[AAR] Because It's There (Chapter 13 – 03/29/15) Münshot 2: Minmus Boogaloo

[GreenWolf]

Chapter 7 should be up tomorrow, Thursday at the latest. I've been pretty busy with IRL stuff, haven't had a chance to play KSP yet this week. Finally found time tonight, and will be doing the landing. In the meantime, have this teaser from Munshot 6.

I wonder what's inside the fairing?

[GreenWolf]

Chapter 7: First Steps

With Münshot 5 safely returned to Kerbin, it was time to begin preparing for the Münar landing.

First, Romal Kerman and Delivery would have to finish the second aerobraking pass, and then rendezvous and dock with Zenith Station.

"The second aerobraking went perfectly, lowering my periapsis to about 500 kilometers. Once at periapsis, I did a small burn to bring my apoapsis up to 250 kilometers, then waited a few orbits before performing a small burn radial-in to bring my closest approach to the station within a kilometer. After that, it was just standard rendezvous and docking." – Cosmonaut Romal Kerman, Pilot

With Delivery docked with Zenith Station, it was time to send up a resupply mission. Münshot 6 would be launched using the new Liberty Advanced, and would carry two portable science modules and the Maxwell 2 Münar Altimetry Probe.

"The

Liberty Advanced

was a very minor modification to the normal

Liberty

that replaced the regular upper stage with one that carried RCS. This change was made to allow it to dock more easily with

Zenith Station

. While previous upper stages had been theoretically capable of docking, it hadn't been attempted due to the lack of RCS." – Ambrose Kerman, VAB Engineer

"

Maxwell 2

really should have been carried with

Münshot 5

on the Münar flyby, but the timing didn't work out right, and merging the transfer of

Discovery

and

Prosperity

into the flyby mission meant that there was little room for more payload. So the Münar Altimetry Probe would be sent with

Münshot 7

, which would have to wait in orbit until the probe had mapped enough of the surface to make a safe landing possible." – Argus Kerman, Deep Space Radar Operator

Launch and rendezvous went as planned, with Münshot 6 placing itself in a parking orbit near Zenith Station until it could be retrieved by Delivery.

With Maxwell 2 and the additional science modules waiting in orbit, it was time for Münshot 7 to launch. It would be flown up to Zenith Station by Jebediah Kerman, who would disembark at the station, and carried Bill Kerman and Obdorf Kerman as additional crew, both of whom would continue on to the Mün. Thomplin Kerman, already in orbit, would be the commander of the mission, while Jermin Kerman would fly Delivery. Nelvey Kerman would once again be serving as primary CAPCOM.

Rendezvous and docking went normally, and soon the Safety crew vehicle was docked to Zenith Station's port docking port. The remaining fuel from the Liberty upper stage was transferred to Delivery's extra tanks, then cut loose once it was empty and placed into a parking orbit nearby. The tug and the crew vehicle then undocked from the station and redocked to each other. Münshot 7 was ready to go.

One short burn later, Münshot 7 was on its way to the Mün.

Upon entering the Mün's sphere of influence, the crew of Münshot 7 had to play musical chairs with the modules docked to the front of the tug.

"

Maxwell 2

needed to be inserted into an approximately polar orbit, while everything else was heading for the propellant depot in an equatorial orbit. So we had to detach the probe and let it maneuver away from us, then we had to translate forwards to redock with the science modules. And the science modules have no RCS, so we had to be extra careful so as not to set them spinning." – Cosmonaut Jermin Kerman, Pilot

Once Maxwell 2 had been separated from Münshot 7, Delivery performed a small braking burn to lower its periapsis to the same altitude as the propellant depot. It would then perform its insertion burn at periapsis, and begin planning the rendezvous with the depot.

"Docking with the depot was complicated by the fact that we had to attach one of the science modules to the lander first. As I said before, the modules had no RCS of their own, so trying to dock them to the bottom of

Discovery

was a long and tedious process. Once it was done, I had to translate over to the port on the opposite side of the depot, then spin around and translate forwards into the port." – Cosmonaut Jermin Kerman, Pilot

With Münshot 7 safely docked with the propellant depot, it was now a matter of waiting for Maxwell 2 to start sending back altimetry data.

