. The transfer took less than a week as the JOV inserted into a 500 km orbit on December 12. The Jovian Moons Lander undocked and performed the same descent and landing procedure as on Callisto, touching down in a location where Jupiter could be seen on the horizon. This was only meant to be a short "flags and footprints" operation that briefly studied the surface, composed of silicates and ice and dotted with various craters and grooves. Ganymede's surface may also hide an ocean underneath. Only 16 hours later (on December 13), they launched back into orbit and docked with the JOV.

2057-08-10 - After the main interplanetary ship performed its gravity assist and entered a circular orbit between Ganymede and Callisto on August 3, the Raijin crew (Hachirota Hoshino, Ken’ichi Obikawa, and Juri Araki) deployed the Callisto Cruiser rover to explore the surroundings of Jupiter's outermost Galilean moon. Callisto was known to have a rocky and icy surface covered in impact craters that are about as old as the Solar System itself. The lowlands tend to be darker while hills or pinnacles may be coated in a bright white frost. Callisto is also thought to have a subsurface liquid water ocean over 100 kilometers below the surface. After over four months living in the surface habitat, the crew lifted off in the Jovian Moons Landing Module on December 3 to re-dock with the Jupiter Orbital Vehicle 500 km above, where it was refueled by the spare tank/depot to prepare for a landing on Ganymede. Disclaimer: I forgot that the Radial Attachment Point in the landing module does not allow fuel crossfeed. An External Fuel Duct can enable propellant transfer, but I forgot to put one in (I made the same mistake when doing an RSS Moon mission in 2016). Since it is too late to redo the mission starting from 2050, I had to manually edit the save file to refuel the lander (by carefully subtracting numbers from one propellant tank and adding them to the other). Surface exploration on August 10 Returning to orbit on December 3 Docking with the Jupiter Orbital Vehicle

Cinematic trailer for the Raijin Jupiter mission

2057-06-21 - The Raijin Jupiter Piloted Vehicle one day before orbital insertion 2057-07-25 - The Jupiter Orbital Vehicle docked to the Jovian Moons Landing Module Right to left: Hachirota Hoshino, Ken’ichi Obikawa, and Juri Araki landed on Callisto

2057-06-22 - The Raijin Piloted Vehicle entered an elliptical orbit around Jupiter, using the last of the propellant in the Earth Departure Stage before activating the JPV's Jupiter Orbit Stage. 1 month later, the Jupiter Orbital Vehicle, a relatively small craft intended for transportation within the Jupiter system, undocked from the rest of the massive JPV. The JOV would enter Callisto orbit on July 23 while the JPV would continue to fly past on other side of Callisto, a gravity assist to lower its orbit around Jupiter. On July 25, the JOV docked with the Jovian Moons Landing Module (and propellant cache), which had been waiting in a 500 km orbit. After the crew transferred into the lander, they left the JOV and propellant cache behind as they made their descent and landed near the Callisto habitat. Hachirota Hoshino, Ken’ichi Obikawa, and Juri Araki climbed down, planted the flag, and walked to the habitat where they would stay until December. The Jupiter Piloted Vehicle one day before orbital insertion (zoomed in with low field of view) The Jupiter Orbital Vehicle docked to the Jovian Moons Landing Module Right to left: Hachirota Hoshino, Ken’ichi Obikawa, and Juri Araki landed on Callisto

2054-09-26 - The first module of the Raijin Jupiter Piloted Vehicle, consisting of the Earth Return Stage and Jupiter Orbit Stage, was launched into a 400 km orbit by an H-ZA 208 rocket. Over the next six months, six more H-ZA 208s would launch the three parts of the Earth Departure Stage, as well as three refueling tankers. On March 9, 2055, the crew of the Raijin mission launched: mission commander Hachirota Hoshino (whose girlfriend worked in orbital debris cleanup), engineer Ken’ichi Obikawa, and scientist Juri Araki. The crew vehicle and orbital habitat brought the total mass of the JPV to 5700 tonnes in low Earth orbit. The JPV began its departure in two parts from March 12 to 14, changing its velocity by a total of 6500 m/s (2900 + 3600) for a 2 year journey to the Jupiter system.

JAXA+ "Raijin" Jupiter mission 2054-01-19 - Jupiter Cargo Vehicle enters orbit 2054-02-27 - Habitat module landed on Callisto

2052-12-27 - The Data Relay satellites were the first to arrive in the Jupiter system. Just over a month later (2053-02-06), the three satellites settled into 8-hour equatorial orbits 2900 km above Callisto. 2054-01-19 - The Jupiter Cargo Vehicle performed orbital insertion and reached Callisto in late February 2054. After entering a 500 km parking orbit, the Callisto Habitation Module and Jovian Moons Landing Module separated from the transfer stage. On Feburary 26, the CaHM used its 4 RL10 engines to descend to 100 km before landing in a flat equatorial area where Jupiter could be visible just above the horizon. Like the Tsukuyomi Moon base, which had to be powered for several days without sunlight, it used a Kilopower nuclear reactor and needed large radiators to dissipate heat. Callisto had been selected for its safe distance from Jupiter’s radiation belts. Ganymede is at the innermost limit, while Europa and Io are constantly bombarded by radiation.

