Into the Void

[Astraph]

XV
Trial by Ice

"Sometimes you need to start at the beginning"
-Cpt. Obvious

(This update is sponsored by this magnificent suite from ThePrimeCronus YT channel. Full credits in vid's description.)

With design finalized and first prototype well under construction, the Sidonia programme pushed on to next stage.

Logistics of interplanetary flight have always been a subject of a heated debate. The simplest solution - taking all life support supplies, fuel and other resources from Gael directly - would result in an overbloated spaceship, well beyond the capabilities of any reasonable launch system. Therefore, the mission architecture had to be split into segments, each responsible for one critical component:

• Crew transport and en-route life support -> Handled by Sidonia proper.
• Propulsion production -> Handled by a specialized refinery complex, extracting and processing resources from planetary atmosphere and crust
• Cargo and instrument freight -> Handled by a specialized cargo craft, tentatively dubbed "Big, Dumb Freighter".
• Long term habitation and work space -> Handled by a specialized lander, containing inflatable agroponics and habitation modules.
• Orbital delivery -> Handled by a super-heavy Ferrum booster.

To reduce costs and simplify deployment and utilization, all four lander components were determined to use the basic template laid out by Sidonia.

The dual propulsion Sidonia used had several implications for refinery design; in-situ refueling would require two basic resources - water and karbonite. Processing karbonite to rocket fuel was a well known and relatively simple process; by a combination of distillation, fracking and black magic, the omnipresent compound could have been reduced to a highly energetic mixture of hydrocarbons. HTP, however, was more complex to obtain.

The anthraquinone process required two things; purified water and lots of electric energy. Water was first dissolved into hydrogen and oxygen, and then both molecules would recombine in a catalyst-laced chamber, producing hydrogen peroxide to be stored in specially insulated tanks. Similarly to karbonite, water was ubiquitous in the system. Energy - not so much.

The prototype Cygnus refinery was designed to combine those two processes; upon landing, the device would deploy it drills, extracting water and karbonite, and then use its onboard reactor to process them into usable resources. Extendable radiators were to expel heat into space, keeping internal temperature optimal for fuel production.

Render of Cygnus refinery prototype

As fuel production was deemed to be the most unproven part of the process, a test mission was scheduled to examine the integration of refinery modules and refueling technology. Heart of Kerbold and the prototype Cygnus refinery were rolled out, stacked on top of two next-generation Ferrum boosters and prepped for launch.

Ferrum booster promised to deliver a whole new quality to the Space Program - with 250 tons of low orbit capability, it easily dwarfed the preceding Electrum. Unfortunately, this also increased manufacturing costs and technical complexity to monstrous proportions - which, in turn was to be mitigated by the booster's unique and unprecedented feature.

Sidonia Iota Phase I - Cygnus

Spoiler

The first booster, dubbed Oh No Not Again, carried the Cygnus refinery into orbit.

Upon reaching high atmosphere, the second stage continued its flight, while first stage initiated a reentry burn.

The landing zone was located on Gooney Island - a large, relatively flat patch of land in the middle of Gelar Ocean.

Following a few dramatic seconds, Oh No Not Again touched down on Gooney Island. Engineering crews rushed to inspect the booster, while a specially designed crawler made preparations to deliver it to the closest port - where it would be loaded on a transport barge and delivered back to KSC for reflight.

Cygnus Iota touched down near the moon's north pole after a few days' cruise and deployed its drills. The smaller satellite was chosed due to practical reasons; in case of Heart of Kerbold's malfunction, a Zenith lander could be used for a recovery mission. Additionally, Iota's icy crust offered a perfect chance to test the basics of water-based HTP production scheme.

Phase II - Heart of Kerbold

Spoiler

Due to its bulk and mass - as well as in order to reduce operation costs by maximizing reusability - Sidonia was designed to operate as both an independent spaceship and Ferrum booster's 2nd stage.

