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Hey guys, I decided to draw bluey characters on Mars. Check it out! Now, about 48 hours later, I am currently expanding on that and decided to start a worldbuilding/story/project thingy. I have a lot to do, but I have came up with a basic layout of how this would work. The name of the international crewed Mars program is Phoenix. I am gonna need some help with sciencey bits and things like that. You guys got any ideas? I’ll post again soon for more details.

Original title: InSight 2016 launch SCRUBBED So yea... NASA's next Mars mission, the lander InSight, won't launch in March 2016 becuase of a leak in the vacuum compartment of the seismometer, the main instrument onboard, provided by French CNES. This means at least a 26-MONTH delay. InSight's original launch window was March 4th to March 30th. Press briefing to follow at 1530 EST.

https://youtu.be/DL4CJ_-x8Mg?si=usYNSW0FWpcLLbPw

You can try my Mars Mission for the RP-1 mod here : https://kerbalx.com/TomKerbal/MM2035v66 It took me about 1000 hours to create it.

On December 5th 2014, a Delta IV heavy rocket thundered into the skies above Cape Canaveral, carrying a prototype of NASA's new Orion spacecraft. The mission was a success, but behind the awe of the launch, NASA was in shambles: It was building a capsule with no intended use, and a rocket to launch it to nowhere! During this period, it was doubted if the Space Launch System would ever even fly, lest do anything of note. However, this was anything but a sign of things to come - In late 2017, the leftover elements of past programs such as Constellation and the Asteroid Redirect missions, were collated and reformed under a unified program, one which gave a goal and a future to Orion and SLS, one which would achieve NASA's 50 year objective of returning Humans to the Moon. It's name? The Project In this Project, me and @Jacktical are aiming to recreate all the past present and future Artemis missions, Including: - NASA launches - Commercial partner launches - International partner launches - And more We are hoping to keep this semi-realistic, with the initial Artemis missions playing out as is currently planned by NASA, with later missions coming (hopefully) our own interpretations and hopes for the future of Human Spaceflight Posts should be regular enough, but we aren't gonna make a strict schedule for it It's time to return to the Moon! NEXT LAUNCH: CAPSTONE

Introduction: In 2010 the Constellation program was cancelled with the only things to show for it was a prototype of the Ares I launch vehicle and a semi developed crew capsule, the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle. The program had a quite a bit of lofty goals, having to develop new large launch vehicles using the knowlege gained from the Shuttle and Apollo programs as well as creating new crew exploration vehicles that could be used for LEO, the Moon and eventually Mars. It became an extremely costly effort leading to it's eventual demise. Thanks to KSP and a variety of totally rad mods from around the community, here is a somewhat Kerbalized set of events if the Constellation program continued into the next decade and beyond. Mods and stuff:

April 7th, 1974 They'd done it. The Soviets had landed a man on the Moon, and returned him safely to the Earth. His name: Alexei Leonov. After Apollo 17 returned to Earth in 1972, the world thought the space race was over. America had been to the Moon nine times, and landed 12 men there, and the Soviets weren't even close to orbiting it. Yet, on that fateful morning, the Soviets put themselves back into the space race. Any doubts that congress had about NASA immediately vanished, and president Richard Nixon immediately ordered a renewal of the American space program. The Apollo Applications program (AAP) was re-opened, and a new program was created for the revived space race: Apollo-Mars. There were three goals for Apollo-Mars: Establish a long term presence and begin the expansion of Skylab, create a long-term lunar presence with a space station and surface base with a re-usable lander, and as the most ambitious goal of the program, land a man on Mars in the early 1980s. Just as President Kennedy had set the goal for the U.S. to land on the Moon 13 years ago, America had set another ambitous goal. And so, the new race was on. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To celebrate one year of foruming, I have decided to redo my very first mission report, Apollo-Mars! This time it will have a more in depth story to it, as well show what the Soviets are up too. Did anybody ask for this? No. But I'm doing this anyways. With the knowledge I've gained from other mission reports, this will be 10,000 times better than the old thread. So enjoy!