2049-09-30 - Three DRTS-X relay satellites (DRTS-X16, 17, and 18) were launched by an H-Z 102 rocket to Callisto. These satellites were powered by RTGs as sunlight was less powerful at Jupiter's distance. They would reach Jupiter by the end of 2052, and arrive at Callisto in early 2053. Advances in materials allowed for the construction of lighter hydrogen fuel tanks that could carry more propellant in the same volume. A propulsion bus similar to the one used for the Ceres comsat network could thus be used to take the trio of satellites all the way to Callisto orbit. (meta note: the new version of Realism Overhaul for KSP 1.12 changed tank masses when LH2 is loaded) 2050-10-01 - One year after the comsats were launched, the first module of the Raijin Jupiter Cargo Vehicle (JCV) was launched by an H-ZA 208 rocket. It weighed over 1000 tonnes at launch and consisted of the Earth Departure Stage (21 m diameter, 2 LE-N engines) and Jupiter Orbit Stage (13.9 m, 1 LE-N engine). 2050-10-27 - An H-Z 102 launched the Jovian Moons Landing Module (JMLM) and Callisto Habitation Module (CaHM) to rendezvous and dock with the JCV using a auxiliary propulsion stage. After arriving in Callisto orbit, the CaHM would proceed to land on the surface while the JMLM would remain in orbit until the crew arrived. A propellant cache would refuel the lander after the stay on Callisto, so it could land and take off from Ganymede after being pushed there by another vehicle. On October 30, the Trans-Jovian Injection was performed, to arrive in early 2054. It was split into three burns (1400 + 1500 + 3700 = 6600 m/s) due to the relatively low thrust of the LE-N engines. Third trans-Jovian burn (after stage separation)

I really like the revamped textures, but is there any reason why Jupiter in my game doesn't appear as bright as your screenshot? (TUFX - Zorg-Neutral config) (TUFX - FoxBright config)

This is the result of the file [KSP folder]\GameData\GasGiantsEnhanced\Configs\Scatterer\RSS_ScattererFix.cfg In that file, change the line sunColor = 0.6,0.6,1.0 (levels of red, green, and blue) to sunColor = 1.0,1.0,1.0 and the color will revert to what it used to be.

After sending humans to the Moon, Mars, Venus, and asteroids, JAXA+ was now ready to venture into the outer solar system. The Raijin mission, named after the Japanese god of lightning and thunder, would transport 3 astronauts to two of Jupiter's major moons (discovered by Galileo) in the 2050s. They would stay a few months at a pre-deployed base on Callisto, then briefly land on Ganymede. The other two Galilean moons, Europa and Io, were not an option as they were deep inside Jupiter's radiation belts. The longer duration of the mission in interplanetary space required heavier radiation shielding and more propellant, resulting in the initial mass of the piloted vehicle approaching 6000 tonnes. A new launch vehicle, the H-ZA, was developed to carry payloads up to 1070 tonnes (fact sheet), about twice the lift capacity of the Sea Dragon. The core stage diameter was widened to 21 meters, and the fairing to 26 meters. It had 19 LE-Z engines on the first stage with up to 8 SRB-Z boosters (a total of 11 times the Saturn V's launch thrust), and 4 LE-Z vacuum engines on the second stage. (I made a custom patch to add gold foil textures to the ROTanks mod.) Tanegashima model by Tyler Raiz. Instead of using the Kerbal Konstructs mod like in their video (which causes the custom island model to disappear at a certain distance), I had to: - resize the island to a more reasonable (but not exact) size - edit the Earth heightmap .dds, replacing the default terrain with water (so it doesn't intersect with the new island model) - move the space center in LaunchSites.cfg - create a patch to use the PQS City2 function of the Kopernicus mod to have the island visible at longer distances (like in Katniss's Cape Canaveral mod) A test launch lifting a 1000 t liquid hydrogen tank into low Earth orbit

Nice to see some JAXA representation.

I have seen someone on the r/KerbalSpaceProgram Discord server using Pathfinder in conjunction with MKS (Modular Kolonization System) to create large and impressive-looking bases with low part count (as of 2019). Are they still compatible with each other? (edit: apparently they are if you use CRP mode)

I want to see Toad Space Program.

Reposting here for posterity (as to why I'm using nuclear thermal propulsion instead of electric, which would make more sense considering Japan's usage of it in the Hayabusa missions)

The JAXA Digital Archives has a few pieces of concept art (from the 1980s and more recently), but there have never been any substantial plans for crewed Mars missions that I know of. (Category: General - Future Concept) (Category: Human Space Activities - Others) I did a fictional Japanese Mars mission set in a universe where JAXA isn't restricted by budgets and economies, and launches hundreds of tonnes into orbit at a time. I was thinking of the same thing, too. But Japan has started to come back to nuclear power in spite of the Fukushima disaster. I know that in reality, Japan would be more likely to use (low-thrust) electric propulsion over nuclear thermal, and was considering it for my Ceres mission, but from what I've read elsewhere, the Persistent Thrust mod isn't always reliable.

"Rosalina" Comet Observer and "Luma" Comet Lander

I said I would like a game like DSP but more focused on space infrastructure management and less like Factorio.