Modded 64k Career game UPDATE Year2 Day36 (09/05/2017)

[Shania_L]

14 hours ago, Starman4308 said:

So, if it helps, extended the ISRU configs to include stock ISRU stuff: I'm not 100% sure I'm happy with it relative to the Karbonite stuff; it produces significantly less for the vastly heavier stock ISRU converters, and I haven't figured out how to configure the drills so that engineers don't magically multiply output by 25x. A small increase might be reasonable; 25x is absurd.

I might try to rebalance it in the future; I just wanted something working for a contract which asked for 1050 ore from the Mun. At that point, I kinda figured "if I'm mining ore, I may as well generate the propellant to get it to orbit in situ".

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sm8nt0df10qbz86/StockISRU-RealFuels.cfg?dl=0

EDIT: In terms of your logs: still on page 5. Very impressed by your early Mun missions, though; I've always used heavier boosters for those, instead of using multiple lightweight launches, sending fully fueled crew capsules to meet fully fueled landers in orbit.

Thanks, Ill take a look through that for when I start to put together a 1.2 save, for this save however we are still in 0.90 so there is no stock ISRU

The multi part launches for the Mun missions were a nessesity of me keeping to a relatively few launchers, which at the time only had limited lifting capacity.

[kunok]

17 hours ago, Shania_L said:

Thanks, Ill take a look through that for when I start to put together a 1.2 save, for this save however we are still in 0.90 so there is no stock ISRU

The multi part launches for the Mun missions were a nessesity of me keeping to a relatively few launchers, which at the time only had limited lifting capacity.

You will keep this save in the 0.90??? 1.2 is stable and improved lot's and lot's of things.

Maybe you already talked about this and I have read it but I read so many different mission reports that it get confusing sometimes

[Shania_L]

2 minutes ago, kunok said:

You will keep this save in the 0.90??? 1.2 is stable and improved lot's and lot's of things.

Maybe you already talked about this and I have read it but I read so many different mission reports that it get confusing sometimes

Ohh 1.2 is a very good version, however as this save is so old and with its collection of mods (some of which are no longer supported) my save file is no longer compatible with the later versions of KSP.

It would take a lot of manual save file editing to bring each craft part by part into the new system, and then there is the science and progress markers which would be lost as well.

For a little reference, 0.90 has no female kerbals, no stock ISRU, no advanced thermal system, the atmosphere would be the old "soup-o-sphere" if I wasnt using FAR, there are no 'worlds first' progress payouts. Then ofcourse there are the extra parts which have been added since, the asteroid day telescope parts, the vector engine I think there are also some of the Mk2 spaceplane parts I am missing as well. But on the other hand, 0.90 is very stable and handles large part count craft quite well ... and my wheels do not explode (well, unless the whole aircraft explodes as well)

I would love to bring the progress of this save into the current KSP 1.2, however its too much work and I am not that confident with save file editing to do it.

[kunok]

36 minutes ago, Shania_L said:

handles large part count craft quite well

That's improved

36 minutes ago, Shania_L said:

my wheels do not explode

That doesn't happen anymore (at least to me)

But yeah I understand. I would try to update in a backup to look how good it goes, without making the hard work. One of my saves went surprisingly well, considering the amount of mods. IIRC the mayor problems was the cash balance (suddenly my regular launch vehicles were unprofitable) and the aero changes.

[Starman4308]

22 hours ago, Shania_L said:

Thanks, Ill take a look through that for when I start to put together a 1.2 save, for this save however we are still in 0.90 so there is no stock ISRU

The multi part launches for the Mun missions were a nessesity of me keeping to a relatively few launchers, which at the time only had limited lifting capacity.

What I liked, though, is that you did it with such limitations, whereas I tend to just say "okay, no Kerbals on the moon until I have a big enough booster".

[Shania_L]

Year 2 Day 6, High Mun Orbit

Spoiler

 

The totally not forgotten transfer stage (that was never used) from the Lunic IIb Mun lander has spent 88 days orbiting Mun in a highly elliptical orbit. Always intended as an impactor it carries 3 lead spheres to increase its mass so as to maximise impact energy.

913m/sec burned to put it onto a very definate and final sub-orbital trajectory.

5,310kg slam into the Mun'r midlands at 2,193m/sec, 12.8GJ of energy were enough to surpass our previous record and extract 47 science from the Bang-o-meter experiment carried aboard the Lunic IIb lander. No flash science however, the Midlands has already been sampled.

Contract complete, Mun Impact > 2GJ
237,718 Funds, 12 Science, 6 Reputation.

 

Year2 Day7, KSC

Spoiler

 

With the new Zoology lab now operating at Pandora it is about time we sent up an experiment to actually use it. Much like the Plant science capsule we have sent up previously the 'Creature Comforts' capsule will be launched on a HoundDog Ic.