Potential Game-Changer for Generating Propellant on Mars. https://https://exoscientist.blogspot.com/2023/07/potential-game-changer-for-generating.html Rather than needing football fields of solar cells to generate propellant, by instead collecting free O2 and CO in Mars atmosphere the process can actually *generate* power. If the gas separation of O2 and CO out of the CO2 of the Martian atmosphere can be done at low energy, it is possible it could even be done at sufficiently low cost to profitably ship the hydrogen to Earth. Robert Clark

Hi there! I've visited the Moon and Mars in RSS/RO. Tell me how was the video:) Also please subscribe to my channel for more videos

In 1972, after Apollo 17 returned from the Moon, America thought they had the space race in the bag. But, in 1974, just 2 years later, the soviets landed their first Man on the Moon. A total of three soviet moon missions were held, the other two in 1975 and 1976. The Americans knew they'd have to put the USSR in their place in space. If the Moon wasn't enough, then they had to do the next best thing. On March 11th, 1977, during Carter's state of the union address, he announced Apollo Mars. The goal: Put a man on Mars in the early 1980s, and return him back to the Earth. Out of fear that the soviets were already getting ready to put a man on Mars, the United States had to get ready and fast. In 5 Months they built 6 Ares rockets, which would carry the crew module all the way the orbiting habitat. Ares Rocket The Ares Flight Test (AFT) Missions will be orbital tests of the Ares Rocket. AFT 1 will be an unmanned orbital test of the spacecraft, AFT 2 Will be a manned orbital test of the spacecraft, and AFT 3&4 will be an orbital rendezvous test, to test the docking systems of the spacecraft. If all goes well, it'll be used to launch the first people to Mars. AFT 1: UNMANNED ORBITAL TEST AFT 1 was rolled out onto the launch pad on June 5th, 1977. Just 3 hours later, it was fully fueled and ready to launch. AFT 1 on the pad. Liftoff! AFT 1 past the karman (kerman lol) line, with the Moon in the background. AFT 1 in orbit. On re-entry. Parachutes deployed for a safe splashdown. AFT 2: MANNED ORBITAL TEST On June 18th, 1977, AFT 2 is ready and waiting for launch. All it needs now is the crew. Let's get to know them, shall we? Albert Millet: Navy Test Pilot; has been flying for 10 years now; Enjoys: Flying & Baseball Games Joshua Lambkin: Air Force Test Pilot; has been flying for 6 years; Enjoys: Refuses to say Dick Ednar: Navy Sailor; has been with navy for 9 years; Enjoys: Dancing late at night and not telling anyone. \ Commander A. Millet front; Pilot J. Lambkin right; Module pilot D. Ednar left Crew on the walkway. AFT 2 on the launch pad. Liftoff! The crew reports that everything seem nominal. AFT 2 almost in orbit. AFT 2 in orbit. Albert Millet preforming an EVA. "OW! My eyes!" - A. Millet AFT 2 on re-entry. Drogue chutes deployed. Main chutes deployed. Splashdown! After 4 orbits of the Earth, AFT 2 returns back to the surface. AFT 3 & 4: ORBITAL RENDEZVOUS TEST On July 10th, 1977, both AFT 3&4 are rolled out to the Launchpad and Launch Complex 39b. The flight's goal is to dock two of the Ares modules together in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to practice the maneuvers necessary to dock with the main habitat, due to be launched next year. AFT 3 Crew: Brian O'Neill: Marine Core Pilot; Has been flying for 18 years; Enjoys: chaos, bloodshed, and kittens. Trace Chadsey: MIT Graduate; Has doctorate in engineering; Enjoys: Soft Rock Wayne Deely: Navy Pilot; Has been flying for 5 years; Enjoys: Stuff AFT 4 Crew: Mark Coyle: Air Force Pilot; Has been flying for 10 years; Enjoys: Piloting Roman Bene: Air Force Pilot; Has adequate training, still has yet to fly a plane; Enjoys: ice cold water & dad jokes John Gabriels: Drexel Graduate; Has doctorate in engineering; Enjoys: None of your business AFT 3 Commander Brian O'Neill (front); Docking Specialist Chase Chadsey (right); Pilot Wayne Deely (left) Liftoff! Brian O'Neill claims launch isn't as bad as people say it is. A round 200km Earth Orbit is achieved. AFT 4 AFT 4 at launch complex 39b. AFT 4 in LEO. AFT 3&4 docked together in orbit. "Finally, neighbors! It was getting quite lonely in this neighborhood." -B. O'Neill Touchdown of both AFT 3&4. With the conclusion of both the missions AFT 3&4, NASA has finally proven that the Ares vehicle is a very capable vehicle. Next the element of the program to be launched will be the Mars lander, in 1978. While the AFT program has been going on, various tests of the mars lander have been going on. At this pace, we're already on track for the first humans to set foot on Mars in 1981.

