totm sep 2021 Space Station Freedom - A Kerbalized recreation of Space Station Freedom from Eyes Turned Skywards

[AmateurAstronaut1969]

                                                                                              AARDV II, January 1991
                                                                                                                            Special delivery!

To cargo or not to go?

When Freedom began construction in 1989, the venerable AARDV (Known as the Aardvark) was retired and replaced with its bigger brother, the AARDV block II. Regular AARDV II resupply missions would serve Freedom throughout it's lifetime, too many to launch and post here, so I decided to showcase what one of those missions would look like. 

A major upgrade from Block I was the enlargement of the pressurised cargo section, and the addition of an unpressurised freighter to carry external cargo to and from Freedom. On this mission, it will carry external hardware to facilitate the attachment of the S2 truss aswell as replacement hardware for some onboard systems.

 

Liftoff!

Passing through Max-Q

F-1A throttledown

AARDV separation

Preparing to dock, AARDV lines up with Harmony's nadir (Earth facing) CADS port

Soft capture & docking

The next day, Penguin & Raccourier Kerman prepare for EVA 32, in which they will unload the freighter's unpressurised contents and install this hardware ahed of the arrival of the S2 truss in a few weeks time.

 The crew seal up the freighter bay and after 3 days, AARDV prepares to leave

AARDV preforms it's own disposal

[Jacktical]

Love the mission name  Reminds me of rocket lab. Btw, what version do you play on, I just cannot get my KVE to work for the life of me. I'm on 1.10.1 atm

[AmateurAstronaut1969]

31 minutes ago, Jacktical said:

Love the mission name  Reminds me of rocket lab. Btw, what version do you play on, I just cannot get my KVE to work for the life of me. I'm on 1.10.1 atm

Thanks

I play on 1.11.2, it’s the most stable for me.

 

[BekfastDerp13]

I was glad to see this again!

[AmateurAstronaut1969]

                                                                                       S2 truss segment, February 1991
                                                                                                                   Completing the backbone

Trust in it's solar power!

Freedom, nearing completion, is preparing to receive it's final segment of solar arrays. The Starboard 2 (S2) truss houses another set of these solars, designed to bring the power hungry station up to its full operational capacity.

Astronauts on both Expedition 8 & 9 have been trained in the docking, installation and integration of S2, using many components delivered on the latest AARDV II mission.

 

Tracking and data cameras watch the vehicle sat on it's mobile launcher

TADC 3 captures liftoff, broadcast across the country

Vehicle performance nominal

Commencing throttledown

AARDV tug separation

Rendezvous with Freedom

AARDV tug lines itself up the TCM (Truss capture mechanism) on the port side of the P1 truss segment

Truss captured! The AARDV tug checks systems for less than a minute and immediately preforms a retreat manoeuvre to get it as far away from Freedom as possible

On EVA 34, Penguin and Raccourier Kerman secure connections and wire S2 up into the electrical and coolant systems. Two days later, S2 is cleared to deploy

Freedom's solar wings are now complete. All that is in the way of it and it's full operational capacity (FOC) is the launch of Expedition 10 and the Japanese laboratory, 'Kibo'

 

[AmateurAstronaut1969]

                                                                                              Expedition 10, April 1991
                                                                                                                   Quarterly crew rotation

One in, one out!
 

Freedom, nearing completion, is ready for it's next quarterly crew rotation. The crew of Expedition 10 have the job of preparing for, and docking it's final module, the Japanese lab 'Kibo'. This will mark the end of Freedom's construction period, and will allow for much more research to take place as this time of dynamic change comes to an end.

The crew consists of:

Commander: Jingle Kerman

CSM Pilot: Kuiper Kerman

Mission Specialist: Volvical Kerman - EVA specialist

Mission Specialist:  Heinrich Kerman - Flight scientist

Mission Specialist:  Rhode Kerman - Flight scientist

…Abord their spacecraft, 'Hubble'

Media and live broadcasts of Freedom expeditions are a common sight, it seems Regan's station has captured the minds and imaginations of America!

Liftoff!

"Hubble, you are go at T+1 minute''

Despite the ''terrible'' camera quality at the time, relative to today, broadcasts such as this would inspire an entire generation of new astronauts to join the core, the Artemis generation!

Successful stage separation

Mission module extraction

After an 18 hour coast, Hubble rendezvouses with Freedom, targeting Harmony's fore docking node

Soft capture confirmed

Another great docking!

[AmateurAstronaut1969]

                                                                            Japanese Experiment Module (JEM), June 1991
                                                                                                                                   'Kibo' Launch

It's the final countdown!

