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The Outer Wilds Mission: Jool-5 Challenge(Jebediah's Level) & Grand Tour!(DONE)

Stratzenblitz75
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Stratzenblitz75

Stratzenblitz75

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Greetings!

Before I begin I'd like to thank Himynameisjake and his grand tour for inspiring me to do this mission. If it weren't for him, I'd still be here thinking its impossible.

At a glance:

I built a 98.5 ton vessel (the Nomad), launched it into LKO, and sent it on a grand tour of the Kerbol System. The main vessel performed flybys of every celestial body in the Kerbol System, while the 5 Kerbals on board took turns landing on all the solid celestial bodies (every celestial body except Jool and Kerbol). In addition, I brought science experiments with me and used them to gather almost every possible science report from outside the Kerbin System. (I only missed 13 reports, 4 from Jool's atmosphere, and 9 crew reports from the surface of the airless worlds). The trip took 33 years and gathered 42981 science points which I returned to Kerbin safely in a mobile processing lab.

Introduction:

The premise of the Outer Wilds mission is to land on every celestial body in the Kerbol System and gather as much science as possible along the way without refueling/restocking supplies. I also want to qualify for the Jool-5 Challenge Jebediah's Level so I'm taking 5 Kerbals with me, I'm not transmitting any data and I am returning a mobile science lab back to the surface of Kerbin.

Planning the mission:

Mods used:

Kerbal Engineer Redux

Time Control

TAC Fuel Balancer

Precise Node

In preparation for the mission I started up a new career save and "simulated" grinding Kerbin, the Mun and Minmus for science to fill out the tech tree (Yes, I cheated, I have better things to do than spam the Mun and Minmus for science). As a result, I'll be restricting myself to performing science only on the surface of one biome on each of Kerbin's moons and I will not be performing any science on Kerbin or the space around Kerbin.

With that said, I will try to get every possible science report from outside the Kerbin system (except maybe Jool). That means all the crew reports, Eva reports, gravity scans, seismic scans, temperature readings, barometer readings, atmosphere analysis, mystery goo observations and science lab observations from Moho, Eve, Gilly, Duna, Ike, Dres, Laythe, Vall, Tylo, Bop, Pol, Eeloo and Kerbol. In addition, I will receive all the science bonus points from returning a craft from orbit and the surface of every celestial body in the Kerbol System.

To take on this task I've constructed a ship I've dubbed, "The Nomad". Here are its stats.

The Nomad:

Pic: https://www.dropbox.com/s/e00vo8tdaktyskb/2014-06-09_00001.jpg

Description:

My vehicle of the stars, The Nomad is capable of performing flybys of every celestial body in the Kerbol System and carries a variety of both disposable and reusable equipment to gather as much science as possible during its journeys.

Stats:

Mass (Kg): 98522 (less than 100 tons)

Dry Mass (Kg): 27927 (This isn't factoring in the dry mass of disposed equipment)

Delta V (m/s): 6823 (This isn't factoring in the dry mass of disposed equipment)

Fuel Capacity (LFO units): 14119

As previously mentioned, The Nomad carries a variety of disposable and reusable equipment. Here is a rundown of said equipment:

General Purpose Lander V3 (GPL V3):

Pic: https://www.dropbox.com/s/mjdl8t3aaeniagn/2014-06-09_00005.jpg

Description:

Just as the ion lander was the star of the Sigma Mission, the GPL V3 is the star of the Outer Wilds Mission. Much like the ion lander, the GPL V3 will land on most of the celestial bodies in the Kerbol system (In fact, the only planet it is not landing on is Eve). The GPL V3 carries no heavy science equipment, instead it docks with science modules and ferries them to their destination. Consequently, the GPL V3 features a wider landing base than the original GPL to support the weight of the equipment it needs to carry down to the surfaces of each planet.