Having to launch as Pandora passes overhead forces liftoff to happen after dark, this is not an issue as the core stage possesses significant battery life as a requirement of its decent capacity.

The capsule, with its support and propulsion module is released once HDIc attains its 182x158km orbit.

Only 120m/sec is required to plot an intercept with the station in less than a single orbit, a further 125 is required for velocity matching and docking manuvers.

Unfortunately it is revealed that performing the experiments will not be possible for a single crewman. Podly on his own cannot operate both the Zoology lab and the main laboratory at the same time, apparently a crew of 4 is required. This will require extra Kerbals to be sent up to Pandora, a Lilith ascent vehicle has been added to the production queue (as if we didnt have enough to build/buy at the moment), the private contractor who is funding this mission however has put forward enough funds that even with pushing through a second launch the payout is worth the disruption to our Duna schedule.

Meanwhile, the HDIc booster has lowered its orbit to a Pe of only 98km over the KSC, burning all its remaining fuel it enters a steep dive into the atmosphere.

And overshoots the KSC by a good 500 km.

The booster manages to enter the sea gently enough that no damage is recieved on recovery.

Mission cost, 45,106 - 2x941 - 16,815 (6,000+km)
Actual cost, 26,409 Funds

 

Also on Y2D7

Spoiler

 

Helmdar V-Mi arrives at Minmus SOI.

Having traveled on a high energy transfer from Kerbin, Helmdar V carries a lot of excess velocity, so much so that it will pass from SOI boundary to Pe and out to the opposite SOI boundary in under 2 Hrs.

A 948m/sec capture burn is required to allow an Ap of 1,300km which is the ideal operating altitude for Helmdars SAR scanner.

With only 3KN of thrust this takes a little over 3+1/2 minutes. 1,020dV remain once the burn is complete and Helmdar will circularise at 1,300km when it finally gets there.

Even though 1,300km is the specified altitude for getting the best scans, the orbital period at this altitude is so long that it will take forever to map the surface. I may yet lower this altitude to see how it goes, there is plenty of dV in the tank to mess about with.

 

Year 2 Day 8, KSC

Spoiler

 

With the Creature Comforts contract on hold until a Lilith can be produced, the Funds-hungry KSC is eying up another Station science payout, Plant Science again, but this time around the Mun.

Requiring only the regular laboratory the 12tonne payload is strapped atop a HDIV allowing the upper stage to be used for the Mun transfer.

Pandora Mun Lab Upgrade (yet more imaginitive naming from the VAB techs) manages a quite respectable 149x160km orbit, impressive considering that its payload is less that half of HDIVs rated capacity which usually results in a less than stable ascent.

The upper stage burns ~2,270m/sec to put its payload onto a Mun intercepting course, its going to be pretty tight but it should have enough dV remaining to capture at the other end too!

 

 

Progress on Duna Mission.

Design for the Charon Drive Unit is finalised,

HoundDog V has successfully got it into orbit, in simulation, fairly smoothly (mainly due to low frame rate near the surface)

CDU and HDV together cost 750,000 funds, it will take nearly 24days to assemble, we currently cannot afford it.

Design for Cerberus surface ISRU lander finalised,

A modified version has been placed into production for operational trials and re-fuelling duty at Minmus. (currently 1 of, flow rate however may nessesitate 2x) Duna varient will be produced at a later date.

Medea III and IIIb designs finalised,

Landing varient and heavy tug put into production to support Minmus refuelling operation. Same craft will also support Duna mission (possibly with additional duplicates)

Charon orbital hab/s, Duna/Ike Crew lander, Cerberus skycrane, Duna rover/science support equip and lifesupport as of yet in development.

Also competing for funds and build time is the Lilith ascent vehicle required for the Creature Comforts experiment at Pandora and the Plant Science capsule for use once Pandora Mun has its laboratory. In addition the Minmus mining program will require a crewed lander (KAS pipes wont connect themselves).

103 days until the window closes.

Edited November 8, 2016 by Shania_L

[danielboro]

im sum Wat behind (reading day 422)

and i have a comment

i use only 1 sar/radar/biome scanner for k+mu+mi

you can cut the number to 2 at list, whet a dv of 4K perhaps down to 1.

getting from a polar kerbin orbit to a polar mun/minmus orbit is trivial and cost ~ the same as a normal transfer

from mun to minmus is not as easy but not hard if you have the time to fiddle whit the nav point

edit: i got to the last post.
another comment
have you considered using the same lab on kerbin and mun?
i used a tug to move the zoology lab from the kerbin space station to the mun space station to do the Creature Comforts experiment
(i have a permanent  tug to ferry tourist and stuff from and to mun/minmus)

HotTips! have a grate example for polar to polar in

Kerbal Space Program [1.1.2] - Ep 22 - Polar Orbit Transfer To Mun

 

Edited November 4, 2016 by danielboro

[Shania_L]

@danielboro

Relocating the zoology lab is a possibility, however the main lab will be required at Kerbin still should I do the cyclotron experiments. Polar transfers are more expencive than standard equatorial orbits due to the nessecity of accurately hitting a target travelling tangential to your own direction. Equatorial intercepts have a much larger window to hit. Finding the one (two) points in Minmus' orbit where it lines up with your polar orbit of Kerbin could take weeks.