"The probe reached its periapsis a few hours after

Münshot 7

finished docking. Once there, it performed a small burn to place itself on an elliptical orbit around the Mün. Then it swung up to apoapsis and performed a plane change maneuver to get into a polar orbit. Two more burns, and it had circularized at about 400,000 kilometers over the Mün." – Argus Kerman, Deep Space Radar Operator

Nine days later, the probe had almost finished mapping the Münar surface.

"There were a few spots it hadn't surveyed yet, but the equator had been fully mapped, which was all we needed to plan our landing. The important thing was to avoid landing in any craters." – Cosmonaut Thomplin Kerman, Pilot

Discovery undocked from the propellant depot, carrying Thomplin Kerman and Bill Kerman down to the surface.

LANDCOM (Thomplin Kerman)

: KSC, we are clear of the depot. Requesting a go for deorbit burn.

CAPCOM (Nelvey Kerman)

: Copy that,

Discovery

. You have a go for deorbit burn.

LANDCOM

: Burn in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Ignition! And engines off! What's our trajectory looking like, Nel?

CAPCOM

: Looking good. You should come down over a nice flat area on the dayside.

– Recording of

Münshot 7

Münar deorbit dialogue

"We used a lot more fuel on our descent than we needed too, but we had plenty of delta-v to spare, so we were taking things carefully. Better to land safely and inefficiently rather than not land at all." – Cosmonaut Thomplin Kerman, Pilot

LANDCOM (Thomplin Kerman)

: Bill, give me altitude!

LAND-E (Bill Kerman)

: 800 meters... 700 meters... 600 meters... Might want to throttle up a little bit... 500 meters...

LANDCOM

: Relax, I know what I'm doing. Just keep giving me altitude, and let me handle the flying.

LAND-E

: 400 meters... We're falling towards the Mün at 20 meters a second inside a tin can! I think I'm justified in being a little worried... 300 meters!

LANDCOM

: Stop panicking, you'll use up all our oxygen. There! See that flat patch?

LAND-E

: 250 meters... The one surrounded by the small hills? 200 meters...

LANDCOM

: Yeah. I'm gonna try landing there.

LAND-E

: 150 meters... Be careful... 100 meters!

LANDCOM

: Throttling up. What's our vertical speed?

LAND-E

: 15 meters a second and falling. 75 meters altitude!

LANDCOM

: Tell me when we hit 5 meters a second.

LAND-E

: Altitude, 50 meters. Velocity, 10 meters a second. Altitude, 25 meters. Velocity, 5 meters a second.

LANDCOM

: Easing up on the throttle. Keep giving me altitude!

LAND-E

: 20 meters... 15... 10... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...

LANDCOM

: Engines off!

LAND-E

: Touchdown! We're on the Mün!

LANDCOM

: See? What did I tell you? Now be quiet for a second, I'm on the phone. *Clears throat.* KSC, this is

Endeavour Base

. The

Discovery

has landed. I repeat, the

Discovery

has landed.

*The sound of cheering can be heard over the radio.*

– Recording of

Münshot 7

landing dialogue

"As I say these words, I am currently standing on the ladder of the Münar lander, preparing to take the first steps on the surface of another world. And it is here, 11 million kilometers above Kerbin, as I step onto the Mün, that kerbalkind takes its first steps towards the stars." – Recording of Cosmonaut Thomplin Kerman's 'First Steps' speech

[Sampa]

Amazing work getting to Mun!

[GreenWolf]

Amazing work getting to Mun!

There several points where I thought the mission was going to fail. I had to revert the launch of Munshot 6 back to the VAB to add struts to the payload, because it was wobbling too much. And docking the long, wobbly spar that was the two science modules and Maxwell 2 was incredibly frustrating. And getting the whole thing out to the Mun was an exercise in abusing time warp to kill rotation. The only thing that really went well was the landing.

On the subject of the landing, that rope attached to Thomplin in the photos is a KAS winch, which I'm using as a safety rope. There's no ladders along the side of the science module, and I wasn't sure that they'd be able to jump high enough to get back into the lander, so the winch is there to reel them in. Fortunately, it looks like I won't need it.

