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A Big Howdy and Project Lonestar [STOCK]

Chairborneranger

By Chairborneranger
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Chairborneranger

Chairborneranger

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Howdy everyone! After having found this game about 3 weeks ago (and not playing anything else since then ;D ) I decided to stop lurking and introduce myself along with my latest mission. First, a big thanks to the folks at Squad for making such an awesome game. So far I think it has that beautiful mix of fun and over-the-top style with just enough pseudo-realism to produce plenty of challenges and rewards. I\'d also like to thank the modders and community who have made some outstanding things to play with. Project Lonestar may have been stock, but I really enjoy the mod packs that have been available thus far. I just consider Kerbin-made parts to be a little more challenging. :)

That being said, I give you Project Lonestar!

Vplsu.jpg

TL;DR version: I made a three craft rendezvous in Kerbin orbit, Burned two to the mun, landed 1, crashed the other ~400m away, and returned. I also landed within a few hundred klicks of the KSA and landed the third craft 21km from the first. The following is somewhat fictional, but based on a true story.

A bit of history is in order. After the latest patch (0.14 stable) I decided to start clean and make a serious Mun shot and return platform. The previous attempts usually ended up with fuel problems, but with the addition of the half-tanks and LV-909 LFE I felt the efficiency was there now. Truth be told, I believe the Kerbal scientists finally convinced the engineers and Col. Jeb that it wasn\'t half as much power, but actually just a little bit more! Thus began the Muna III project. Sadly, the Muna design never produced a >=50% (good by Kerbal standards) success rate.

MUNA MISSION STATS:

Muna III A-D: 5 pad explosions, 4 decoupler/booster collisions on accent, 2 missed Munar burns, and 1 failed Munar landing

Of note, and not listed, is Col. Jeb\'s mission Muna IIID-4. He was able to land, make accent, and, with fuel empty, somehow use RCS thrusters to set a return orbit. Unfortunately reentry happened in mountainous terrain and the command capsule landed hard. Major Bob is in traction with a broken spine and LtCol. Bill is still in a coma in the burn ward. Col. Jeb was relatively unharmed, but was administratively grounded when mission logs showed that his 'triple loop-de-loop' maneuver during Munar decent burned off the scheduled fuel for the return trip.

At this point the KSA decided to can the Muna project. With lessons (somewhat) learned the mission planners had a split over the next proposed project. The majority group decided that the Muna lacked enough power, and since the engineers discovered a way to radially mount 8 fueltanks/boosters on a center spine, it was given the go ahead. This turned into project HADES with the aim of a direct Munar trajectory and direct return. The minority (actually just 1 scientist, Mort D. Kermen) advocated a kerbin orbit rendezvous with a resupply and command craft, before using a trans-munar orbital insertion. KSA leadership, unsurprisingly, selected project HADES and shuffled Mort into a secluded lab to work on his crazy project. Mort decided to call his project LONESTAR being that he was alone in his idea, but knew it would rise to greatness someday. Luck was with him in fact, as project HADES met with disaster:

HADES MISSION STATS:

HADES IA-B: 3 pad explosions, 4 overheats in Kebin accent, and 1 Munar 'landing' ( announced at the press release so project HADES personnel could save face. Munar module 'landed' at 500m/s.)

Faced with 2 failed mun projects, the KSA then turned to their last hope. Mort and his Project LONESTAR. Initial testing of the craft went better than expected. After orbital tests and a munar orbit without landing, the project was given the full go ahead for mission LONESTAR IB-2 & 3. During development, project ICARUS was devised as a way to restock the main ships in orbit with extra supplies.

LONESTAR IB-2 Alpha Crew:

LtCol. Harby Kerman, Commander

Major Ludgel Kerman, Lander Pilot

Major Anrim Kerman, Scientist and Backup Pilot

LONESTAR IB-3 Beta Crew:

Col. Macdred Kerman, Commander

Major Gusrim Kerman, Lander Pilot

Capt. Calfrey Kerman, Mission Paylod Specialist and Backup Pilot

ICARUS I-2 Crew:

LtCol. Erbin Kerman, Commander

Major Shelsel Kerman, Rendezvous Pilot

Capt. Joesby Kerman, Mission Paylod\CnC Specialist

LONESTAR IB (ICARUS I) Mission Log: (follow along here with pictures! ------> http://imgur.com/a/Jholr

1.) Both LONESTAR craft launch into orbit at ~200km orbits and perform rendezvous (honestly I only achieved stationkeeping (<20m distance) with Beta Team and ICARUS. Alpha team only got within 150m because the LONESTAR IB flies like a grain silo filled with concrete until the second stage is jettisoned)

2.) ICARUS craft launches and performs rendezvous for restock (I\'m gonna say food here since fuel isn\'t an option yet)

3.) Alpha and Beta teams perform TMI burn in sequence

4.) Alpha and Beta teams perform TMI retro in sequence

5.) Alpha and Beta teams establish stable Munar orbits

6.) Alpha descends and lands at predetermined landing site. begin science EVA and collects mun rock samples

7.) Beta makes orbital corrections (+1 orbit) and attempts to lands as close as possible to Alpha

8.) During landing LT-2 strut #4 on Beta lander shears away and causes lander to topple. Major Gusrim claims shoddy engineering, while Mission Director Krantz asserts that he shouldn\'t have overshot his landing site. Command module is intact and all members in good health.

9.) Beta team performs Munar EVA to Alpha lander 500m away while Alpha team unloads collected mun rocks and prepares for accent. Mission planers prepared for this, and the extra stocks from ICARUS were enough for an immediate return.

10.) With both teams loaded, Alpha lander makes their accent.

11.) LM and service module are jettisoned, and LONESTAR crew makes their TKI burn

12.) Mid-course burn for landing near KSA

13.) Atmospheric Retro and splashdown 300km from KSA

14.) ICARUS crew confirms splashdown and transmits coordinates to Kerbin Naval Recovery Task Force.

15.) ICARUS performs deorbit retro and splashdown 21km from LONESTAR CM.

16.) Recovery and Debrief. Mission Success!

Don\'t know if I\'ll ever put together another one of these, but I just wanted to share that mission. I\'m hoping with the new persistence feature we\'ll get more cool missions like this. Took me most of a day to pull this off and write all this. All in all, I think even Col. Jeb has to admit that the LONESTAR boys had 'The right stuff'.

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