GarrisonChisholm

Just a note on how this is progressing- Something changed in a recent mod update and now my game looks pretty ugly in atmospheres. I don't add new mods once I start a game, but I do update everything if new versions become available on CKAN. I notice that after the last update Kerbin in the splash-screen is replaced by a random planet, but also when I load the Space Center the sky and water looks bad, and it also shows in tracking station views. I went through my mod-list and there's nothing there that shouldn't be there, so at the moment I am just waiting for an update to fix this as I surely can't be the only one who has had this happen.

I was away for a good 6 years and I felt the same having just re-connected a couple months ago. We need a KSP Forum Protocol "break-glass-in-case-of-emergency" Alternate of some kind!

Are we back?!?

A dark pall hung over Mission Control. Everyone had felt their blood sink and their fingers go cold when the shock understanding had washed over them. Albatros had plotted its course home with the DUAL lander still attached. ...and the computer memory had not been dumped. The crew's burn home had been entirely in error, and their mid-course Kerbin encounter burn had left them on a path mysteriously no-where near a Kerbin encounter. The crew had figured this out for themselves a few minutes before Mission Control, though there was nothing to do but wait for instructions. The ship's supplies were still ample, and their hydroponics would continue producing food and recycling, but no-one believed it would last another year and a half to find a reasonable encounter. An all night meeting was called. The Icarus on Pad B could collect them from orbit, or orbit Mun and return, but it did not have the capacity to match an interplanetary fly-by speed and then return to Kerbin. In fact it wasn't clear if a vessel could at all assembled from scratch. Wernher was ordered to dust off the plans for Phoenix and get another into production; at least then if a rendezvous was made they would have vastly amplified resources should another solar orbit be required. Considering fitting out and rolling out might take a hundred days on its own a fortune in overtime bills were suddenly demanded to get the vehicle constructed in under 90 days. Suddenly nothing else mattered at KSP.

Yes, everything is fine; why do you ask?

Thank you! I always hate having issues boarding so always try to give myself an airlock down low, and its just not necessary to LOR for a landing.

Muna 18 fell into the gravity well of Mun. There would be only stray science to collect from orbit, but due to the need for a high apoapsis burn to reach the far northern latitude of the lander a polar EVA was able to produce some new findings. The landing was a near panic as, without a pilot on board, warnings started flashing that the landing zone was obstructed. However Engineer Commander Ducas Kerman looked at the readings and said "what do you mean, there's a half-meter either side to spare," and simply hit the Override button. With setting down precisely inside the test zone the readings were run- ...and the project scientists back at the KSC immediately asked for an additional reading at a 3rd site. This *could* conceivably be accomplished with their ample fuel reserves, however the new test zone was just falling into shadow and they could not be sure of finding level terrain without sending a probe. It was resolved that yet a 3rd mission would need to be sent for this project, now expiring in less than a year and a half. So the two rockets were ordered as Muna 18 safely launched and set on its return course. Now re-entry was a bit more exciting than normal. The lander was also designed for recovery, but thanks to a decision to ensure re-entry occurred under daylight the return would not include its usual 500 m/s retardation burn, and the crew was rather alarmed at the fireworks and blazing plasma that triggered just meters away as the lander fuel tank exploded- But at last with their escorting squadron of blazing fragments the craft slowed and recovered, near the southern end of Crater Bay. Mission accomplished, for now.

CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!! That's a lot of happiness you've brought to people my friend, be proud of yourself!!

While Mission Control awaited the Albatros Kerbin-Encounter-Burn, two rockets waited on pads A and B. Pad A was Icarus, the capsule that would go up and rendezvous with Albatros once it had made orbit. The second was Muna 18, which had been on standby while the Duna mission was underway, but now that matters were on coast for a few months it was decided to go ahead and execute the mission, a seismic study near a previously landed probe on Mun. Muna 18 with Commander and Engineer Ducas Kerman, civilian university professor Kircan Kerman, and the perfectly named computer scientist Mactop Kerman launched to orbit. Using just enough thrust to ensure the mainstage fell back to Kerbin, Muna 18 made orbit, followed 30 minutes later by its injection to Mun. This was the first time that the Program would have 2 crewed missions engaged simultaneously, though everyone was presuming it would be a smooth ride with Albatros having nothing to do but eat and sleep. Tansted sent well wishes to her rookie compatriot in the science department as they watched the launch on its expected delay. In just 4 hours Muna 18 would be plotting their breaking burn into Mun orbit.

The KSP concludes its work for the moment on its automated programs and one aircraft flight test, as the time for Albatros' return arrives. The Ion Explorer is settled into a polar orbit of Jool for long-term monitoring of its magnetosphere. Othello 4 is sent on its way to the Plockoid Havous. Prospero is launched into orbit awaiting its window for its long and swift journey to Kerbol's outer reaches. And a flying wing prototype is evaluated for Program use. But, finally, the day is here. First the DUAL lander was detached, and an attempt was made to re-land it near the original landing site, potentially to provide extra accommodations for the next mission. However numerous small problems compounded as the craft was oriented for descent and finally it was just decided to deorbit the lander as too little fuel now remained. That left just 4 days to departure. Their supplies had been slowly trickling down due to a power issue. To avoid H2 boil-off power needed to be maintained off their 4 RTGs for the duration of their Duna night passage, and the Recycler just took too much power, so it had been shut down for the duration of their long stay in orbit. By their calculations they had just 4 hours remaining when it came time to burn for Kerbin, and the fortune of an again unshaded Kerbol. With their mid-return correction timed out, in 300 days they would be aligning themselves for orbital insertion.