On a completely different topic, the Munar propellant depot needs a proper name. Any suggestions?

The next few chapters will see us doing some more Mun landings (for science!), cleaning up the spent stages in LKO (because all those probe core equipped stages are cluttering up the tracking station), setting up a proper comms network (no more relaying communications through five other craft), and laying the ground work for Munstay (I wonder what that could be?).

[Sampa]

There several points where I thought the mission was going to fail. I had to revert the launch of Munshot 6 back to the VAB to add struts to the payload, because it was wobbling too much. And docking the long, wobbly spar that was the two science modules and Maxwell 2 was incredibly frustrating. And getting the whole thing out to the Mun was an exercise in abusing time warp to kill rotation. The only thing that really went well was the landing.

On the subject of the landing, that rope attached to Thomplin in the photos is a KAS winch, which I'm using as a safety rope. There's no ladders along the side of the science module, and I wasn't sure that they'd be able to jump high enough to get back into the lander, so the winch is there to reel them in. Fortunately, it looks like I won't need it.

On a completely different topic, the Munar propellant depot needs a proper name. Any suggestions?

The next few chapters will see us doing some more Mun landings (for science!), cleaning up the spent stages in LKO (because all those probe core equipped stages are cluttering up the tracking station), setting up a proper comms network (no more relaying communications through five other craft), and laying the ground work for Munstay (I wonder what that could be?).

If you aren't already using it, consider using KAS so you can attach some extra struts while inflight!

[GreenWolf]

If you aren't already using it, consider using KAS so you can attach some extra struts while inflight!

Yeah, I was already planning to use KAS for that. KAS (and probably Infernal Robotics) is also going to be an integral part of Münstay. (Hint: Cranes. Cranes everywhere.) Expect to see lots of KAS parts on future vehicles, and a KAS container of struts and other assorted bits and pieces on the next resupply mission. Also expect to see the current Münshot infrastructure being slowly mothballed as replacements with larger docking ports enter service. And be prepared for a massive influx of new cosmonauts and personnel, since Münstay is going to require huge reserves of manpower (or should that be kerbalpower?). Also, possibly, just maybe, the KSA's spaceplane program will finally get off the ground.

Oh yeah, there's a lot of stuff to do before we even think of heading to Duna.

[Sampa]

Yeah, I have also fallen in love with KAS as now I don't mind learning EVA!

[GreenWolf]

Chapter 7.5: Münstay

As Thomplin Kerman and Bill Kerman explored the Mün, Gene Kerman and Wernher von Kerman were unveiling their latest ambitious plan for the followup program to Project Münshot.

Gene Kerman

: Gentlemen, three hours ago, Thomplin Kerman and Bill Kerman landed on the Mün. As we speak, they are sitting inside the

Discovery

lander, preparing for another spacewalk on the Mün's surface. *Pause.* I have called you here to discuss what happens next. Yes, Mr. Nelvey?

Nelvey Kerman

: Isn't it obvious? I mean, you don't build a bunch of fuel depots, a space tug, and a reusable lander if you're only planning to do a few flags and footprints missions. That kind of stuff is called "infrastructure", and you only build it if you're planning to stay somewhere.

Gene

: You are correct, Mr. Nelvey. This agency will be committing itself to the construction of a permanent facility on the Münar surface.

Linus Kerman

: A Münbase?

Mortimer Kerman

: Do you know how much that would cost?

Fitzgerald Kerman

: You can't possibly be serious!

Gene

: I can assure you, I am very serious. And why wouldn't I be? We've already got a space station in orbit, and we have cosmonauts on the Mün at this very moment. It's not a huge leap from that to a Münbase. As Mr. Nelvey already pointed out, much of the infrastructure for it is already in place.

Linus

: What we have right now is fine for sending scientific missions to the Mün, but a permanent Münbase is going to need dedicated resupply vehicles. Habitation modules. A comms network. Maybe even ISRU.

Gene

: Yes, but we don't need all of that right now. We can start building the Münbase using the infrastructure we have at the moment, and expand it as necessary. Doctor Wernher?

