Angelo Kerman

@JadeOfMaar Makes amazing icons!

I think this is ready for unwrapping and texturing.

Nautilus (DSEV-03) departs Skybase on a new mission...

Added radar dome, LIDAR sensors, and cameras. I have some more modeling details to add, then it's time to unwrap this beast..

Slowly making progress on the printer... I pretty much allocated all of March to get this done. I figure it'll mass about 3.5 tonnes or so, and it's fairly large, which should make it somewhat of a challenge to transport to the desired site. But hey, you'll get the ability to make bases and vessels without the need for kerbals on site.

Stunning work guys! Well done!

Deep Space Exploration Vessels (DSEV).

Unfortunately I don’t think the color matching works for parts that I know of. Regardless it is a moot point. I don’t have time to make such fancy parts. But if someone else makes them, the printer can print a vessel comprised of said parts.

My first operational flight of the Estonian... Hard to believe that I made this so long ago, but only now I'm able to use it in my game.

I landed the Estonian on Duna, 4.8 kilometers from the wreck of the Das Wanderer: Valentina steps off the ladder for all Kerbalkin... Publicity shot... Ok, show's over, time to get to work...

I didn't make that art, I just found it. Check out www.lavahive.com

Chapter Eleven: Going for Broke Valentina flipped a coin. It spun rapidly in the microgravity environment. It bounced off the walls of the habitat module until she finally caught it and slapped it against her forearm. She lifted up her hand. It started to lift off oh her jumpsuit. “Eagle,” Jeb said, looking at the coin. Valentina sighed. “Bring her in,” she said. Jeb grabbed the remote-control system and wiggled the controls. The Duna Tanker approached DSEV-02. Another button press, and the tanker’s docking lights came on. Several delicate RCS burns later, Jeb docked the tanker to the Protector. The crew breathed another in a long line of sighs of reliefs, then celebrated after transferring all their contingency fuel to the Protector’s tanks and refueling the lander as well. After taking on the emergency snacks, the Tanker disengaged, leaving DSEV-02 with just over 1,200 meters-per-second of delta-v. If they scavenged the lander for additional snacks and fuel and abandoned it, then they would have enough to return home. Not one of the crew even considered that option, however. They all knew they were going to land on Duna. *** “Holy mulch!” Munbus 2’s instruments were calculating a comfortable 50-second burn to slow and stop safely when they suddenly updated and knocked 20 seconds off their time. Marnica immediately jammed the throttle fully forward. The Munbus began to slow, but was still dropping like a stone. She immediately stood the ship on its tail and prayed that it would be enough. The Munbus barely cleared the ridge and began climbing. They still had another 230 meters-per-second to burn off, so she lowered the nose until horizontal with the terrain. The Munbus stopped above and to the right of the Arch and the site of Munbase Enterprise, caught between momentum and gravity. Gravity won, and began pulling the craft down. Marnica switched to the landing jets and maneuvered the Munbus to the platform, settling down safely. “No doubt about it, this place is cursed,” she said, her heart pounding and her breath rapid. her crew felt no less scared. *** For the third time today, Kelbin wished he had installed a fare meter in the cockpit given all the taxi flights he was making of late. At least this one was an orbital flight. He sat patiently in the Flapjack while taking on propellant at Skybase. After the incident with the A-51C, standard procedure changed to increase fuel capacity for launch and to refuel rocket saucers with plenty of propellant to return home. But Skybase kept transferring fuel well beyond what the ship needed. Kelbin tried to object, but one of his passengers, a Lieutenant Colonel Parie Kerman, countermanded him. Since she outranked him, so there was nothing he could do. The flight computer told him that the Flapjack’s tanks were completely full. “Undock from Skybase,” Parie commanded, not taking her eyes or fingers off the computer. Kelbin did as ordered and backed away from the space station. “This is your next maneuver node, Major,” Paire said dryly. It didn't sound like she was having a good day. Kelbin blinked. “The Mun? Why do I get the feeling that neither you nor Captain Gedra are tourists,” he asked. Parie said nothing. *** Fifteen days after coming about to match Ike’s orbit, the Protector readied herself to carve a path through Duna’s atmosphere. Valentina strapped herself into the ship’s cockpit while Jeb and the rest of the crew readied their lander, the Estonian, for launch- “Just in case this maneuver doesn’t go well,” Valentina continued her briefing. “I fully intend for the aerobraking to go well, but if it doesn’t, then I’ll order you to perform an emergency undock and land, Jeb. And I expect you to follow my orders.” “Yes Ma’am,” Jeb said tersely. “But what about you, Val,” Bobus asked nervously. “The captain always goes down with her ship,” Valentina said simply. There was nothing further to say. The Protector dipped into the atmosphere, just 30 kilometers above the surface, to slow down and lower her orbit. She arrived back into space unscathed. The crew cheered- they were not going to repeat Das Wanderer’s fate. Half a day later, the Duna Tanker followed. A day after her first aerobraking, the Protector repeated the maneuver. Two more gentle trips through the atmosphere later, DSEV-02 settled into a 402 by 409km orbit. The Tanker, devoid of contingency supplies, followed suit into a slightly lower orbit. With its primary mission completed, the tanker extended its solar arrays to form the basis of Duna Station and then ditched its transfer stage. Scrapper Three joined it soon after. *** After their mid-course correction burn, Parie opened her sealed orders. She read them, looked surprised, and reread them. “They should have told you, Kelbin,” she said in disgust. “And me too. I understand the need for secrecy, but this is too much… Ok, uh, this briefing is classified Top Secret and Need to Know. As of now, you are on temporary