"Rewriting History" Intro to series: Rewriting History is a series that I've been working on for the past few months, posting mostly on my instagram account and posting highlights on twitter, however a few twitter users inspired me to take my series here, the main focus of this thread is to cover all the major events and/or launches from the begining in 1966 to the current point in 1984. The premise of the series is that the first manned Lunar landing happens in 1966 with Apollo 8 instead of Apollo 11, the public interest for spaceflight grows even after the first few mission to the moon. After, what was supposed to be the vietnam war, doesn't happen, in 1969 NASA budget sees a huge increase and continues to rise through the years, as the world begins to focus more on spaceflight over military conflicts money get poured into space agencies all around the world. This series still is in full swing and should continue for quite a while, as I haven't reached Mars yet... I will be redoing most of the mission from 1966 to 1979 and the rest of them will come from my Instagram account untill I catch up to 1984 on here.... I've taken inspiration from quite a few different sources for this series. These include: @Talverd with his chasing dreams alternative history TruthfulGnome l with the skylab alt history Eyes turned skyward and Boldly Going Mission list as of 1984 Mod list:

► Download Chaka Monkey 161 ◄ Chaka the monkey supports Test Shot Starfish: https://soundcloud.com/testshotstarfish/tracks Chaka Monkey Exploration Odyssey is a space program based on NASA and Boeing proposals for future missions. Part models from a wide variety of authors have been licensed, and new original models made, then combined with all new textures, sizes and configurations, to create craft files depicting the proposed missions. This project is modeled at 75% real scale. ♦ Recommend installing this pack into a clean KSP install for the first time. ♦ Latest version of Raster Prop Monitor needed for IVA function. Link included in download. ♦ Copy everything in provided GameData to your GameData ♦ Copy VAB folder to Ships ♦ Copy Subassemblies to your save (optional) ♦ Please remove any previous version files before installing! Chaka Monkey Exploration Systems includes products commissioned or licensed from the following authors: Winston & Kickasskyle - KW Rocketry https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Alexustas - A.L.C.O.R. Pod https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ Alexustas - ASET IVA for Monkey Rover and Mk1-2 Pod https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ Bobcat, Ind. American Pack - all rights reserved and belong to BobCat, expressed written permission from Bobcat for American Pack components to be distributed with Chaka Tiberion - NovaPunch https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Kosmos Spacecraft Design Bureau - all rights reserved, expressed written permission from Normak and CardBoardBoxProcessor for components to be distributed with Chaka Lionhead Aerospace https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Sumghai - SDHI Service Module System https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Alexey Volynskov (Keramzit Procedural Fairings) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ BahamutoD - RS-68 Engine - All rights reserved - expressed written permission from BahamutoD for components to be distributed with Chaka Sumghai / Fustek / Nothke - Habitats https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ LandeTLS - SLS Block I fairings https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ TALISAR - Talisar Large Upper Stage https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Porkjet - Habitat IVAs - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ and expressed written permission from Porkjet for components to be distributed with Chaka Blackheart612 - Aerojet Kerbodyne https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ expressed written permission from Blackheart612 for components to be distributed with Chaka Kommitz - Chaka Nuclear Thermal Engines https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Nertea - Octo-Girder Argon Segment https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ NoOneSpecial - NOS Altair pod and lander https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Hanson Ma / xxhansonmaxx - CST-100 Parachute, Dock Port, and CST-100 pod IVA https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ CXG2827 - CXaerospace Station Parts - All Rights Reserved (Models and Textures are permitted for modification and distribution by YANFRET in Chaka Monkey Exploration Systems) Chaka the Monkey would like to extend a special thank you to these developers. They worked very hard to make these parts and we have organized them for Monkey Exploration because they are excellent. Also, Chaka wishes to thank our awesome 1.3 beta test team: @Space Kadet , @OV-102, @Jarlgnarök, @davidewei , and of course @MeCripp for putting in many hours of science which made the quality of this release possible. Special thanks to @rsparkyc for updating Procedural Fairings to 1.3! Monkey Rover Wheels provided by: BMW, AG Chaka the monkey supports using Raster Prop Monitor by @MOARdV LICENSE Unless otherwise specified, all materials available for download on this page are copyrighted and released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Included plugin licenses: Kerbal Joint Reinforcement is licensed to be distributed only with Chaka Monkey Exploration Systems on express written permission from Ferram4 due to specific critical requirements. Distribution of Kerbal Joint Reinforcement from this download is expressly prohibited: KJR License is GNU GPL v3 http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html For the latest version and updates to KJR, please visit http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/55657-1-0-2-Kerbal-Joint-Reinforcement-v3-1-3-4-27-15 KSPAPIEXTENSIONS is licensed via Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/81496-1-0-2-KSPAPIExtensions-V1-7-4-Utilities-for-shared-mod-use-1-May CC BY terms (attribution) Procedural Fairings is licensed via Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/39512-0-25-Procedural-Fairings-3-10-payload-auto-struts-%28October-11%29 CC BY terms (attribution) Animated Decouplers ( Starwaster ) is licensed via Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) https://github.com/Starwaster/AnimatedDecouplers http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Welcome to my first series, Ares program which mainly focuses on Post-Apollo missions Part I: Introduction and Development After the success of Apollo moon program, by 1973 plans were underway for More Apollo-related missions, with the introduction of Saturn MLV Launch vehicles, which allowed for more payload to LEO By 1976, work started on a new and improved Apollo CSM specifically designed for interplanetary missions - Using the leftover CSMs for Apollo 18- onwards, and some upgrades like an orbital module for the crew, and replacing the AJ10-137 with 2 TR-201 LM descent engines for SPS In 1977, the main contractors for Saturn program decided to begin developing a nuclear stage for interplanetary operations; they looked at the existing hardware like S-IVB stages and they looked at a provider for nuclear engines, They found TIMBERWIND, specifically TIMBERWIND 75 variant because it has a better thrust and exhaust velocity than the existing NERVA because of the usage of a particle-bed reactor By mid-78, NASA searched for a crew module that was suitable for interplanetary missions, they looked at the then-cancelled Venus flyby proposal, so the program was relived in a small form By early-79 The main transfer stage was already built and in mid-79 the habitation module was already built- They were scheduled for shipping to Cape Canaveral in December of 1979 The mission plan was to send a transfer stage into LEO, while it waits there for the habitation module to launch later and finally the 5-crew Apollo CSM to rendezvous with it Mars Transfer window starts at May of 1980 and ends in August