Wernher von Kerman

: Ahem. As Linus has pointed out, we will need to expand the existing infrastructure in Kerbin and Münar orbit if we wish to build a permanent installation on the Mün. That is why the Münstay program will be broken up into three phases. Phase 1 will focus on laying the groundwork for long term habitation. Setting up proper communications networks. Looking for possible karbonite reserves on the Mün. Expanding the orbital stations. That sort of thing. Phase 2 will involve setting up basic facilities on the surface. Karbonite mining and processing. Basic crew accommodations. Specialized landers for transporting fuel and crew. You get the idea. Phase 3 will center on long term sustainability. Closed ecological systems. On site repair facilities. A science laboratory. Really, anything that will make the base more self-sufficient. Yes, you, in the back?

Samson Kerman

: You can't have a base without crew. Who's going to be living in this thing?

Gene

: Münbase personnel will be selected from the general cosmonaut application pool. The director of the base will be chosen from the existing pool of experienced cosmonauts.

Samson

: And who will that be? Thomplin? Jebediah?

Gene

: I can't say, as we haven't spoken to him about it yet.

Samson

: You're avoiding the question.

Gene

: Yes, Mr. Samson, I am. Now, does anyone have any other questions?

Fitzgerald

: How many launches are we looking at here?

Wernher

: Phase 1 will be integrated with existing Münshot missions. Phase 2 will consist of between five and ten launches. Phase 3 will have at least five launches, plus on going resupply and crew transfer missions.

Fitzgerald

: So we're looking at somewhere around 15 launches?

Wernher

: Yes, that is what I said. However, the actual number may be more or less, depending on how the mission plan changes.

Gene

: Right, well, it looks like there are no further questions, so let's break for lunch. When we get back, Mr. Nelvey and Mr. Fitzgerald will be giving a presentation on spaceplanes.

– Archived transcript of a KSA meeting discussing the Münstay Program

[Sampa]

*looks speechless as the KSP orbital music plays*

[GreenWolf]

Chapter 8: Preparations

â€ÂThe first Münwalk was mostly a solo publicity thing. Go out, say a few words, plant the flag, then get back inside. The real science would be performed on the second walk, where we’d collect surface samples, inspect the lander for damage, and activate the experiments inside the science module.†– Cosmonaut Thomplin Kerman, Pilot

Once both the scientific and publicity related goals of the mission were accomplished, it was time for the cosmonauts to leave the Münar surface, and rendezvous with the Münar propellant depot.

Once docked, the lander transferred its remaining fuel over to the space tug. The crew then EVAed over to the tug with the surface samples and the experiments from the science module. With just enough fuel to make it back to Kerbin, the space tug undocked and began its journey home.

â€ÂOnce we had lowered our periapsis enough through aerobraking, the

Safety

detached from

Delivery

for final reentry, while the space tug performed a small burn to raise its apoapsis out of the atmosphere.†– Cosmonaut Thomplin Kerman, Pilot

The Safety command module landed safely west of KSC.

Discovery, now nearly out of fuel, then rendezvoused with Zenith Station.

Now, after many months in orbit, it was finally time for Zenith 6 to return home, carrying Jermin Kerman and Romal Kerman back to Kerbin.

With the first Mün landing complete, it was now time to begin preparing for the next mission, which would lay the groundwork for Münstay by scouting for potential locations for the future Münbase.

"Any outpost on the Mün would need to take advantage of

in situ

resource utilization – or ISRU, for short – if it wanted to have any hope of permanence. The resource of choice for this was karbonite, an incredibly useful chemical that can be converted into both fuel and oxidizer. But we needed to find it first, which is why we launched the Münar Orbital Surveyor." – Doctor Zeke Kerman, KSA Chemist and Karbonite Expert

The Münar Orbital Surveyor would be launched atop a Liberty Advanced. The upper stage from the Liberty would rendezvous with Zenith Station to refuel it, while the probe would perform the Münar transfer and insertion burn by itself. After transferring its remaining fuel to Zenith Station, the spent upper stage would use its RCS to dock with and deorbit another Liberty upper stage floating in a nearby parking orbit.

Once the Münar Orbital Surveyor was in the correct orbit and searching the Mün for karbonite, it was time for the KSA to begin setting up a proper communications network.