attached duty to my command. Officially, this is a tourist flight to the Mun and back. In reality, we’ve been ordered to orbit the Mun and to rendezvous and dock with Groom Lake Air Force Station. From there, we will refuel and then head to the surface at coordinates that I will provide. In case you’re not familiar with it, Groom Lake is an unacknowledged space station that is part of the Air Force’s secret munar transport network.” “Uh, okay…” Kelbin said timidly. “Er, yes Ma’am. May I ask where we’re going?” “You may ask…” Parie said, trailing off. “Need to know. Got it,” Kelbin responded.” “You’ll understand when we get there. Off the record, I can tell you that it’s going to be interesting. Hopefully in a good way,” Parie added. “On a personal note, what is it like to walk on the Mun?” “It’s uh, it’s like walking on a sandy beach in boots,” Kelbin answered, caught completely off guard. “The ground has some give to it. And, uh, it’s more of a, uh, slow motion skip than a walk. One misstep and you’ll go flying. It’s even worse on Minmus.” “I envy you and your flight experience,” Parie said by way of apology for being so curt before. After reading her orders, she understood why she and Captain Gedra were suddenly directed to pose as tourists for a munar flight. “You must’ve seen and done a lot. You’re right up there with the Original Four. And you went around the world.” “Valentina, Jeb, Bill and Bob still have more experience than I do, especially with their trip to Duna and all,” Kelbin pointed out. “You never know, you might surpass them.” I don’t think visions of exploring Eve counts, Kelbin thought to himself. “Maybe,” he said simply. “If I can be more than just a taxi driver.” *** A week after achieving low Duna Orbit, the Duna Flyer pulled alongside and docked with the Protector. Bobus excitedly ventured outside to inspect the craft for signs of damage- the Flyer was his project. Designed as an experimental research aircraft, the Flyer was built to perform biome surveys around Duna to find a good spot for a base. With its electric propellers and atomic power source, it could fly for years around Duna if needed. Assuming it worked, of course. Nobody had ever tried flying an airplane in the thin Dunan atmosphere… He began assembling the wings. As Bobus assembled the Flyer’s wings, Bill got to work transferring nearly all the transfer stage’s remaining propellants to the Protector, further increasing their delta-v margins. Next, Bill stepped outside and transferred the KMU mounting rack to the Protector while Bobus finished his work. With their tasks complete, the Flyer separated from the Protector and followed its preprogrammed course for its first mission. Several minutes after undocking, its flight computer performed a deorbit maneuver. The atomic airplane began to caress Duna’s atmosphere not long after… *** Flapjack 1 approached Groom Lake AFS, matching its velocity around the Mun. As Kelbin made his way around to the designated docking pier, he noted the absence of docking ports connecting various modules together. The station also had four engines and as many fuel tanks at one end. He concluded that the whole thing must’ve been built on the ground in one piece and launched into orbit. “Wherever we’re going must’ve built this,” he conjectured aloud. “Yup,” Parie responded. “The Air Force built a base on the ground. It’s our destination… There’s our pier. See those extensions? We’ll need both of them. They’re our landing gear, dorsal and ventral. We’ll be landing on our tail. Grab them and refuel for our trip down.” That explains the Flapjack’s new ventral docking port, Kelbin thought to himself. A brief stay at the station later, Kelbin quenched the rocket saucer’s thirst and gave it new legs- apparently the Air Force had different ideas about using spacecraft like the Munbus that were specifically designed for landing on the Mun and Minmus. No doubt future versions of the Flapjack would have legs built in or underside landing rockets. A quick maneuver plot and burn later, they were on their way to the ground. *** “Shock heating dissipating, reactor is nominal,” Bobus said excitedly. “48 kilometers to target area. Flyer is gliding, props ready to engage… Speed 750 m-sec and dropping… Passing 2200 meters, props engaging… less than 10 kilometers to go… She’s flying! She’s actually flying on Duna! Uh, ok, 4km to target area… There it is…” Still decelerating, the Duna Flyer zoomed past Das Wanderer at just under 200 meters per second and less than 500 meters above the surface of the planet. But it was enough. “She looks battered but intact,” Bill said surprised, looking at the video. The Flyer sped onward and continued to slow. “That must’ve taken some skill.” “Why haven’t they contacted us,” Payin asked. “We all use international frequencies…” “They may have suffered a hull breech and died after impact,” Valentina said dryly. There was an uncomfortable pause in the conversation. “Let’s land and take a closer look. Uh, Val,” Bobus finally said, his excitement turning to nervousness. “Can you…” “Sure,” she said, taking the controls. “I have the aircraft. Switching to manual.” “Good luck,” Bobus said, crossing his fingers and toes. The Duna Flyer slipped ever closer to the ground, its speed dropping. Valentina turned it around and headed back to Das Wanderer. The Flyer had to move fast in the thin atmosphere. A sand dune appeared ahead, and Valentina pulled up, almost clearing it. She cursed as the aircraft clipped the dune and the whole tail section came off. She tried to keep the wounded aircraft as level as possible until it hit the ground again, bouncing on its wheels. The outer wings ripped away as they slammed into the sand. The crumbling airplane jumped into the air again. Then it thumped into the ground once more and spun out as it slowed, but it stayed on the ground. At last it stopped. “I’m sorry, Bobus,” Valentina said, dejected. “I did the best I could...” Bobus patted her on her shoulder and nodded, satisfied. “She flew. On Duna,” he said proudly. Valentina taxied the stricken aircraft over to the wreck. “Nobody ever did that before," Bobus continued. "You got her down mostly intact, that’s good enough. We can build a new Flyer from the remains of the old. Longer