The 30 year wait for the flyby of Nissee was, to say the least, underwhelming. The moon turned out to be a small dusty rock, likely a captured plockoid. None-the-less the instrument buffers were filled with data, and a transmission timer set for the occasion of the probe's return to the orbit of Sarnus set, an unfortunate 35 years in the future. On the other hand, the Ion Explorer's encounter with Laythe was very nearly the polar opposite of underwhelming. A fortunate sun alignment matched the probe's approach, and about 4 million copies of this poster were sold at every grade school Science Day in the coming spring. The magnetosphere science was captured and transmitted, and a burn made for a Tylo encounter that would also send the probe out to the orbit of Pol executed. Hopefully a full survey of Jool's moons could be completed with the substantial onboard fuel. The last to-dos before Albatros' return burn were the departure of the orbiting Othello probe to Havous, and the launch of the deep plockoid probe, Prospero.

Further missions of note were occurring at the KSC, as a long duration planetoid was coming into its close approach to the sun. Kerbin's first outer-planet and, subsequently, interplanetary probe was an Othello, so another was created. It was an older probe, but it checked out, so it was cleared for launch. Unfortunately, upon reaching orbit it was discovered the plane change needed was almost as much as the trans orbital burn, so an alternate subject was chosen, the as yet un-visited Plockoid, Havous. Given the infrequency of the original planetoid's periapsis a new launcher was prioritized, namely the launch body of the Phoenix "Planetship" given it had the same diameter, to which the Othello upper stage was attached and renamed Prospero. The cost consequently more than doubled. With top priority this rocket should be able to be built and launched within the year, and would be on its way before the Duna crew started homeward.

While the crew of Albatros awaited their return window, there were actually two other missions in progress. The first was a very old mission, which was a proof-of-concept outer planets exploration probe carried up and launched by the Kondor spaceplane 30 years ago. It had visited Jool and then gotten a kick out to the deep places of the solar system and was now encountering Neidon retro-grade. A probe had flown by Neidon already, but this mission would be able to visit Nissee. It was out of communication at the moment, but still had a few shreds of power in storage so data could be recovered from the flyby which would then hopefully be transmitted home somewhere between Sarnus and Jool. The second mission was the 4th Local Body Ion Explorer probe, also encountering its target retrograde after an earlier encounter. LBIE-4 would brake into Jool orbit with a Vall flyby, which would hopefully end with a flyby of Laythe in the cards. Laythe had been a hot topic for the last year as the first Laythe probe to not splash down had returned images of obviously flourishing flora, and everyone was gobsmacked. Had Albatros not already been deep into the planning (and funding) stages then Laythe would have assuredly been Kerbalkind's first attempt at a non-Mun/Min landing. With any luck once the crew was back from Duna there could be some funding for exploring not just a 2 year mission, but the 6 that would be required for the Joolian system.

That may have been a sub-conscious allusion but it wasn't deliberate. I think it looks "appealing" because I was worried about the contract expiring before I got it into orbit so it was built in total and launched as one unit, and hence looks somewhat aerodynamic. The lander I am very pleased with, and with 4 of its 5 engines being high gimbal units it steers very surely on SAS. Duna's atmosphere is thin enough for it to work, but I doubt it would be able to climb through any thicker atmosphere. The second mission to Duna is going to have a lot more support. I want to send a fueler for both H2 and LOx so the lander could make two descents (with the second to Ike), and a rover to permit easier excursions. A rover was supposed to be waiting there for this mission but it seems to be exploring Booster Bay...

With the landing successful Tansted breathed a sigh of relief - now she would be able to get on with her observations and experiments. But first she had some station keeping chores to do. Primarily, now that DUAL was out of the way the extra tanks could be drained and ejected, increasing their Dv for the trip home. After all of the hydrogen had been pumped out Tansted initiated the separation motors and selected UNDOCK on the display. A horrendous bang reverberated through the ship as one of the tanks crashed into the hull, because the other tank... was still there. (the baguette tank had accidentally been affixed to the hull, despite the fact that I had been able to place it exactly corresponding to its partner during the orbital repair mission) Tansted stared at the screens in front of her, and then keyed the comms. "Jebcas!!!" This discovery had a huge, and negative, impact on the mission. Jebcas would need to do an EVA to cut free the 'wires and detritus' that still held the remaining tank adhered to the hull of the cabin. Jebcas was the only person with the skills to do this task, which immediately made him indispensable, meaning he would not be going on the hour's hike to the MLL probe. Given that he needed to return to the ship in orbit, that also meant that Tanbro would not be going on the hike. In fact after less than an hour's debate back-and-forth to Kerbin they were ordered to return to orbit immediately. It was a dodgy ascent, as it seemed they were burning fuel much faster than in the simulations. Tanbro and Jebcas both realized that that thicker lower atmosphere that made their landing softer was now making their escape from Duna a lot harder. But finally they were able to reach a stable orbit. Unfortunately, the only rendezvous that would match their remaining fuel was 12 days. Fortunately they had enough supplies for it, but it was a long time with a view of only instruments. Never-the-less, they made it. Fortunately Jebcas didn't need to stray too far from the cabin door, and the tank was removed and tossed aside with as much force as he could manage. - which turned out to be less than 1 m/s. The ship's RCS was used to slightly more securely assure that they wouldn't bump into it in their remaining 500 days in orbit. They would save detaching the lander until before their departure, as the extra living space - as small as it was - was not something to throw away so hurriedly. Tansted settled down to examining the soil and rock samples that were brought back, and the whole crew devoted themselves to staying busy and sane until it came time for their departure.