"Up to that point, our communications network was basically nonexistent. We were mostly using spent upper stages as relays, and occasionally buying time off of commercial satellites as necessary. Obviously, this was unsustainable in the long term, but the construction of the Münbase merely made the problem more visible." – Argus Kerman, Deep Space Radar Operator

The solution was the Belltower network, a set of three, long-range communications satellites, orbiting 1000 kilometers above Kerbin. These satellites would provide continuous coverage to spacecraft in Kerbin orbit, all the way out to Minmus. The only "blindspots" would be the farside of the Mün and Minmus.

Just like the Münar Orbital Surveyor, the Belltower satellites would be launched using the Liberty Advanced, the upper stage of which would dock with Zenith Station while the satellites placed themselves into their final orbits.

However, there was a minor problem with this plan.

"

Belltower 1

wasn't equipped with any low-power, short-range antenna. Its only means of communication was through its high-power, long-range antenna. This wouldn't have been a problem, if it had detached from the upper stage properly. However, when it detached, it failed to orient itself along the north/south vector, so its solar panels weren't getting enough exposure to the sun. To cut a long story short, it ran out of power and had to be rescued." – Argus Kerman, Deep Space Radar Operator

Jebediah Kerman would have to fly Delivery out to the satellite and place it in the correct orbit.

Once the satellite was in the proper orbit, it detached from the space tug and oriented itself along the proper vector.

The remaining two satellites were equipped with short-range antenna, and were able to successfully place themselves into their proper orbits.

The next launch was a resupply mission to Zenith Station, carrying more fuel, and several cases of spare parts.

After transferring its fuel to the station, the upper stage was deorbited using its RCS.

The Münar Orbital Surveyor had been busy looking for karbonite, and the preliminary results were very promising.

"According to the data we were getting, there were places on the Mün where the regolith was over 3% karbonite by mass. In certain parts of the Northwest Crater, the regolith was almost 5% karbonite!" – Doctor Zeke Kerman, KSA Chemist

The next step would be Münshot 8, which would carry a small amount of karbonite detection and extraction equipment down to the Münar surface to confirm the results from the Münar Orbital Surveyor.

[Sampa]

Hey, what are those fairings from? I don't believe I recognize them!

[GreenWolf]

Hey, what are those fairings from? I don't believe I recognize them!

Those are from Procedural Fairings. It's an amazingly useful mod that I can't recommend enough. I consider it essential if you're going to be playing KSP with FAR or NEAR.

[Sampa]

Nice, I never actually used Procedural fairings (don't really like the procedural parts too much cause it never does what I want it to), though, I personally prefer to use KW Rocketry fairings as they have sufficed for all my lifting needs

[GreenWolf]

Nice, I never actually used Procedural fairings (don't really like the procedural parts too much cause it never does what I want it to), though, I personally prefer to use KW Rocketry fairings as they have sufficed for all my lifting needs

Oh man, I love procedural parts. Giving me more options, with fewer parts (and thus reducing memory usage)? That's having my cake, and eating it too! And PF is pretty easy to use, since it automatically shapes its fairings to fit the payload. Much nicer than KW rocketry fairings, where I have to try and fit my payload into the fairings I can make with the provided pieces. Also, I don't have to deal with the dozens and dozens of other parts that I don't want that KW provides.

No, I'm definitely not a paid shill for Procedural Fairings. I don't know what could possibly give you that idea.

Anyways....

Kerbal Broadcasting Station Poll/Questionnaire/Feedback Thingy

Clever-eyed readers (or people who pay attention to captions on photos) may have noticed that recent posts haven't had captions on their pictures, unlike the earlier posts which did. Readers may also have noticed that recent posts have had more pictures and less text than earlier posts. There are reasons for this.

First, captioning the photos is a time consuming (it takes between a minute to two minutes to caption each photo), tedious process. Additionally, unless I can think of something particularly clever to put on them, most of the captions end up just describing what's going on in the photo, which should already be obvious from the photo itself and the preceding text. So I've stopped captioning the photos. I'm not entirely happy with this solution, so I've decided to ask you, the readers, what I should do. Should I keep captioning all of the photos (which I would be willing to do if you guys want me to), should I caption none of the photos, or should I only caption some of the photos?

