18 months ago, I did my first mission to Duna... the photos have just been found! (Final Part posted)

[facmanpob]

Back in the heady days of version 24.2 I finally decided to get serious and mount a manned mission to Duna. Earlier today, whilst looking through old files, I found all of the screenshots. So, I present to you, KSPers, a nostalgic look back at what I achieved in 2014...

Duna or Bust, Part 1

First off, we took my version of the Delta IV Heavy to the pad to send off a probe or two to the red planet. This is some weeks before the true launch window opens, so the delta-V requirement is large!

setting up our interplanetary transit... (thank you Precise Node mod!) ... delta-V is in the 2200m/s ball park, more than double what we would need when the manned launch is carried out 50 days later

light the blue touch paper, and stand well back...

meanwhile, on-orbit assembly of the manned element of the mission was taking place...in the foreground the nuclear propulsion block, and in the background the habitat block with its launch booster still attached

and our ship is almost ready to go... from right to left we have the "bridge", life support areas, docking node with Skylab style telescope mount, living quarters and lab, and then past the big KW rocketry docking adapters to the fuel and engines. All we are waiting for is the "tug" at the far left to detach, and be replaced with a large aerobraking shield

 

Part 2 will see the crew transferred and the epic journey get underway. Stay tuned!

Edited February 24, 2016 by facmanpob

[Delfinus]

Your Duna craft looks great! I may be inspired by it for the design of my own Kerbbed Duna Mission.

[facmanpob]

Duna or Bust, Part 2

Now that our probes are on their way, and our crew vessel is ready, it's time to get this show on the road... or at least, it was 18 months ago, when all of this happened. We needed a lander when our vessel arrived at Duna, and the easiest way of doing this was to launch it separately. Here it was on the launch pad...

Bye, bye, procedural fairings...

For thos of you who love orbital mechanics, here is our transfer orbit plotted out. 1000 m/s dV, 70-day transfer...

Here was a closer look at the lander and transfer stage. With space and consumables for 2 Kerbals to spend 3 weeks on the surface, the transfer stage should also have enough spare fueld to allow the lander to descend to the surface at a 2nd landing site...

A couple of weeks after the lander set out, Jeb and Bill ferried the 4-Kerbal crew to the crew transfer ship. This was a shot taken by the Mission Commander, Sonwig, of his trio of intrepid crewmates - Lorim, Aldton and Bardock

Jeb flew a perfect mission to rendezvous with the crew transfer vessel (I never did settle on a name for it!)...

With the crew aboard, Jeb and Bill bade them farewell and returned to the surface...

As Mission Commander, Sonwig plotted the TPI burn out of Kerbin orbit...

...and off they went...

Post-burn, Sonwig swung the ship retrograde to take photos of Kerbin from the flight deck. I actually flew as much of the mission from the IVA as possible, which was a challenge to say the least - Raster Prop Monitor to the rescue!!

Nuclear engines being what they are, we couldn't get enough dV on one burn, so had to swing by Kerbin 2 more times before we had enough velocity to leave orbit and head on towards Duna. The Oberth effect was used to help us on our way!

Looking back at Kerbin once they were on their way, you can see some of the IVA screens in action... although challenging, it really was immersive flying this way...

Byeeeee! One last look as the planet recedes...

Next, up, Part 3, in which the probes arrive at Duna...

12 minutes ago, DolphinDude3 said:

Your Duna craft looks great! I may be inspired by it for the design of my own Kerbbed Duna Mission.

Thanks! I was so chuffed to find the screenshots again, I remember the mission taking weeks to plan properly, and getting the crew transfer vessel to my liking was a mission in and of itself!

[Cydonian Monk]

I'm guessing it took 18 months for the PR department to scrub out all the references to Mün crabs, Duna spiders and other such alien beings?

Looks quite nice so far. (Also sorta makes me miss procedural fairings.....)

[Garibaldi2257]

I like the ship.

[facmanpob]

Duna or Bust, Part 3

Our unmanned probe mission arrives in the vicinity of Duna some weeks in advance of the crewed portion of our mission...

and I remember spending some time playing with Precise node getting a nice flyby of the south polar regions in order to set up a polar orbit...

course correction made, our new course is perfect for Duna insertion...

once we made Duna orbit, HAL 9000 opened to pod bay doors to reveal the secret cargo... another probe!