 

This was something of a hectic episode, with many different missions requiring attention all at the same time.

I will report them in mostly chronological order which I think is probably the best way of doing it. (However I have stripped out the Loki I mission, which will be getting its own dedicated post at some point)

Y2 D9, Minmus High Orbit

Helmdar V-Mi reaches its 1,300km Ap and performs a 38m/sec circularisation burn. 1,305x1,328km @ 85degrees, orbital period of a little under 6 days (5D 5H 58m). This may take quite some time to finish the mapping, the ScanSAR sensor has a quite narrow band even at this altitude.

Y2 D10, KSC

Spoiler

 

Launch #123 sees a venerable HDIb with the extended upper stage launching a science payload for the upgraded Pandora Mun Station Laboratory ... yes the one that hasn't even arrived there yet.

This mission is performed to directly meet a commercial contract, Plant Science in Mun orbit, quite why they think it would be any different to Plant Science in Kerbin orbit is beyond us. Still they are willing to pay very well for it, and we need every Fund we can scrape together.

In order to meet both the Dv requirements of a Mun+Return mission profile whilst staying within the lift capacity of a HDIb we have had to abandon the hypergolic propulsion system in favour of the ArcJet.

Parked in a circular 150km orbit the extended HDIb upper stage retains 2,700m/sec, this is used for the 2,270m/sec Mun transfer burn and retained  to perform a partial capture, the ArcJet will complete capture + intercept with PMS and then the return to Kerbin once the science has been performed.

Mission cost 57,107 Funds. 2x940 recovered from boosters (additional recovery expected from capsule)

 

Y2 D11, KSC

Spoiler

 

When you are climbing into a spacecraft perched atop a hundred tonnes of highly explosive fuel the last thing you want to hear is that the manufacture and assembly had been a rush job with little preparation.

Apparently though, Pilot Elory, Engineer Orgun and Scientists Jedke, Nelsy and Billy-Bobdo had not heard this expression and calmly strapped themselves into the modified Lilith crew transfer vehicle.

Yet another Pandora launch window just happens to fall during the hours of darkness. As the HoundDog II lifter manages to wake every sleeping kerbal within a few miles of the launch complex, the crew wonder just what Podly has been up to on Pandora for so long all on his own. Their primary mission is to operate the Zoology lab and perform the experiments, the secondary mission is to maintain the sanity of this veteran of early spaceflight.

Matching the general layout and mass of the Lilith I lifeboat, this variation gains a dorsal docking port in exchange for additional fuel storage in the tail, boosting its internal dV to near 1,000m/sec.

Perhaps as an attempt to prove pilots still have a purpose in a modern space agency of autonomous craft, Elory manages to combine his circularisation burn with a Pandora intercept window. The onboard probe core responds with a (perfectly timed) slow clap.

One of the casualties of the KSCs sudden decision to prioritise a Duna mission and its supporting assets was an infrastructure launch to the Pandora station. Anticipating the redesign of Lilith having a dorsal rather than tail mounted docking port a lengthy docking adaptor module had been in production and was scheduled for launch. This however had been scrapped for Funds as a 'frivolity' apparently Kerbonauts have jetpacks so they can jolly well get out and walk the last few meters!!

Lilith is unable to dock due to Pandoras only standard sized ports being flush with the main structure, attempting to dock Lilith in this orientation would cause collisions, venting air, explosions and many many reams of paperwork ... also 6 deaths.

Elory hangs around only long enough to let his collegues out (and to ensure that Podly let them aboard) before burning to reduce his Pe to 100km. Around 30 minutes later he circularises at 100km with only 131m/sec remaining while awaiting daylight at KSC to attempt a landing.

Nelsy, Billy-Bobdo and Jedke join Podly in powering up both laboratories and applying all manor of different kinds of 'science' to the hapless occupants of the (thankfully) soundproofed Zoology lab.

 

Also at the same time.

Spoiler

 

During the ascent and intercept of Lilith, the Pandora Mun lab extension also reaches its capture point.

Burning 660m/sec at its 30km Pe behind the dark side of Mun it captures into a 39x197km equatorial orbit, a further adjustment burn at Ap leads to an intercept with PMS at the next Pe. This is where the fun begins.

