Eloquent Spacecraft Systems Long-Term Career

[septemberWaves]

2 hours ago, kraden said:

You've lost engines on a couple of launches.  What mod is this, Kerbalism?

Actually I staged those engine failures. It was partly out of curiosity to see if the launch vehicle would be able to keep flying, and partly to add a bit of realism and keep things interesting. Also, the engine failures provide an excuse for me to upgrade my 2.5m launch vehicles in the near-ish future.

2 hours ago, kraden said:

Also, since this is sort of a story type mission log, even if the mod just breaks an engine, it would be kind of cool to see a recap of "why" it failed.  I realize you'd be making it up but I think it would be kind of cool.

I think I will add some detail like that, it's a good idea. I was debating doing something like that anyway but didn't because that mission report was getting a bit long, but I am getting some ideas for the next few mission reports.

Edited February 14, 2017 by eloquentJane

[septemberWaves]

Part 15: Crewed Minmus Orbit

Continuation of M2 MiO1. The Minmus transfer window has arrived.

Spoiler

The transfer burn is split into two parts due to the low thrust-to-weight ratio.

First maneuver complete.

Commencing trans-Minmus injection burn, an orbit after the previous burn.

Transfer burn complete.

 

Continuation of MGSS2-3. Launch of MGSS3. Mission objective: transport greenhouse module to the Munar Gateway Space Station. Launch vehicle: Bishop 7.

Spoiler

Ignition.

Liftoff of MGSS3.

Fairing separation.

Solar panel deployment.

Approaching the transfer stage.

Payload deployment.

This docking maneuver has to be as accurate as possible to minimize torque when the modules are docked.

Docking successful. The modules are as well-aligned as they can be with current docking technology.

Commencing trans-Munar injection burn.

Approaching the Mun.

Orbital insertion complete.

The rendezvous took several days and some very careful planning, as the lack of a relay network around the Mun means that the spacecraft can only be controlled autonomously when it is in view of Kerbin.

Re-orienting the space station.

Undocking the station modules.

The lab module will be docked first, as it has less monopropellant and no reaction wheels.

Docking successful.

The greenhouse module undocks from the lab module and moves into position to dock on the other side of the station.

Docking successful.

It was noticed that the lab module was docked backwards, so it has to be undocked and repositioned.

Docking successful.

The MGSS has only three more modules remaining before it becomes fully operational. But before they can be launched, Valentina and Natacella are arriving at Minmus.

Continuation of M2 MiO1.

Spoiler

In space high above Minmus, Natacella becomes the first kerbal to EVA in space around Minmus as she conducts some science experiments.

The spacecraft circularizes in low Minmus orbit.

Several EVAs are conducted by both crew members during the several days spent in Minmus orbit.

Before the return to Kerbin, the Mun 1 transfer stage undocks and de-orbits with its remaining fuel.

Leaving Minmus orbit.

Approaching Kerbin.

Separation of service module and habitation module.

Re-entering.

Re-entry successful. Drogue chute deployment.

Main chute deployment.

Splashdown successful. Recovery operations can commence.

M2 MiO1 mission summary. Notable accolades include being the first kerbal to orbit Minmus (both), the first kerbal on EVA in space around Minmus (Natacella), and the first kerbal on EVA in a stable Minmus orbit (Valentina).

Edited February 21, 2017 by eloquentJane

[septemberWaves]

Update: disaster. A M.O.L.E update deleted every vehicle that included M.O.L.E parts, and I didn't have a recent backup. Luckily all kerbals were back on Kerbin when that happened, but I've lost both space stations.

[The Raging Sandwich]

Aw, that sucks.

[septemberWaves]

21 minutes ago, The Raging Sandwich said:

Aw, that sucks.

I can recreate both stations and use the cheat menu to put them back where they're supposed to be, but it might take me a while since I'll have to rebuild them from scratch (they do exist in the VAB but they're locked because of "invalid" parts despite the fact that M.O.L.E hasn't actually removed any of the parts on the stations). And since subassemblies with M.O.L.E parts got deleted as well I'll have to rebuild several launch vehicles entirely.

Edited March 7, 2017 by eloquentJane

[septemberWaves]

The End

I am going to end this career thread. There are several reasons for this, which I will now explain.

It's slow. Whilst I think I create reasonably interesting mission reports and similarly interesting spacecraft designs, there's nothing really new about doing these early-game Mun/Minmus missions and, with the way I planned for this game to go, it would still be kind of a while before I even send orbiter probes to Duna, Eve, and Harvest, and longer still before I consider sending kerbals there. I don't want to be stuck in Kerbin's SOI for too long (I didn't install all of these Kopernicus mods for nothing), but it looks like things may end up that way with this series. Given enough time I'd complete all of the plans outlined in the first post in this thread, but I think that by that time the series might get a bit outdated (KSP version 1.3 would definitely have been out for a while by the time I reach the endgame of this career, and maybe even 1.4 if it gets that far).

I'm getting sidetracked by other projects that I'm enjoying more. When I began this career game I intended it to be my main contribution to the KSP community for a while. However, I've since found that some of the other things I've been doing have been more interesting at times. I have still enjoyed this career game, but I've been spending more and more time on other projects and less time on this, and I'd rather shut this thread down properly than provide infrequent updates at longer and longer intervals until I get too bored to bother with updates. The recent loss of my stations is also somewhat disheartening; I put quite a lot of work into those stations and losing them was quite a catastrophe.

My interests have changed somewhat. The basis of this thread involved gradually evolving technology to suit greater and greater needs as time went on. However, I've recently become far more interested in dedicated mission architectures designed for accomplishing a specific goal. This is in part due to the Doing It Gemini/Apollo/Constellation/Soviet Style challenges on the forums (all of which I have been attempting lately and thus studying the original related mission architectures), partly because I've been looking through technical documents from 1968 about the Boeing Integrated Manned Interplanetary Spacecraft (a proposed expansion to the Apollo program), partly because I've been working on rebooting the amazingly complex Duna Permanent Outpost Mission Architecture challenge, and partly (probably mostly, in fact) because I want to do mission planning and spacecraft design as a career. Rather than gradually developing technology to suit evolving needs (as I have been doing in this challenge), I am now more interested in developing a specific set of spacecraft to suit a specific need with a lot more restrictions than this career game involved.

 

So what next? Obviously I'm not going to stop this style of ongoing mission report entirely. What I think I will do is focus on my Doing It Constellation Style challenge, as well as my entries to the Doing It Soviet Style and Apollo Style challenges (and Apollo Applications too) until I'm satisfied with them and/or until 1.3 is released. Then I will start something new. I think I will do something similar to this thread but more in-line with my recent interest in mission architectures. I'll basically design a large mission architecture for each location in the Kerbol system (including any planet packs I add), and fly a couple of large missions to showcase the mission technology. Then I'll move on to another planet. I think this will keep me from losing interest because it should be far more fast-paced than this thread, and it also focuses on a specific interest that I now have rather than a more general goal of exploring all of the planets.