wings, stronger landing gear…” “We’re getting soil readings,” Bob interjected. “Ore, gemstones, hydrokerbon, nitronite, precious metals… lots of rock, and some zeonium. No gray water though, but we can squeeze that out of ore. Not a bad place to set up shop…” “Mulch! She’s slipping down the slope, I can’t hold her,” Valentina interrupted, frustrated. She spun the craft around to stop its slide. It worked, but only briefly. It finally came to rest at the bottom of the slope nearly a kilometer away from the vonKerman wreck. *** “Contact light. Ok, engine stop,” Kelbin said as he ran through the landing procedures. The saucer rocked gently on its heels as it settled into the ground, but didn’t topple over. Nonetheless, Kelbin held his fingers on the emergency engine start. The ship stopped moving. Everything was tilted to one side due to the slope. “Solid footing,” he declared finally. “Glad we made it,” Gedra said triumphantly as Kelbin processed the shutdown procedures. Parie gave him a thumbs up. The trio began exiting Flapjack 1. Kelbin stepped through the hatch and turned around. He’d been so busy monitoring the instruments and flying the descent profile, he didn’t have time to look out the windows on the way down. What he saw astonished him. “How long has this been here,” he asked, stunned at the sight. “The saucer or the base,” Parie asked, starring at the enormous craft embedded in the ground. “Yes.” “That’s a good question,” she answered. “I only found out about this facility on the trip over. There was no mention of the alien saucer in my briefing. Just that the base was here, and that I will be taking over as the new base commander. Is it anything like the one you found?” Kelbin looked it over. “It looks identical,” he said finally. “Same seamless construction, same size, same color, same everything.” “Looks like we have a mystery on our hands then,” Parie declared. “Let’s go introduce ourselves.” *** “As you know,” Bobak’s transmission continued, “Das Wanderer miscalculated and plunged too far into Duna’s atmosphere. After your flyby circulated on the Lattice, Kerbin Galactic publicly admitted that she didn’t break up when she hit the ground as we’d assumed. Instead, Das Wanderer apparently used her lander’s parachutes and the ship’s main engines to slow her descent enough to make an emergency landing. She landed mostly intact.” Payin again wondered why the crew hadn’t contacted them. Bobak apparently anticipated that question. “The reason you haven’t heard from the crew isn’t because they’re dead. They’re in cryosleep, a state of suspended animation according to the vonKermans. Due to the ship’s damage, they can’t wake up without help. And we don’t know how long their systems will last.” Valentina paused the transmission. “Cryosleep? What’s he talking about?” “Oh wow, JJ Kerman wrote about that,” Bobus said excitedly. “In the Duna Space Program, no less! Anyway, cryosleep is where you go to sleep, they freeze your body, and a long time later they thaw you out. One moment you’re going to sleep around Kerbin, the next you wake up at Duna. It’s a great way to avoid having to take huge amounts of snacks and such…“ “That’s how they got their crew to Eve and back,” Valentina interrupted. “The Abenteurer was roughly the equivalent to our early MOLE stations, there’s no way they had the supplies needed for such a long trip! They must’ve used that ‘cryosleep’ technology again with Das Wanderer. Ok, I think I know the rest, but let’s see what KSC wants.” She unpaused the transmission. “You know the situation back home between the Kerman States and vonKerman Republic,” Bobak’s transmission continued, “Attempting to rescue Das Wanderer’s crew would go a long way towards easing tensions between our two nations. With ISRU, we think you’ll have enough resources to support both your crew and the Das Wanderer survivors, if any. Keep us informed of your progress, Mission Control out.” “Looks like we have our landing spot,” Jeb quipped. *** “How’d you end up out here,” Kelbin asked. He hadn’t seen Fredgan since their days in the Kerbin Elcano Exploration Project. Fredgan and his crew flew the KSNS Fulton support airship, which was destroyed by the vonKermans in an attempt to grab the arctic saucer. “The KIA recruited my crew and I after arctic skirmish,” Fredgan answered. “They trained us to be astronauts and shipped us up here to reverse-engineer the saucer.” He looked over at Parie. “Most recently I’ve been filling in as the base commander, and to be honest, I’m glad you’re here to take over, Ma’am. I was getting used to being a rocket jockey. I prefer the relative freedom of having my own ship.” Parie nodded. “There’ll be plenty of opportunity for that. Tell me about the munar saucer,” She directed, changing the subject. “We don’t know how long the saucer has been here,” Fredgan answered. “Remember the Armstrong rover? Munar Science Rover 2? Well it didn’t crash as reported. The KIA faked the crash and used the rover to explore anomalies on the Mun. Most turned out to be monoliths. Apparently, the KIA found this saucer a few weeks before the Akron found the arctic one. Anyway, Saucer Works was built after our skirmish with the vonKermans.” “So, the whole time that the arctic saucer has been held up in the World Court, you’ve been studying this one,” Kelbin said, shaking his head, “wow.” “Oh, we have been doing more than studying it,” Fredgan countered. He called up an image on the monitor. It showed a small hangar similar to temporary structures built to cover attack craft. Inside was a heavily modified Flapjack. It lacked wings but it sported small tail fins atop the saucer and some flaps in the back. The engine mount was heavily altered to expose some kind of machinery, and it appeared to be powered by a SAFER atomic reactor. “You reverse engineered the flying saucer,” Lieutenant Colonel Parie said. It wasn’t a question. Fredgan nodded. “We found the ship’s computer surprisingly intact. It contained a maintenance manual of sorts, and we used it to figure out how the propulsion system worked. Then we built our own. It has problems, I’m afraid. We’ve lost a number of prototypes along with their pilots. And we’re in need of more test pilots…” “I can help with that,” Kelbin immediately interrupted.