I'm happy to share with you the first public release of this mod. Most of the parts are done and ready to use and you can now properly replay the Mars colonization mission in KSP. IMPORTANT NOTICE: This mod is absolutely overpowered for the stock game. The engine performance and ship stats are as close to their real counterparts as I could make them, and as of now it works just fine in RSS with FAR and RealHeat installed. You don't need RO for this to work 'realistically' in terms of performance, except the fact that the fuel is not right (liquid fuel/oxidizer instead of liquid methane/oxygen) and engines don't suffer from ullage and other great features that RO brings. DeltaV stats, Isp, masses and all related parameters are nevertheless more or less correct. PARTS Crew Transport Ship with 4 crew and 100 passenger capacity. Tanker Ship for orbital refueling. Reusable Booster with attachable fins and gridfins. Built-in decoupler, probe core and antenna. Dedicated shielded side docking port. Matches stock senior docking port. Raptor engines for atmospheric and vacuum use. Ship landing legs Deployable Gridfins that act as control surfaces and airbrakes Booster fins Solar Panels, RCS etc. FEATURES Booster has a built-in decoupler for stage separation. Built-in docking ports can be activated in config files (as an alternative). Currently uses Liquid Fuel/Oxidizer mixture but with correct masses for the ship and booster Engine Isp and thrust are set to values given by Elon Musk in his presentation All sizes are as accurate as I could estimate Ship and booster masses are as specified by Elon Musk. Raptor engine mass is estimated based on Merlin mass Tested in KSP 1.2. Backwards compatibility for KSP 1.1.3 and some extra config files for RSS are available on GITHUB Landing legs are missing landing leg module. They are still animated and act as landing legs, and are by default activated by Gears action group. They cannot overstress. CURRENTLY IN DEVELOPMENT Internals IRSU module RSS/RO configuration for proper fuel usage - partly done Configuration for stock KSP that is not game-breaking Split body flaps for the ship VIDEOS! A quick video I made how to assemble the ship: Kottabos review: DOWNLOADS: SPACEDOCK CURSE GITHUB - Backwards compatibility and extra configs are available here. DEVELOPMENT THREAD is where all the important updates and future features, as well as current issues (there are some) are discussed. I hope you will enjoy this mod! It took me a long time to (sort of) finish and I wasn't even sure if I could do it. Because of that, I'm even more excited to share it with you! A big THANK YOU to Marcus House for the support and testing, as well as config adjustments!

Could lichen and moss survive on Mars? I will mainly use moss, because i like it better. I suppose they could, if they were provided ample amounts of oxygen. Using a system called MMOWS*, you could make small amounts of oxygen, and release it under it. I assume that the moss could trap the oxygen, and keep it alive. It would probably be one of the experiments carried on a manned mars mission. It could hypothetically be used as food, but I believe that wouldn't be the best idea, as some harmful chemicals from the soil might have leeched into it. You would also need to water it, but you could put that through the same oxygen supplying network. Alternatively, they could be made chemosynthetic**, and dumped on some mineral deposit. This probably wouldn't work very well, as I believe that the lack of oxygen in the atmosphere would harm the plant. Being both photosynthetic and chemosynthetic could be beneficial though. I am certainly not a expert on any of this, so please tell me if I am wrong.