Stats:

Mass (Kg): 1976

Dry Mass (Kg): 413

Delta V (m/s): 5379

Fuel Capacity (LFO units): 312.6

------------------------------

Eve Lander V2:

Pic: https://www.dropbox.com/s/v28jke3yku0qock/2014-06-09_00004.jpg

Description:

The new and improved Eve lander. This pancake of a design features 2 less engines than the first iteration, and therefore, is far less massive. With its detachable wheel base, it is capable of driving from the initial landing site, to a nearby 6800 meter tall equatorial mountain where it can reach orbit. In addition, it carries 4 science labs, 4 goo containers, 1 sensor array nose cone and a command pod to get every possible science point from Eve's atmosphere, surface, and ocean.

Stats:

Mass (Kg): 13718

Dry Mass (Kg):

Delta V (m/s):

Fuel Capacity (LFO units):

------------------------------

Engine Cores:

Pic: https://www.dropbox.com/s/lz59m8sytyg9671/2014-06-09_00002.jpg, https://www.dropbox.com/s/lz59m8sytyg9671/2014-06-09_00002.jpg

Description:

These two detachable engine cores power the main ship, and can be undocked to ferry the GPL V3 and other equipment over expensive transfers. One of the engine cores contains more fuel and is designed to be used for a Moho transfer before being disposed whereas the smaller core is to be used for a Tylo transfer and returned to The Nomad.

Stats(Engine core 1 / Engine core 2):

Mass (Kg): 4520 / 5645

Dry Mass (Kg): 2520 / 2645

Delta V (m/s): 4585 / 5950

Fuel Capacity (LFO units): 400 / 600

------------------------------

Science Module:

Pic: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ktcw81grjigpbhe/2014-06-09_00010.jpg

Description:

A basic science module. Contains 1 science lab and 1 goo container. For use with the GPL V3.

Stats:

Mass (Kg): 390

Dry Mass (Kg): 390

Delta V (m/s): 0

Fuel Capacity (LFO units): 0

------------------------------

Science/LFO Module:

Pic: https://www.dropbox.com/s/cuk3bemrjgcpm3b/2014-06-09_00009.jpg

Description:

A science module with additional fuel. Designed to provide additional Delta V to the GPL V3 for a Tylo landing.

Stats:

Mass (Kg): 953

Dry Mass (Kg): 453

Delta V (m/s): 0

Fuel Capacity (LFO units): 100

------------------------------

Parachute Module V3:

Pic: https://www.dropbox.com/s/avu7et0ojkh5332/2014-06-09_00008.jpg

Description:

The parachute Module V3 carries 2 parachutes to assist the GPL V3 on atmosphere hosting worlds. In addition, it carries two science labs, two goo containers, and 1 sensor array nose cone to gather all the possible science points from any given planetary atmosphere.

Stats:

Mass (Kg): 1020

Dry Mass (Kg): 1020

Delta V (m/s): 0

Fuel Capacity (LFO units): 0

------------------------------

Mobile Lab:

Pic: https://www.dropbox.com/s/q6vye3t062chryo/2014-06-09_00007.jpg

Description:

A mobile science platform for Laythe. Carries two science labs, two goo containers, and 1 command pod to get every possible science report from Laythe's surface and ocean.

Stats:

Mass (Kg): 1640

Dry Mass (Kg): 1640

Delta V (m/s): 0

Fuel Capacity (LFO units): 0

------------------------------

Ion Tug:

Pic: https://www.dropbox.com/s/mqhgj9gah9ik6om/2014-06-09_00006.jpg

Description:

My replacement for RCS, the Ion Tug is designed to ferry equipment around The Nomad. In addition, it carries two 1x6 caseless solar panels to provide power for The Nomad. It is not intended to perform any orbital manuevers.

Stats:

Mass (Kg): 465

Dry Mass (Kg): 395

Delta V (m/s): 6722

Fuel Capacity (xenon gas units): 700

------------------------------

Executing the Mission:

As of 6/26/2014 the Outer Wilds Mission has been completed with a total of 42981 science points!

You can read about my journey below.

Liftoff and Orbit:

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Edited by Stratzenblitz75
Updated mods used
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technion

technion

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I've said this before and I'll say it again - I have no idea at all how some people manage to make such grand plans with such small units.

For either Eve of Tylo, I can't begin to imagine how those small landers will pull it off - best of luck!