This leads to the second point. Is the ratio of text to photos too high or too low? Should I add more text, or more photos? Should I try and space the photos evenly throughout, or have them in big blocks? Are the photos too large? Are they too dark? Do they cause feelings of intense despair when viewed on a CRT monitor?

Basically, give me some feedback on the layout of the chapters.

[GreenWolf]

Chapter 9: Groundwork

Münshot 8 would use the new Safety M crew vehicle, launched atop a Liberty Heavy Advanced.

It would carry a small karbonite drill and a soil sampling kit, to be attached to the Discovery lander, which would be used to confirm the karbonite levels in the Northwest Crater. Its crew would consist of Romal Kerman, Hankin Kerman, Bob Kerman, and Jebediah Kerman. Jebediah would fly the Delivery space tug, while Romal and Hankin would land on the Mün.

"We all felt a little bad for Jeb. To get to go to the Mün twice, but not land on it? That has to be tough. A bunch of us went back over the mission logs, a few years after the fact, and we realized that if Nelvey hadn't been injured in

Zenith 3

, he would have been the commander on

Münshot 5

. And that would have meant that Jeb probably would have been in the lander for

Münshot 7

." – Cosmonaut Romal Kerman, Pilot

Launch and orbital insertion went smoothly, followed by a normal rendezvous and docking with Zenith Station.

With the addition of the fuel from Münshot 8's upper stage, the Prosperity module attached to the station was now completely full. However, its counterpart in Münar orbit, and the Discovery lander docked to it, was completely empty.

"We didn't think it would be a problem. The

Delivery

would just carry some additional propellant to refuel the lander in its extra fuel tanks. The fuel margins would be tight, but we would have enough delta-v to land and return home." – Cosmonaut Hankin Kerman, Engineer

After a round of musical chairs, Delivery and Münshot 8 were ready to depart. The cases of spare parts that were delivered to Zenith Station on the previous launch would be carried out to the Mün, to be left with the orbital propellant depot there.

A short burn later, and the space tug and its consist of spacecraft were on their way to the Mün. They would arrive a little bit under a day later. Once at the Mün, they would perform orbital insertion, then rendezvous and dock with the orbital propellant depot.

"Once we were docked to the depot, it was time for us to play some more musical chairs. First, the portable science module on the lander has to be swapped out. Then we had to move the space tug over to the other side of the station. Once this was done, we would have to perform several EVAs in order to attach the karbonite equipment to the lander." – Cosmonaut Hankin Kerman, Engineer

With a new science module in place, and the karbonite equipment attached, it was time for Romal and Hankin to take the Discovery down to the surface. They would be landing in the Northwest Crater, which had been chosen as a potential site for a Münbase due to its high concentrations of karbonite, and its favorable location near the equator.

"Our fuel tanks were only half full, so we didn't have the large delta-v budget that the previous mission had. This forced us to take a more aggressive descent trajectory, coming in low and fast before performing a suicide burn to kill our velocity." – Cosmonaut Romal Kerman, Pilot

Once on the ground, it was time for the team to start doing science.

"We started off by taking some surface samples and running the experiments in the science module. Pretty standard stuff. Then we began checking for karbonite. This was a bit more involved, since we had to move some things around before we could start. The soil analysis kit confirmed the high levels of karbonite in the crater, and the little drill that we brought along successfully extracted some from the regolith. It's a shame we didn't bring a converter along to turn it into fuel. Would have been useful." – Cosmonaut Hankin Kerman, Engineer

The cosmonauts also had the chance to view Kerbin eclipse the sun. Although solar eclipses are commonplace on Kerbin, due to the low inclinations of both Kerbin and the Mün, this was the first eclipse seen from another celestial body.

"Getting to see things like that – Kerbin eclipsing the sun, or Kerbinrise from Münar orbit – it makes it all worth it. All the years of training, the terrible food, the nerve-racking rocket launches – I'd do it a dozen times over to get to see the things I did." – Cosmonaut Romal Kerman, Pilot

As the cosmonauts began preparing for their departure from the Mün, it was at this point that mission control called them with some alarming news.

CAPCOM (Thomplin Kerman)

: Uh,

Münshot 8

, can you confirm your fuel levels as 137 units of fuel and 167 units of oxidizer?