With enough artistic skill and time (which I currently don't have), I'd make this:

Small interlude while I get the next chapter ready...

It's not as simple as right-click and bam, regolith is colored properly to match the ground. Stuff like this takes time and effort to make, and I'm not inclined to do so. But you can definitely make parts that would have a regolith mesh on top, and you can make a plugin to handle the color changes. Such things are beyond the scope of what I'm making. The 3D printer is designed to work with Extraplanetary Launchpads, which means you can make anything in your craft lists from SPH and VAB, so it does a lot more than just regolith bases.

I also readied another rocket saucer launch. In this case I'm experimenting with total reusability, with no vessel recovery. Instead I have support vehicles to prep the rocket saucer for launch. If this goes well I'll definitely use it extensively in my next game. First up: refuel the rocket saucer, replenish its snacks, and charge the batteries: Samalla installed the cargo: Astrovan takes the astronauts to their ship: Preflight.. Taxiing to the end of the runway... ... and off we go!

I have Kerbal Inventory System installed, and used an engineer to pull the parts.

If you are familiar with Extraplanetary Launchpads, the 3D printer will serve as a workshop that doesn't require kerbals, and a "launchpad" to make new craft with. To summarize, you can build whole bases without the need for kerbals. it is inspired by NASA's 3D Habitat Challenge. This actually sounds like a Kerbal Inventory System issue, you probably need to ask this on the KIS thread..

I sent another expedition to The Mun:

I think her behavior is the result of another bug in Wild Blue Tools.

Making some progress on the Sandcastle printer: For comparison, that's the largest mk3 cargo bay..

I assembled the Duna Flyer and removed the docking ports used for transport and construction:

WBIClassConverter, found in the Castillo config file, handles training tourists into Scientists, Engineers, or Pilots.

I get a little bit of time each night during the week...

One last image: I brought the Scrapper Pod over to Duna Station and ditched the station's fuel tanks. Duna Station is now ready for expansion.