Remember when we said the dV budget for this mission would be tight? Well, that was being optimistic. 197x30km orbit with 21.6 m/sec dV in the tanks, a simple matching of velocity will require 57, thats saying nothing about any manuvering for docking.

As the lab closes to within 10km of Pandora Mun, it burns everything it has to reduce the relative velocity as much as possible to give the Medea tug the best possible chance of capturing it before it drifts past.

This excessive waste of precious methane fuel to catch and then drag the 11,000kg laboratory back to Pandora Mun reduces Medeas stock to the point where it now cannot return to Kerbin orbit without a refuelling.

But on the other hand, we have saved a rather expensive laboratory module and given the crew additional options for playing hide and seek.

The booster is decoupled and fires its retros for a successful impact with the Mun.

Engineer Aling goes EVA to connect the KAS struts securing the new structure into place, the RCS units cannot be removed yet as we have nowhere to discard them to. By the time he returns indoors the clock has ticked over into the next day.

 

Y2 D12, LKO

Spoiler

 

Elory has managed a few low (100km) orbits of Kerbin awaiting daylight at the KSC. Burning all his remaining fuel he enters a quite shallow re-entry profile over the western desert. The lifting body of Lilith allows Elory to drag it out right across the ocean and end up within sight of the KSC.

Rapidly running out of speed and altitude however he is forced to pop his parachutes and put Lilith down while still 78km short of the space centre. He still manages to look pleased with himself even though the probe core doesn't agree.

8,352 Funds recovered. Elory gains no XP.

Mission cost 64,874 Funds - 2x820 - 8,352 = 54,882 Funds

 

 

Next time, Loki I.

Edited November 12, 2016 by Shania_L

[CatastrophicFailure]

asasdfasdf

6 hours ago, Shania_L said:

When you are climbing into a spacecraft perched atop a hundred tonnes of highly explosive fuel the last thing you want to hear is that the manufacture and assembly had been a rush job with little preparation.

Also remind them every one of a million parts was built by the lowest bidder. 

6 hours ago, Shania_L said:

this variation gains a ventral docking port

...er, I think you mean "dorsal," ventral would be on the bottom and probably not condusive to reentry. *runs & hides*

[UnusualAttitude]

10 hours ago, Shania_L said:

we have had to abandon the hypergolic propulsion system in favour of the ArcJet.

...you have an Arcjet? Where does that one come from, and what are its characteristics?

[Shania_L]

10 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

asasdfasdf

Also remind them every one of a million parts was built by the lowest bidder. 

...er, I think you mean "dorsal," ventral would be on the bottom and probably not condusive to reentry. *runs & hides*

*loads shotgun*

Ventral / Dorsal, Lilith is a vertical launch craft so technically its side mounted
But yes thats what I get for typing this just before bed, must think shark fins, ventral dorsal.

Edited now.

6 hours ago, UnusualAttitude said:

...you have an Arcjet? Where does that one come from, and what are its characteristics?

Yes the Bi-Modal Arcjet, I have used it on the Helmdar V and Lunic IIId/e landers.

It runs on Monopropellent or Xenon, (only Xenon for me as RealFuels says no to mono), 3KN thrust, 2,400Isp, weighs about 250kg, 0.625 form factor. It comes from the RLA Stockalike mod.

[UnusualAttitude]

1 hour ago, Shania_L said:

Yes the Bi-Modal Arcjet, I have used it on the Helmdar V and Lunic IIId/e landers.

(Goes back and looks...) Oh yes... That happens to be exactly the sort of thing I need for my next generation of landers.

1 hour ago, Shania_L said:

It runs on Monopropellent or Xenon, (only Xenon for me as RealFuels says no to mono), 3KN thrust, 2,400Isp, weighs about 250kg, 0.625 form factor. It comes from the RLA Stockalike mod.

You could tell RealFuels to use Hydrazine. I assume that would mean lower ISP and higher thrust?

[Shania_L]

3 minutes ago, UnusualAttitude said:

(Goes back and looks...) Oh yes... That happens to be exactly the sort of thing I need for my next generation of landers.

For lightweight landers it is a great engine, the Isp and thrust really tail off in any kind of atmosphere though, so vaccum worlds only. Also generating the 9 (or was it 6) Ec per second on small landers requires quite oversized solar arrays.

6 minutes ago, UnusualAttitude said:

You could tell RealFuels to use Hydrazine. I assume that would mean lower ISP and higher thrust?

I could I suppose, however I am more than satisfied with the Xenon performance, Hydrazine I think would be a step backwards?