Following stage separation, Heart of Kerbold used its Eaglet and NTRs to push itself into parking orbit, while the 1st stage (dubbed 42) flew towards Gooney Island.

Unfortunately, a design flaw lead to the booster having insufficient battery capacity - resulting in the rocket running out of power mid-flight and crashing violently.

Once Heart of Kerbold reached stable orbit, the Eaglet was shut down and the rest of flight was conducted using NTRs only.

Following touchdown, the crew - Varyag, Charlie and Jolly - conducted a series of tests to evaluate Sidonia's performance in vacuum.

The ability to conduct suborbital 'hops' was deemed a key component of every long-term mission. According to Sidonia planners and their hopes, it not only allowed to access multiple areas during a single flight, but also allowed more flexibility when assembling the compound.

Multiple refueling techniques - from direct pumping to transporting fuel via containers - have been tested during the mission.

During its extended stay, the crew tested Sidonia's systems in multiple situations. The mission took two full Iotan days, equating to just shy of 50 Gael days, during which the spaceship endured the noon heat, deep-night freezing temperatures, corrosive salts contained in icy crust and space radiation, to name a few.

Phase III - Deep Space Cruise & Return

Spoiler

Following refueling, Heart of Kerbold blasted off Iotan surface, heading towards its deep-space trial.

Following a departure from Iota, the spaceship set its course towards Ceti, looping around the moon before heading back towards Gael.

This provided an opportunity to test the Eaglet engine for precise, deep-space course corrections.

Using upper atmosphere passes to bleed out excessive speed, Heart of Kerbold performed a successful reentry, bringing her crew safely back to surface - fulfilling a dream almost given up following the shortcomings of the Zenith program.

Lauded as a stunning and outstanding success, the first flight of Sidonia completed all of its primary objectives:

• Feasibility of Ferrum boosters has been confirmed. The loss of 42 resulted in future examples having doubled battery capacity. The reentry profile has also been adjusted slightly, adding a mid-entry burn to allow engine alternators to charge up the batteries.
• Dual propulsion system has proven its reliability and effectiveness, despite apparent complexity. While sceptics were quick to point out that four Vectors offered excessive thrust for Niven operations and fuel tanks were insufficienct for a confident mission to bodies larger than the Yellow Planet, redesigning the array was deemed too risky and expensive to be considered without endangering the mission schedule
• Cygnus refinery has proven its feasibility, although with several caveats; heat management systems worked very porly in vacuum despite extending radiator surface, resulting in the reactor rapidly overheating and limiting its working regime to relatively short pulses. This, in turn, reduced the overall HTP output, meaning that despite spending almost 50 days on Iota, Sidonia took off without fully filled tanks.
• Life support and flight control systems on Heart of Kerbold worked flawlessly; the biggest issue detected was related to power; it was hoped NTR reactors would be sufficient to power up all systems while the spaceship remained in a celestial body's shadow - unfortunately, wiring and generator issues forced the crew to revert to emergency power whenever the blackout exceeded 5 minutes. While this didn't affect life support systems, disturbance in cooling resulted in a non-negligible boiloff of HTP from the ship's tanks.

With this, the final phase of preparations was given a green light to proceed...

[KerballingSmasher]

  the OH NO NOT AGAIN and 42... those are Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy references aren't they?

 

Can I suggest that the next one be named Ford?

[fulgur]

The oblique references would be better continued with Restaurant perhaps, or Chelsea Sofa. Or maybe just It'll All Have To Go.

Well, it will.

[Pleb]

Will you be featuring a bistromathics drive in one of your future vessels? 

Good stuff though, keeping up!

[Astraph]

On 10/28/2019 at 12:11 AM, Kerballing (Got Dunked On) said:

  the OH NO NOT AGAIN and 42... those are Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy references aren't they?

 

Can I suggest that the next one be named Ford?

The whole Niven project is ended, so I have its name list closed... But for the next mission, why not

On 10/28/2019 at 5:38 PM, fulgur said:

The oblique references would be better continued with Restaurant perhaps, or Chelsea Sofa. Or maybe just It'll All Have To Go.