The stock game does not have parts to fully enclose a rover and encapsulate a rover during descent. Most people will use the fairings, but the issue is the fairing base will be stuck under your rover and your landings to Mars will not be authentic. There is an outdated mod that did this, but the author has ceased to kerbal. I now will maintain this concept and bring even more parts to the game. In this release I have issued 3 parts to your VAB. This is phase 1 which means I will roll out more parts during which will follow a time-line of events. I think these 3 parts are a good starting compromise. Here is a breakdown of the 4 phases. HIghlighted in red is what phase we are currently on. PHASE 1 = Aeroshell, Cruise stage, Heatshield . All basic parts. Player will need to mount their own chutes and radial engines if need be. PHASE 2 (1970's) = Viking lander is a possibility. Vintige version of the aeroshell design. More texture choices. Radial monoprop engines for the cruise stage. (RO version will use REAL FUELS by NathanKell) PHASE 3 (Late 90's early 2000's) = MER rovers (Spirit, Opportunity) . EDL system such as the terahedron and airbags. PHASE 4 (Present) = Curiousity Rover. EDL system such as the skyscrane You get 3 parts in phase 1 of this pack. There are configs included for realscaled parts to use for RO. Aeroshell "backshell" Includes RSC attitude control thrusters and texture changing so you can use the JPL logo. Parachute not included! Heatshield....you know , to protect from atmosphere devils Cruise stage which includes texture changing for JPL logo, solar panels that will recharge your EC, and has built it fuel tank. You provide the engines of choice*. SPECIAL FEATURES! Aeroshell can thrust jet in flight as seen here: Mars Science Laboratory only requires: 1. Firespitter and Texture Changer - To change the logos 2. Tweakscale if you want more freedom of payload sizes CHANGELOG: 1.0.4 [12-27-2016] *Changed RCS module to the newer stock supported ModuleRSCfx -MeCripp *Collision boxes re-done -MeCripp Cruise stage is in a more appropriate menu category and now acts as a pod -MeCripp *Heathshield is moved to Thermal category -MeCripp *Small rebalancing of some parts 1.0.3 [12-18-16] -Inline-patched to clean up cloned configs and to recognize when player has RO installed -Stock now has attitude jets for backshell -Fixed decoupling when going through strong aero forces, however player must angle craft a bit before ejection to prevent "back splash" of heatshield and/or backshell. The real Curiosity mission had to do this same manuever. -Fixed stock cruise stage to now have resource monoprop. 1.0.2 [12-16-2016] -Fixed issue where VAB crashes when placing cruise stage which was the fault of the RO configs overridding the stock ones when player did not have RF or RO installed. Licence: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License I WANT I WANT !!! SPACEDOCK LINK http://spacedock.info/mod/1119/Mars Science Labratory *This is my first parts mod, there might be bugs. If you report a bug please be patient as it takes a few days for me to have time to tackle the issue.* Credits: MeCripp - Collision work, Fixed Unity pass, Module Improvements JPL - reasons NASA - reasons Yogui87 -Textures from old mod

The martian can now be replicated (a bit) with the rover! though slightly faster than the original it has the same range (half batt default is 35km wth a full batt it is 70km) currently working on ntergrating an exit hatch and adding an IVA http://spacedock.info/mod/30/Ares%20III-%20the%20martian p.s. this is without the pivot activated

Someone please share the craft file for replica of the Perseverance rovar for KSP 1.9 with DLCs

Welcome to the development thread for Duna Direct! What is it? Extraplanetary lander, habitat and parts pack for Kerbal Space Program - Based on the proposal for Mars Direct by Robert Zubrin and David Baker of Martin Marietta in 1990. Fly the mission! Live the adventure in the custom-made mission Duna Direct: The First Flight! Use of mods requires Module Manager Compatible with the following mods (automatically applied upon mod detection): Module Manager (Required for any other mod compatibility) Near Future Props - Fully furnished interior RCS FX - RCS Flame FX by JadeOfMaar auto-on if Module Manager is present. (Remove patch if dislike) (Special thanks @JadeOfMaar!) Tweakscale - Scaling of all parts B9 Part Switch - Texture swapping on Stage 2 Real Plume - Better engine FX for all engines Breaking Ground (Squad) - Inventory space Near Future Electrical - RTG Decay (thanks @Gordon Dry!) Connected Living Space - Adds passable options Kerbal Inventory System - Adds KIS inventory space RealChute - Changes parachute parameters USI Life Support - Various USI Life Support compatibilities TAC Life Support - Various TAC Life Support compatibilities Kerbalism - Full Kerbalism compatibilities (Special thanks @Sir Mortimer!) Snacks! - Various Snacks! compatibilities Remote Tech - Antenna modifications Confirmed working with the addition of: Cryo Tanks Community Resource Pack 1.10.1 Update Changelog: 1.8.x Update Changelog: Disclaimer: This mod has not been tested with anything other than those listed above or in versions of KSP other than 1.5.1. There is also a lot going on with these parts. Testers have been awesome and I've done everything I can to make it work properly but as usual, if there are any bugs please report them over in the development thread. Thank you! Parts list with 1.8 updates: A very special thank you to all the testers who added valuable feedback and suggestions which led to many improvements over the original goal. Download from Spacedock Installation: Extract the contents of the GameData folder to your GameData folder. Structure should then read GameData\MarsDirect\ Mission is also available from the Steam Workshop Duna Direct is License CC-BY-4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