[Ten Key]

I've been doing a lot of water landings recently, but some of my earlier flight profiles necessitated ground landings. Roll overs were a constant worry, and early on (read: before radial parachutes) hard landings were fairly common. Your Lilith runabout is too low and wide to worry much about rolling, but. . .wouldn't it be nice if there were some landing gear/legs designed to reach around a heat shield?

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

[CatastrophicFailure]

33 minutes ago, Ten Key said:

I've been doing a lot of water landings recently, but some of my earlier flight profiles necessitated ground landings. Roll overs were a constant worry, and early on (read: before radial parachutes) hard landings were fairly common. Your Lilith runabout is too low and wide to worry much about rolling, but. . .wouldn't it be nice if there were some landing gear/legs designed to reach around a heat shield?

 

  Hide contents

 

 

 

You see, Ivan, when make spaceplane look like duck is look silly but always land right side up!

[Shania_L]

On 08/11/2016 at 6:46 AM, CatastrophicFailure said:

Also remind them every one of a million parts was built by the lowest bidder. 

Only in a capitalist society is cost placed at a higher priority than the missions success or crews safety.

On 08/11/2016 at 8:56 PM, Ten Key said:

I've been doing a lot of water landings recently, but some of my earlier flight profiles necessitated ground landings. Roll overs were a constant worry, and early on (read: before radial parachutes) hard landings were fairly common. Your Lilith runabout is too low and wide to worry much about rolling, but. . .wouldn't it be nice if there were some landing gear/legs designed to reach around a heat shield?

Lilith could use some landing gear, however they would have to be mixed with robotic parts to reach around the edges keeping them protected during re-entry. The example you pictured has highly customised rotating and extending abilites which are unavailable in game.

***#***

Todays post is partially retrospective, we are going in depth on the Loki I mission, both design and execution.

First up a report from the KSC technical division on the design and build of the Loki I Mun rover.

End of Y1, KSC

Spoiler

 

The KSP is approached by private industry to survey in detail a specific area of Mun'r surface. Odd readings had been detected by orbital scanners and the latest analysis of Helmdar readings confirmed that there was something down there.

The mission profile called for multiple different surface scans to be performed in very close proximity to a surface feature whos exact location we wouldnt know accurately until we actually got there. A vehicle capable of travelling short distances across the surface away from its lander was the best chance of completing this objective.

Weighing in at a hefty 1,067kg Loki I was born. Packing not only the instruments required for the contract we took the oppertunity to 'do all the science'. Loki is built around a medium construction frame with a rover body on top. A pair of large fixed position solar panels keep 4x 300 unit batteries topped up while having 8x small electrical drive wheels should allow us to lose a few and still remain mobile.

Initial testing (in simulation) revealed the need for a reaction control system.

It also introduced us to a strange phenominon, both Kerbin and the Mun like to toss rovers into the air for no reason what-so-ever, perfectly smooth terrain any speed from 3-40+ no warning and wham you are airborne and tumbling. The rover in this image literally got this far, flipped and that was it. Also if the solar panels so much as touch the ground they are destroyed and stop producing any power.

The updated design.

Packing not only a reaction wheel, but an RCS system with 100 liters of Hydrazine underneath the chassis helps to lower the CoG. Also to protect the solar panels a rollcage of sorts was added extending from the sides and top ensuring they will not touch the ground, antenna can also be used as a self righting mechinism.

Once we were happy with the payload, we needed a system to deploy it to the Mun'r surface, preferably gently.

We started with the decent and landing module, (imagry shows initial rover design, final version maintained same concepts)

Delivering a rover to the surface of a planet isnt an easy task, you need to balance the craft in lateral flight as well as vertical. Mounting Loki between an identical pair of UDMH/NTO tanks achieves this at the expence of accessability. With landing gear mounted on the forward and rear tanks we cannot jettisson either of them without having the other one crush the rover in the resulting rollover.

We ended up mounting the gear on extendable booms, this allows us to land with a low (as is possible) CoG, drop the rover out the bottom, and then raise the lander up far enough to let it drive out forward between the legs. The orange interior fairings are to be jettissoned before landing, the white ones are structural and remain permanently. Also visible in this image is the small probe core mounted above the rover for use during landing, it is positioned directly above the centre of gravity(yellow ball) and thrust (pink arrow). At 4.7 tonnes, the 4x 20KN motors are going to have their work cut out putting this down gently.

Next, you need to get to the Mun, enter the transfer stage, this will boost Loki from LKO and deliver it into LMO, possibly also performing some of the breaking burn for landing.

Note the balancing weight in the decoupler, this compensates for the weight of the landing gear which is mounted offcentre for vertical flight, but can be safely discarded once we transition to lateral flight for landing. The stage itself is nothing particularly interesting, a single KeroLox fuelled Coxwain with a large fuel tank.

The big test however, is can you fit this mission on a launch vehicle?