Well, it will.

Adds to the list.

On 10/28/2019 at 8:22 PM, Pleb said:

Will you be featuring a bistromathics drive in one of your future vessels? 

Good stuff though, keeping up!

So far, updating KSP-I resulted with my HTP drive becoming non-functional due to change in propellant compatibility... But if I ever get to warp or other ridiculous tech, why not try explaining the black magic behind them in Adams' style

[fulgur]

I can just imagine that  K-Drives were dreamt up in a small Italian bistro somewhere on Thalia, the Gaelan version of Frogstar B.
(Apologies to all non-H2G2 fans reading this thread.)

[Astraph]

XVI
Laying the Path

With technical solutions worked out and prototypes tested, construction of final components for the Niven mission was authorized. Following the final revision, the stationary part of the Sidonia complex was to consist of three modules:

• Sidonia Cygnus - a refined version of Cygnus refinery, with upgraded heat management modules, optimized for atmospheric cooling. The vessel took its name from Cygnus - a minor goddess of Gaelian pantheon, known for her excellent technical and mechanical skills.

• Sidonia Moriya - named after a sacred temple of ancient Gaelian faith, the lander was to provide habitat and supplies during extended stay on planet's surface.

• Sidonia Anna - named after Cygnus' mistress and legendary warrioress, Anna was designed to deliver all components and devices required for proper assembly of Moriya and Cygnus' facilities.

All three components have been launched on the same day - the biggest and most complex operation ever conducted by the Agency.

Sidonia complex launch [Y5 D116]

Spoiler

Cygnus launched using a brand new Ferrum IIb booster - Marvin.

The booster nailed its landing on Gooney Island, while the lander itself moved on, pushed by the rocket's second stage and its own set of liquid fuel engines.

Moriya followed, its booster - Hello Ground - also performing a successful touchdown.

Anna completed the hattrick, with its Flowerpot achieving a third soft landing in a row. All three boosters have been loaded on transports and shipped back for KSC for refurbishment and relaunch.

Ferrum booster, as powerful as it was, lacked the capability to put a fully fueled Heart of Kerbold into orbit; due to this, an orbital propellant depot had to be included in mission architecture. Fully automated, the depot was to operate two robotic landers, collecting water and ore from Iota's surface and delivering it for processing in moon's low orbit.

Orbital Propellant Depot (OPD) assembly

Spoiler

The first part of the complex - core module, containing HTP tanks, powerplant and refineries - was launched using the refurbished Marvin, making it the first Ferrum reflight in program's history.

Unfortunately, guidance systems failed to cancel out horizontal velocity - and the booster slammed into Gooney Island, completely obliterated in the process.

Following station's orbital insertion, two mining drones - dubbed Harvester and Aquarius - were launched. This time, both boosters performed splendidly, landing back at their island zone.

On its way, Aquarius deployed a small satellite, designed to pinpoint ore and water rich areas around Iota's equator.

While the drones arrived and began their work on Iota, the final part of depot's assembly began; extensive radiator panels had been launched. Due to their size, they had to be delivered separately and assembled in place.

A lightweight version of Ferrum booster was used for orbital insertion, while delivery and assembly were handled my crewed Nadir spacecraft. Unfortunately, out of three rockets used, only one managed to perform a successful reentry and landing.

A total of three flights was performed, each delivering a single radiator module. Their size alone made the assembly the hardest and most complex of all performed so far - but in a remarkable feat of skill, no mishaps took place.

With both drones making a round trip every few days, the depot was gradually filled up with hundreds of tons of liquid fuel and HTP, waiting for the Heart of Kerbold to come and dock.

With the depot in place, and all three landers en route, the Agency's crews returned to patient waiting. Should all three landers touch down successfully, the next transfer window two years later would signal the beginning of the main, crewed phase…

[KerballingSmasher]

Me: Yay, a booster named Marvin!

 

Seconds later: Aww, Marvin died... RIP