LANDCOM (Romal Kerman)

: That is correct, CAPCOM.

CAPCOM

: *censored*

LANDCOM

: What? What's wrong?

CAPCOM

: You don't have enough delta-v to get back.

– Recording of

Münshot 8

post-landing dialogue

[Scotius]

So...rescue mission?

[GreenWolf]

So...rescue mission?

Well, first Romal and Hankin will need to MacGyver their way back into orbit. If they can do that, they have enough supplies to hold out over 200 days waiting for rescue.

[Sampa]

How much time do they have if they can't get into orbit?

[GreenWolf]

How much time do they have if they can't get into orbit?

Somewhat less than 200 days (I forget the exact number). Although I'm not sure if their batteries could last an entire Münar night, so they could freeze before they starve. Then again, they do have that karbonite generator they could use. Regardless, rescue operations get much more complicated if they stay on the surface.

Chapter 10 should be up tomorrow or Saturday. I have the gameplay and write up for about half of it done, but I'll need another hour or two of gameplay done before it'll be long enough to post.

[Sampa]

Somewhat less than 200 days (I forget the exact number). Although I'm not sure if their batteries could last an entire Münar night, so they could freeze before they starve. Then again, they do have that karbonite generator they could use. Regardless, rescue operations get much more complicated if they stay on the surface.

Chapter 10 should be up tomorrow or Saturday. I have the gameplay and write up for about half of it done, but I'll need another hour or two of gameplay done before it'll be long enough to post.

Ok, then as future reference, I might suggest that you consider always having at least TWO automated landers always available to provide faster rescue operations. You never know when a contingency plan needs to be implemented

[GreenWolf]

Ok, then as future reference, I might suggest that you consider always having at least TWO automated landers always available to provide faster rescue operations. You never know when a contingency plan needs to be implemented

You remember Samson Kerman from Chapter 7.5? The one listed in the OP as the "Crew Safety Advisor"? Yeah, he's gonna get a lot more coverage in the near future. Probably more ulcers, too. (Do kerbals get ulcers?)

[Sampa]

yeah, for me, after a rather unfortunate incident (I'm blaming Jeb), during a routine orbital maneuver to adjust my orbit around Mun to be a little more circular, I somehow sent both the lander AND the orbiter into orbit around Kerbol. YEAH...after that I now make sure I always have to make sure I have some way to rescue a crew if something were to go wrong during a critical maneuver. That may take the form of an extra rocket, extra landers, WAY more than enough fuel, make the orbiter a secondary lander...something! I have now made it my mission to not leave a kerbal behind and to NEVER lose a crew!

[GreenWolf]

Chapter 10: Rescues

LANDCOM (Romal Kerman)

: Uh, could you repeat that, Tom?

CAPCOM (Thomplin Kerman)

: You don't have enough delta-v to get back to the depot. You've got around 610 meters a second left. If you flew perfectly, it would take 580 meters a second to get into a 10 kilometer orbit.

LANDCOM

: What about RCS? If we can get into a 10 kilometer orbit, we might be able to use RCS to rendezvous with the depot.

CAPCOM

: We already thought of that. You don't have enough RCS to go from a 10 kilometer orbit to a 100 kilometer orbit.

LAND-E (Hankin Kerman)

: The science module. We can ditch the science module. What would that do for our delta-v?

CAPCOM

: Uh, one sec. Okay, that would definitely help, but the margins would be incredibly tight.

LAND-E

: What if we ditched the karbonite equipment too? It's designed to be detachable, and we don't need it anymore.

CAPCOM

: That gives you a bit more delta-v. Enough to get into a 10 kilometer by 100 kilometer orbit. And there's enough delta-v in the RCS to allow you to circularize from there. But even if you can get back to the depot, you'll still be stuck there.

LANDCOM

: One problem at a time. If we can get to orbit, we have enough supplies to wait for rescue.

– Recording of

Münshot 8

pre-Münar liftoff dialogue

The cosmonauts worked quickly, with Romal taking the experiments from the science module while Hankin removed the karbonite equipment. The gutted science module, now with the karbonite equipment strapped to its sides, was then disconnected. Having served its purpose, it would remain on the Münar surface.