 

The Japanese Experiment Module, 'Kibo' is JAXA's latest contribution to Freedom.  They already built and launched the Centrifuge Gravity Lab (CGL) which, as the name suggests, is a centrifuge module for Freedom. Contrasting this 'Kibo' is a simple Japanese Laboratory, with an exposed platform for external experiments.

'Kibo' will be the last module launched to Freedom, signifying Freedom reaching Full Operational Capacity (FOC), and the ability to house 15 crew members

The Saturn M02 fuels up on the pad hours before launch

Liftoff!

Launching at dawn, the M02 begins to see the sun as it rises over the horizon

Stage Separation

Kibo Jettison 

Kibo approaches Freedom, it will dock to the starboard port on Node-2, 'Harmony'

 

Successful docking confirmed, 'Kibo' is secured 

After 32 months of assembly, Freedom is finally complete - Let's have a quick recap shall we?

1988

November 1988 - The core module 'Challenger' is launched, along with Expedition 1 and Node-1 'Unity'

January 1989 - P1 Truss 

1989

April 1989 - Expedition 2

May 1989 - US lab module 'Discovery'

June 1989 - S1 Truss

July 1989 - ESA lab module 'Columbus' - Freedom at IOC

August 1989 - Expedition 3

October 1989 - Expedition 4

1990

January 1990 - Expedition 5

March 1990 - Node-1 'Harmony'

April 1990 - Expedition 6

July 1990 - Expedition 7

August 1990 - P2 Truss

October 1990 - Expedition 8

November 1990 - Centrifuge Gravity Lab

1991

January 1991 - Expedition 9

February 1991 - S2 Truss

April 1991 - Expedition 10

June 1991 - JEM 'Kibo' - Freedom at FOC

 

I hope you all enjoyed this journey of sorts...however there's one mission I have left for y'all, so stay tuned...maybe even more

[ra4nd0m]

Wow this boi is so small compared to real-life module).

[crberus]

Genuinely enjoyed the story. Hopefully, you will bless us with other realistic space stations.

[AmateurAstronaut1969]

5 hours ago, crberus said:

Genuinely enjoyed the story. Hopefully, you will bless us with other realistic space stations.

Thanks man, really appreciate that

I’d also appreciate it if you could all add your input on this, about the future of this thread and my recreations Here

[crberus]

18 hours ago, AmateurAstronaut1969 said:

Thanks man, really appreciate that

I’d also appreciate it if you could all add your input on this, about the future of this thread and my recreations Here

Can't vote there due to the lack of an account. And, also, can't even decide what's more exciting: ETS Artemis or unknown ESA project.

[AmateurAstronaut1969]

Hi everyone. Freedom is now complete, there is nothing else to add. Thanks for supporting this thread and enjoying the missions, this will be my last post here. I’ve migrated over to my new project, recreating ETS Artemis. If you would like to check that out, look no further than here

Ad Astra!

[Autochrome]

16 minutes ago, AmateurAstronaut1969 said:

Hi everyone. Freedom is now complete, there is nothing else to add. Thanks for supporting this thread and enjoying the missions, this will be my last post here. I’ve migrated over to my new project, recreating ETS Artemis. If you would like to check that out, look no further than here

Ad Astra!

I am kind of sad that this series has finally come to an end, but I am also glad that something new can come from this conclusion. I’ll see you on the new thread, and thanks for this space station experience!

Edited April 17, 2022 by Austin_Kerman

[ra4nd0m]

13 hours ago, AmateurAstronaut1969 said:

Hi everyone. Freedom is now complete, there is nothing else to add. Thanks for supporting this thread and enjoying the missions, this will be my last post here. I’ve migrated over to my new project, recreating ETS Artemis. If you would like to check that out, look no further than here

Ad Astra!

Thank you for this truly amazing series.  It was my gateway into the amazing world of ETS and made me love this amazing game and community even more. Your timely return with the series also helped me to get back in the game after almost half a year hiatus. Looking forward to Artemis!

[AmateurAstronaut1969]

14 hours ago, Austin_Kerman said:

I am kind of sad that this series has finally come to an end, but I am also glad that something new can come from this conclusion. I’ll see you on the new thread, and thanks for this space station experience!

 

1 hour ago, ra4nd0m said:

Thank you for this truly amazing series.  It was my gateway into the amazing world of ETS and made me love this amazing game and community even more. Your timely return with the series also helped me to get back in the game after almost half a year hiatus. Looking forward to Artemis!

Thanks you, your words really do mean a lot to me

[AmateurAstronaut1969]

Big things are coming, anyone who liked this thread back in the day...keep your eyes open