This is where we run into what could be a slight issue;

Loki fits quite easially into the largest 2.5m fairing, the problem is its mass, 15,173kg. This is right smack in awkward territory, too heavy for HDIII (10t) too light for HDIV (30t).

The solution we arrive at is to combine it with an additional lander we will require in the Loki II mission which is also in development. This is a simple fuel tanker and we will design it to take up whatever space we have left in the fairing.

See, perfect fit!

We had to make slight alterations to Loki I, namely the nose mount for the lander, the solar panels have been adjusted to radial fittings, also the transfer stage had to be enlarged to cope with the increased mass and still retain the same mission profile. Now weighing in at 28,300kg HDIV will fly straight and true.

On Day 2 of our second year HDIV successfully sent Loki on its way.

 

Now the mission progress cut from last weeks report.

 

Y2D12, Mun Orbit

Spoiler

 

Loki I had been placed into an inclined orbit allowing it to pass over its intended landing site, however darkness at the landing site forced the landing attempt to be delayed until lighting conditions improved. This was mainly due to the lack of battery capacity on the additional fuel tanker.

After 8 days in orbit the sun has risen sufficiently that the landing site is illuminated, however our inclined orbit is now way off and is actually pushing us away from the site.

The decision is made to drain the KeroLox payload from the tanker into Lokis own transfer stage and abandon the attempt at a surface depot. The tanker is left with enough fuel to de-orbit itself for impact with the Mun, which it does immediately.

Loki, now ~6 tonnes lighter and with newly re-filled fuel tanks has an excess of Dv. A 770m/sec inclination change burn is performed to switch from its 20 degree to a -15 degree path which will now directly overfly the landing site.
The transfer stage is also used to perform the meat of the de-orbit breaking.

With the ground approaching at a decent rate Loki has to detach itself from the transfer stage, re-orient itself into a lateral position (switch to a specifically positioned probe core), activate its VENTRAL! thrusters and deploy the landing gear. We also take this oppertunity to discard the lower portion of the payload shield, fairings have shown an annoying tendancy to survive falls they really shouldnt, having them trapped underneath the lander would be unfortunate for payload deployment.

Locking onto a flat area of terrain just before the double crater Loki has plenty of dV (due to the transfer stage performing more than anticipated of the retro burn) but the tanks being fuller than expected have eaten into Lokis TtW ratio and its velocity is dropping alarmingly slowly.

Finally managing to kill its lateral velocity bare meters above the surface and only just short of the crater lip, Loki puts down for a soft landing.

The Loki I surface rover is detached from the lander and nestles between its legs as they are extended giving sufficient headroom for it to drive out from underneath.

Consulting maps of the region, including the partially complete SAR scan which had passed over this area, operators at the KSC try to plot a course towards the anomaly specified in the contract.

This is where it is realised that the Loki name has struck again. We knew the anomaly was located inside a crater, and we made a beautiful landing right on the edge of this one, the wrong crater.

(Not sure how well this image will come out resolution wise, its a bit of a hack-job)

Orbital imagry confirms both the rovers location and the target area are some 65-70km separated.

Despite difficulties during the test and simulation phases, roving across the Mun'r surface is not as dangerous as anticipated. With power flowing to all 8 drive wheels Loki is able to maintain 8-13 m/sec safely, and has exceeded 20 on a gentle downwards slope. The seemingly random flips and rolls encountered in testing are still present, but not as frequent or severe, so the onboard reaction wheel is able to maintain the correct wheels down orientation before Loki hits the ground.

Loki carries a wide range of science equipment which it is using to analyse the 3 biomes it must travel through, the broadcastable data will be transmitted for full, wheras other data is stored for later physical retrieval back to Kerbin.

Loki has covered a little over 16km of its 65km journey so far (current position is as indicated in the imagry).

 

 

Edited November 21, 2016 by Shania_L

[CSE]

The SPH cutaway shots look really nice in this one.

[CatastrophicFailure]

asdf

22 hours ago, Shania_L said:

This is... beautiful...

22 hours ago, Shania_L said:

This is some NASA-level photohackery right here! Is that inset from an actual telescope or did you just zoom way out?

 

22 hours ago, Shania_L said:

The decision is made to drain the KeroLox payload from the tanker into Lokis own transfer stage and abandon the attempt at a surface depot.

This is... unfortunate. 

Why not simply wait till the Mün rotated 180 degrees into daylight? Lack of comms?

[Shania_L]

3 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

This is... beautiful...

Thanks, if I hadnt already decided to name it Loki before I built it, then I certainly would afterwards. The amount of hastle I had with symmetry, especially the robotic parts, with it being assembled horizontally in the SPH and then mating to its launcher vertically in the VAB ... GAHHH!!!!