...which we released using the wonders of the Infernal Robotics mod...

...it's like ballet!

why 2 probes? Well, the Scansat mod had a number of different sensors, which worked best at different altitudes. This one needed a 250km orbit...

whilst scanning for karbonite was best done at 100km iirc!

and there we are, 2 lovely circular polar orbits for our Scansat probes...

 

Join us next time, when Sonwig Kerman will earn his stripes as a pilot and aerobrake into Duna orbit... or will he?

 

[facmanpob]

Duna or Bust, Part 4

Although the unmanned lander was launched first, our crew used a faster transfer route to get to Duna, and so ended up arriving 18 days in advance of the lander

The inflatable aeroshield was deployed, and hatches were battened down!

With such a high dV, and such a thin atmosphere, the engines were fired to assist in the braking manoeuvre. Even using Deadly Reentry, the atmosphere is so thin that we are in no danger of overheating

The capture was successful, and we began to plot course corrections to circularise the orbit

After a second aerobrake to reduce apoapsis further, a 100km circularisation burn could be attempted later

Sonwig even had time to snap a photo whilst aerobraking at 20km altitude!

Meanwhile, the unmanned lander is approaching, and the eagle eyed mission control spots an encounter with Ike...

the lander digs deep into the atmosphere, with a closest approach of 15km

After aerobraking, the lander's orbit was highly elliptical, and the Ike encounter could be used to our advantage

Here's one for those who like orbital mechanics - a relatively small correction burn at Ike periapsis enables the lander to get its next Duna close encounter to almost exactly the right altitude for rendezvous with the crew!

Almost managed to line up Ike, Kerbol, and Duna behind the lander during the Ike encounter burn!

Although I tried very hard to be entirely professional and un-Kerbal for this mission, there had to be a moment when it got hair-raising... Lorim Kerman did a 1km crossing from the crew vehicle to the lander as it swung by...

...and made it! Mark Watney eat your heart out - that's a proper EVA!

Once inside the lander, Lorim circularised the orbit and closed in on the crew vehicle...

...finally dropping the engine section behind to dock with the crew vehicle. The engine section has a docking port and enough fuel for a complete refuel of the lander, so will stay in Duna orbit for the duration of the mission.

Lorim approached with caution...

steady as she goes...

and we are there! Aldton joined Lorim in the lander and is was a green light for landing!

In our next and final episode, Lorim and Aldton Kerman will make their attempt to land on Duna from the IVA position...

[facmanpob]

Duna or Bust, Part 5

This is it, our last installment...

Lorim Kerman sat at the controls of the lander, selecting his MFD controls prior to the descent

His partner for the landing, Aldton Kerman, doesn't get much of a view, unfortunately... just the back of Lorim's head!

de-orbit burn complete, Lorim consults the Scansat information to check that the landing site is suitable

and thus began the rapid descent through the atmosphere

at 34km altitude, the lander begins to feel the first effects of atmospheric compression, and the orbital velocity peaks at 950m/s before starting to come down...

at 20km the drogue chute opens. I was using both the Real Chutes and Deadly Reentry mods, so careful planning for this moment was essential back on Kerbin!

at 7km the main chutes begin to deploy. The staging of the chutes was critical...

at an altitude of 2.5km, all of the chutes were fully deployed, and it was time to see if our number crunching had been correct...

with 300m on the altimeter, and a leisurely descent rate of 4.3m/s, it looks like we are going to be successful...

Lorim and Aldton share an amusing anecdote on the way down...

Touchdown!

As the closest to the hatch, Aldton gets the honour of being first out... but before descending the ladder he unstows the solar panels from the KAS container and attaches them...

But Lorim and Aldton soon find time to set up the camera and take a selfie for the folks back home!

And there we have it... having first bought the game in March of 2013, it took me until October 2014 to make it to Duna...

Hopefully when 1.1 is released I'll make it out to Jool!  Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed the ride!

 

[Delfinus]

Although it's a bit late, as in 18 month's late, congratulations anyway for succesfully landing! It was entertaining to read!

Edited February 24, 2016 by DolphinDude3

[facmanpob]

5 hours ago, DolphinDude3 said:

Although it's a bit late, as in 18 month's late, congratulations anyway for succesfully landing! It was entertaining to read!

Thanks Dude!

[Nicholiathan]

Grats on great mission!