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Stratzenblitz75

Stratzenblitz75

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Actually, Jool's lower atmosphere begins at 120 Km which isn't that low. In fact, my engine core 1 combined with the crew module and parachute module is enough to dip down into a suborbital trajectory, gather science, and return to Laythe with fuel to spare. If I have any extra fuel by the time I get to Jool, I'll definitely be attempting this :wink:.

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Stratzenblitz75

Stratzenblitz75

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Sorry this episode is coming out a bit late. Real life has been getting in the way of my KSP. In addition, The Eve system was a difficult and lengthy segment full of inclination changes, a kraken attack, and driving. Lots and lots of driving.

Also, I'm trying out a new format for my Imgur albums. Instead of uploading all my images into one large Imgur album for each planetary system, I'm organizing them into multiple albums with each album being dedicated to a certain segment of the mission. For example, the GPL V3 Gilly landing. The reason I'm doing this is the fact that I jump around a lot when I'm doing the mission. For example, I'll fix the Nomad's inclination, then I'll jump to the Eve lander, then I'll perform a Gilly encounter correction burn with the GPL and so on an so forth. Let me know what you think of this format!

But, without further ado, here's episode two!

Episode 2: The Eve system

Segment 1: Arrival

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Segment 2: Eve landing

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Segment 3: Gilly landing

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Stratzenblitz75

Stratzenblitz75

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Duna System completed!

Obviously, its been too long since the last kraken attack so its about time to experience the lovely "docking ports won't undock" bug again... (see Part 3: Ike landing)

Episode 4: Duna System

Part 1: Arrival

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Part 2: Duna Landing

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Part 3: Ike Landing

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Stratzenblitz75

Stratzenblitz75

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Jool Arrival!

Wow, this was a big one, and a very stressful one too. I very much like the Jool system, its like a big football area where there are only 3 players (Laythe, Vall and Tylo) and your space craft is the ball. There are just so many cool things you can do by just performing gravity assists off these 3 big players. In addition, I had extra fuel so I did something not included in my original plan...

Seriously, so much happened in this episode. If you view only one part of my entire mission, you should see this one.

So here it is! Episode 6 and the beginning of the Jool-5 segment!

Episode 6: Jool Arrival:

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Himynameisjake

Himynameisjake

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Jool Arrival!

Wow, this was a big one, and a very stressful one too. I very much like the Jool system, its like a big football area where there are only 3 players (Laythe, Vall and Tylo) and your space craft is the ball. There are just so many cool things you can do by just performing gravity assists off these 3 big players. In addition, I had extra fuel so I did something not included in my original plan...

Seriously, so much happened in this episode. If you view only one part of my entire mission, you should see this one.

So here it is! Episode 6 and the beginning of the Jool-5 segment!

Episode 6: Jool Arrival:

http://imgur.com/a/y90iR

You fly so much more efficiently than me ha!

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Stratzenblitz75

Stratzenblitz75

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The Outer Wilds Mission is done!!!

Wow, this mission exceeded my wildest expectations! It turned out so well and all my equipment outperformed my goals. I didn't even think I was capable of something like this, yet, here I am. So I present to you, the final segment of the Outer Wilds Mission!

Episode 11: Returning Home

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Stratzenblitz75

Stratzenblitz75

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Now I want to do this too. I'm studying your runthrough along with this one to find as many tricks as possible.

Great! Nice to see so many people interested in grand tours! :D It's not only a great accomplishment, its also a great way to explore and get to know the planets of Kerbol system.

If you need some help, I've got a few resources that really helped me during my grand tours, one of which is this flow chart I made to describe my flight plan. It details most of the transfers/landings and gives Delta-V stats for each of them. Just ignore the GPL and Ion lander boxes, they aren't important. (Note, these values were calculated through my tests with the GPL and Ion lander, use them at your own discretion)

In addition, this launch window planner is insanely useful. I used it to calculate the departure date, the Delta-V requirement, and the ejection angle of every planetary transfer in my mission. I can't recommend it enough.

If you have any questions regarding anything in my mission feel free to ask!

Best of luck with your grand tour!

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