This is a crewed mission to Mars, that I have worked on for almost a year. I used (and still use) KSP version 1.2.2 with Real Solar System, Realism Overhaul and Realistic Progression 0 mods (RP-0, not to be confused with the newer RP-1). The reason why I still use KSP 1.2.2 is because of my 4 year old RP-0 career save (created in January 2016) that is in the very advanced stage of progression. The year in that save is 2029 as of typing this post. It wasn't possible to transfer that save to KSP 1.3.1, because the evolution of RP-0 (called RP-1) that was released for KSP 1.3.1 changed too many things for my old save to be compatible. My long running RP-0 save is also the reason why completing my Mars mission took so long. It's not a 'single mission' save, there are many other missions in progress simultaneously, that need to be attended to from time to time (probe course corrections, moon/planet flybys, station crew rotations etc). More detail about my Mars mission and vehicles that took part in it, can be found here: https://imgur.com/gallery/6J8m9Iz - Mars Cargo Landers launches https://imgur.com/gallery/ArUGAnf - MTV assembly https://imgur.com/gallery/jfTB9sp - Departure to Mars https://imgur.com/gallery/DQkeCoQ - Arrival on Mars https://imgur.com/gallery/A965gZw - Departure from Mars

For a college "Exploration of Space Environment" project, (my partner and) I need to discuss the potential tradeoffs of picking a particular landing site on Mars. More specifically: What will we gain AND have to sacrifice from landing at this specific site. For example, when it comes to landing along Mars' equator vs on one of its polar ice caps (yes, I have to specify which one), I'll have to consider: Carrying my own water (and, therefore, more weight) vs converting the ice underneath I'll still have to carry a backup supply, but an ice cap landing and utilization can lessen the amount I need to save specifically for the outpost Keeping the return vehicle at an equatorial (or even inclined) orbit vs having to set a polar orbit. As we all know, we save fuel if we launch our ascent vehicles in the same orbital plane as our target. Regional temperature Will determine how the base will be heated. (For the stock game, I don't know anything about life support mods) KSP fails to address supporting kerbals in environments with low temperatures like those on Mars. Sunlight (and radiation) exposure More radiation protection = more weight = less delta-V More sunlight = more solar power Seismic activity A region with lower seismic activity is preferable Dust storm frequency My partner and I know that it won't tip over whatever ascent vehicle we bring, but dust storms can still cause serious problems such as: Getting inside computers Blocking solar panels I know I'm simply asking for help on a college term paper (whose due date is probably extended due to the coronavirus), but this is also a great opportunity for us to discuss where we would start a Martian base. Feel free to offer your input on where we should put a base, and why. After all, the entire mission plan (base design, approach and departure strategy, surface ops) depends on it. But be aware that, whatever landing spot we decide upon, we'll be sacrificing the advantages offered by other locations. We'll also have to design our base to compensate for lost advantages. Which would ultimately determine how the entire mission would be conducted. That's what engineering is about, exploring the gives-and-takes of our mission decisions. We basically explore this concept every day in KSP, too. adding fuel tanks will mean more delta-V, but also more weight to haul to LKO using a lander engine with higher thrust may mean giving up delta-V Any and all help is greatly appreciated. Thank you. P.S. Source links would be nice. I don't think my partner (let alone my professor) would want me to cite a forum post in the reference page.

It seems like the great big Mars colonization discussion has leaked inside threads that are not really intended for it, so I'm making it a seperate thread. Mods, feel free to merge.

Hey, guys! For the last several months i've been working on my new KSP video. It would be action miniseries of 6 episodes, 20-25 minutes each. Here we go!

Here's a video i made of my manned mission to mars and its two moons i did recently it took 3 days to do.