Although that being said, Loki II was worse

 

3 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

This is some NASA-level photohackery right here! Is that inset from an actual telescope or did you just zoom way out?

That is three seperate screen shots, 2 from zooming way out from the flight mode, one from the map view masterfully arranged and edited with a combination of powerpoint and paint I did want the full zoom in shot to be a circle, but cropping an image to anything other than a rectangle was beyond their capabilites :(.

 

3 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

This is... unfortunate. 

Why not simply wait till the Mün rotated 180 degrees into daylight? Lack of comms?

Because of the inclination of the orbit, when I first arrived at Mun I put Loki into an orbit which dipped into the southern hemisphere to overfly the landing site ... in the dark. Mun rotates around to bring the landing site into the light but the orbit still only dips into the south on the darkside. I would need to wait half a year before the orbit dipped south during daylight.

I have three com sats around Mun launched way way back, from their altitude they provide complete surface coverage right up to about 75degrees (maybe more) north and south.

 

[Ten Key]

1 hour ago, Shania_L said:

That is three seperate screen shots, 2 from zooming way out from the flight mode, one from the map view masterfully arranged and edited with a combination of powerpoint and paint I did want the full zoom in shot to be a circle, but cropping an image to anything other than a rectangle was beyond their capabilites :(.

 

I'm pretty handy with Photoshop-- feel free to poke me if you need anything in the graphics/image editing department.

Spoiler

 

 

 

[CatastrophicFailure]

What about lasers, can they have lasers? Everything's better with lasers...asdfasdfasdfasdf 

39 minutes ago, Ten Key said:

 

I'm pretty handy with Photoshop-- feel free to poke me if you need anything in the graphics/image editing department.

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I see you there Burdous 

[Shania_L]

 

Today we make more progress towards being able to finance the Duna ship, by spending every last penny we have ....

Y2 D13, Mun

Loki Rover has covered the best part of 60km across the barren featureless surface. From a 20km orbit the Mun appears covered in craters, when you get down to 2m you begin to realise just how much flat terrain there is between craters. Although its not quite as flat as it looks, roughly every 2-4km there is some form of invisible sprung loaded mechanism hidden in the thin dust which is very effective at making a rover spin and flip instantly with no warning at all.

After sliding to a standstill on the roof for the third time KSC controllers begin to appreciate just how much the roll cage was worth the cost of its redesign.

Loki has managed approximately 8-13m/sec with all 8 motors running on a flat surface, it would appear that the Muns surface is a practically frictionless substance and powersliding is not so much possible as the only way to change direction. Travelling along the 45degree North bearing, Loki is only showing one of its solar panels to the sun, even so this is enough to cover the drain from the motors. Add to this Lokis ample battery capacity, the fact that the speed hardly drops even when you stop accelerating and Loki could quite happily rove right through the Mun'r day. (Even if its operator couldnt)

Cresting the first geographic feature since leaving its lander, Loki casts its electronic eye upon its destination, still 9 km further on, and at the bottom of quite a dangerous slope.

This was also something of a relief for me, this anomaly was selected by the contract system, this is the first time I have seen it myself and I was very glad it had actually been rendered on the surface!!

Deciding that there is no time like the present Loki is urged forward towards its destination and onto the slope. As the inclination steepens Lokis speed begins to rise, at first it could be held back by a simple reversal of the motors, 8 wheels spinning in the opposite direction to motion. However as the gradient increased to over 10 degrees this was no longer sufficient, even with all wheel braking in operation Loki was travelling faster than it had ever gone before, above 20m/sec and the KSC techs could no longer gaurantee the survival of the wheels should any bumps be encountered.

Loki passed 20m/sec about half way down.

Attempts had been made to take the slope at an angle, increasing the time on the slope but reducing the gradient to be endured, however on such a slippery surface Loki simply went down the slope sideways instead. KSC controllers decided it was better to see where you were going and turned Loki back on track ... straight down.

450m below the rim of the crater Lokis speed begins to reduce, the slope shallows and the brakes finally start to brake. Loki has reached the crater floor in one piece and only has to cover a few more km to the anomaly.

Meanwhile, High Mun Orbit

Pandora Mun Science Experiment has arrived in the Muns SOI, a small correction burn will now allow it to match PMSs equatorial orbit. This is performed with the still attached hypergolic HDIb upper stage, however with only 400dV remaining after the correction it will be able to capture but not put the craft onto an intercept orbit. It will need to be discarded during the capture burn.

Back on the Mun

Loki has now covered the remaining distance towards the anomaly, and it's huge.

Has this been expanded by 64k? or is it this size in stock too? its been ages since I saw one in stock, for size comparison, Loki is just over 2m wide.

The contract specified 4 measurements to be taken, Loki performs three of them, broadcasting 2 home and storing the third for collection.

