Dreams of Cercani Part2: Press Space to Slow Down

[EnderiumSmith]

After sending probes to the 4 nearby planets to scout ahead and developing a nuclear propulsion system, the agency is ready for the first interplanetary mission.

The ship contains a compact lander and fuel reserves for 4 landings. A hitchhiker module and an inflatable habitat provide accommodations for 3 crew. The engine module can detach and operate independently. The initial plan was to dunk the ship in the atmosphere and save the engine but i packed way to much fuel and managed to return to low orbit with the engine module still mostly full. The crew for this mission will be Jeb, Bob and Melming.

Launching

Escape burn

Once the engine finishes burning the crew moves into the habitation module. Looking from the windows of the cupolas they watch as Kerbin recedes into the distance and contemplate their place in the universe. They are the first kerbals to leave Kerbins sphere of influence. All of history seems small and insignificant from up here. Entire civilizations rose and fell yet their legacy remained unknown to the eternal abyss.

After about a year Duna begins to appear into the field of view

arriving at Duna

3 landing are preformed in different locations around Duna. Jeb gets to pilot the last one. Fuel has to be saved for a final landing on Ike

Arriving at Ike during an eclipse

If you look closely youll see a landing leg missing. This mission was being piloted by the Melming the engineer who miscalculated the burn and smashed the lander into the surface of Ike, tearing off a whole fuel pod. He was able to meet with the mothership with just 12m/s of deltav remaining. The agency decided to deorbit the lander as future missions will likely need more capable ones anyway. Melming gained the nickname "honeydew" due to this mistake.

Time to return

The news of their accomplishment have been so significant that 4 wealthy kerbals payed a very significant sum for the chance to meet the crew as they arrive, on the Ares ship itself

A shuttle has been developed to return the crew

The Ares seems small with the shuttle docked to it. The 4 kerbals will get to spend a week with the crew before they will all return using the shuttle. The life support systems are only designed for 3 kerbals but there are enough supplies buffered to last

The shuttle arrives home. I overshot the ksc and had to burn the rest of the fuel just to reach

With the Ares having arrived intact it has been decided to send it to Gilly next. The Crew for this mission consists of Aiko, a daring pilot of the likes of Jeb and Val, Piko the scientist and Bill. While Gilly isnt exactly the most interesting target, Aiko wants a chance to prove her skills and a mission to Eve is a long way off as not much funding has been allocated there due to the manned missions

Another fuel module. The cargo part has a new science module since the old one was on the lander

To deal with the inclination a complex transfer was required

Aiko Kerman with the Ares. Due to the radiator on the back the ship cant lay down without obstructing the exits

Time to return. The space camera had its calibration updated so it can properly see the plume of the nuclear engines

Due to the extreme inclination there is not enough fuel to enter a low orbit and the Ares will be sent into the atmosphere. The development of centrifuge rings has rendered its design obsolete anyway

Surprisingly the life support module has survived impact with the ground and rolling down a hill. Other surviving pieces include an RCS thruster, a docking port and one of the cupolas

By this time a mission to Jool has already departed. A high energy transfer will mean it will arrive slightly before the probe meant to scan the system for landing spots. The agency will now focus again on probes to the inner system, with Moho being the next target for a manned mission. The science team will focus on more advanced fission systems for going even further out but fusion and even antimatter propulsion is just around the corner. Fusion is required to kickstart and allow colonization of increasingly further out places but initial designs have low thrust so a foray into antimatter might be a better choice for initial exploration of the outer ice giants.

[Watermel00n]

That is a long ship.

[Vagrant203]

I suggest adding this post to your previous Dreams of Cercani thread. You could copy-paste or maybe have a mod merge the two for you. If you're worried about images affecting people's load times, common practice is to place images into spoiler tags.

[EnderiumSmith]

Am i supposed to put the entire series in a single post? wont it not show after a while because its old even if i keep posting in it?

[Vagrant203]

Most of the time forums are sorted by last update, so the topic will show back up if you add to the first thread. For example, the Emiko Station thread is ancient but it showed back up because someone posted to it.