Contract req, Magnetometer scan, 34,969 Funds, 14 Science, 55 Reputation
                     Laser blast, 39,166 Funds, 17 Science, 62 Reputation
                      Anomalous signal detection, full data stored for collection
                      Orbital telescope imagry, awaiting Helmdar overflight.

Loki I will remain in this area until the Loki II mission sets down, they will then meetup and exchange data.

Meanwhile, Low Mun Orbit

Pandora Mun Science Experiment has reached its 30km Pe, capturing to a 30x1,007km orbit will allow it to intercept PMS at its next Pe. The HDIb upper stage is decoupled once it runs dry, having managed to stay within Muns SOI it will fire its retros at Ap to impact Mun.

The burn is completed on the Arject.

Still day 13, KSC

Launch #125 is the second Loki mission, trialling a slightly different deployment method for a surface rover.

Launching on a HDIV, Loki II is not a cheap mission, but hopefully the returns from both its own science, and the completion of Loki Is contract will justify it.

Falling into a similar mass range as Loki I, Loki II with its transfer stage was just heavy enough to warrant a solo launch, even so the upper stage of HDIV was partially de-fuelled.

This is the part where you all notice that I put the payload on backwards.

Yes, I did notice, and it was intentional, kinda.

Just like Loki I, this craft had to be balanced in both horizontal and vertical directions, the logistics of Loki IIs deployment and structural strength required the transfer stage to be on one end rather than the other, and the probe core controlling the lander was burried waay deep inside that by the time I realised that the transfer stage would be going up nozzle first ... the symmetry nightmares involved in spinning it all around seemed the worse option.

Put simply, building a horizontal lander in the SPH, then mounting it on a vertically assembled launcher in the VAB leads to never touching any of the mirror mounted parts again or you have to go back to the SPH to re-align it all.

Reaching a 150km parking orbit, the upper stage performs 2,040 of the 2,270 m/sec Mun transfer burn, yes it required me to detach the stage, spin 180 degrees and then burn the final 230m/sec, but now the craft is finally all pointing the right way.

Massing roughly 15,200kg there is around 1,900m/sec remaining aboard for linear flight, this should be sufficient to capture at Mun and ensure an overflight of the landing zone.

Mission Cost, 263,876 Funds - 2x17,983 recovered from boosters.

However, due to the failure of the surface fuel depot carried on the Loki I mission, we have been forced to commission a replacement, in addition this Hector IV will carry a small independent supply vessel to deliver Methane to PMS to replace the fuel burnt capturing the latest laboratory. This will allow Medea to return to Kerbin and assist with getting the Minmus mining operation to Minmus.

The cost of assembly of this craft has reduced the KSC account to below 11k Funds.

Y2 D14, Mun Orbit

After a single orbit of Mun, the Plant science capsule is arriving at its intercept with Pandora Mun Station, which happens to be in the shadow of Mun, normally this is an inconvenience, but this is a solar powered arcjet, it eats Ec faster than it eats xenon. With around 1,200 Ec in its battery fortunately only 190m/sec is required to match velocity.

It appears Pandora Mun Station has no shortage of Ec either, which allows approaches in the dark to be made with more confidence.

With 1,325 dV remaining to get the samples home again, the capsule docks with the new laboratory.

Lemlie, Dersey and Bartlorf get to sciencing the Plant seeds as soon as the sun rises, Aling simply rolls his eyes and goes back to monitoring systems. Approx 50 hours till the sciencing is done.

[UnusualAttitude]

1 hour ago, Shania_L said:

Has this been expanded by 64k? or is it this size in stock too? its been ages since I saw one in stock, for size comparison, Loki is just over 2m wide.

The arches are really quite massive, even in stock. I don't have any stock pictures close to hand but I do have a shot of a Lunar arch in RSS with a Type-G rover to scale (a bit more compact than your Loki).

Spoiler

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Shania_L said:

Laser blast, 39,166 Funds, 17 Science, 62 Reputation

Not sure what this is but it sounds awesome...

Keep plugging away for those funds...!

[Shania_L]

16 hours ago, UnusualAttitude said:

Not sure what this is but it sounds awesome...

Its the DMagic laser err, thingie, It has a real name I'm sure of it, but I can never remember it. Its the white rectangle with two black tubes on top, on Lokis rear platform. It shoots the ground with a laser and sniffs the smoke (but in a totally sciency way).

Mmm seems the arches are just more massive than I remembered then.

[CatastrophicFailure]

20 hours ago, Shania_L said:

yes it required me to detach the stage, spin 180 degrees and then burn the final 230m/sec,

Worked better than when the Russians tried it. 

Tho there is lots of precedent, several of their early Moon missions and I think the US Mariner orbiters also launched with the nozzle pointing to space. 

(And yes, the arch IS just that big.)