"We managed to buy ourselves about 170 m/s of delta-v by ditching the science module and the karbonite equipment. It still wasn't enough to get us into a 100 kilometer orbit, but it was close enough." – Cosmonaut Hankin Kerman, Engineer

Now with enough delta-v to get into orbit, Romal and Hankin rocketed off the surface of the Mün. They managed to get the Discovery into a 10 by 100 kilometer orbit, and used RCS to circularize and rendezvous with the depot.

"With

Münshot 8

in Münar orbit, the job of rescuing them was simplified. The Münar Fuel Tanker for the Münstay program was almost finished, so it was decided to use it to rescue the stranded cosmonauts." – Ambrose Kerman, VAB Engineer

Jermin Kerman and Lusey Kerman would fly the fuel tanker up to a rendezvous with Zenith Station and offload the station's fuel into its tanks. An additional resupply mission would then be launched to the station to finish filling the tanker's tanks, and to deliver a detachable service module for it.

"Once we had topped off our tanks, we would fly out to the Münar propellant depot and refuel the

Delivery

and the

Discovery

. Then

Münshot 8

would return home, and we'd fly back to

Zenith Station

to wait for the next

Safety

launch." – Cosmonaut Jermin Kerman, Pilot

However, once in Münar orbit, the tanker ran into a problem.

"The only free docking port on the depot was on the underside of the lander, and we couldn't fit between the lander's engines to dock there. So

Delivery

and the

Safety

had to undock, then redock with us. Once we finished transferring fuel to them, we would have to dock with the depot using the newly freed port, and refuel the lander." – Cosmonaut Jermin Kerman, Pilot

Once everything was refueled, it was time to return home. Münshot 8 performed its transfer burn first, shortly followed by the fuel tanker. Both ships would aerobrake in Kerbin's atmosphere, arriving approximately an hour apart.

With Münshot 8 safely returned to Kerbin, and Delivery and the fuel tanker waiting in orbit as they prepared to rendezvous with Zenith Station, it was time for the KSA to pause and review its procedures.

"This was the third time we'd had an incident that almost resulted in loss of crew. First there's been the near disastrous R6 launch. Then there was the catastrophic failure of

Zenith 3

and the rescue of

Zenith 4

. And now, we had narrowly avoided stranding two cosmonauts on the Mün. And Gene had the audacity, the gall, to suggest that we could safely operate a Münbase!" – Samson Kerman, Crew Safety Advisor

The Crew Safety Advisor issued the Administrator an ultimatum.

"I told him that every future mission had to have the ability to abort back to Kerbin at all times. Throwing an LES on the top of a

Liberty

and calling it safe wasn't going to cut it anymore. Imagine my surprise when he agreed with me! I left his office thinking that I had finally won the battle for crew safety. I should have known he was up to something." – Samson Kerman, Crew Safety Advisor

The next day, Gene announced who the director of the Münbase would be.

"When he called me into his office, I thought he was finally going to fire me. I'd been on leave since the accident, but everyone knew that I was never going to fly again. The docs had said that I wouldn't have been able to survive the G-forces from reentry. So when he asked me if I wanted to go to the Mün, I thought he was joking. But he wasn't. Gene was always serious. And he wanted me to be the director of the Münbase." – Cosmonaut Nelvey Kerman, Director of Enterprise Base

[GreenWolf]

This one's another mini chapter. I'll be doing more of these in the future for missions or updates that aren't long enough to rate their own full length chapter, but don't really mesh well with the surrounding missions. Mostly, they'll be about probes and the administrative happenings at KSC.

Chapter 11 is being worked on. I'm in a situation where I have all of the hardware designed and ready for launch, and a basic writeup/outline prepared, but now I need to go in and actually launch everything. I'm considering splitting Chapter 11 into two parts, since there's a lot happening in it. If I do split it, I can probably have the first part out within the next two days. If I keep it as a single chapter, it'll probably have to wait until this weekend.

Chapter 10.5: Intensive Probing

It was at this point that the KSA found itself with an unusual problem. Until now, it had kept up a rapid tempo of launches, averaging more than one a week. To keep up with this pace, the contractors tasked with building the Liberty had been working furiously, churning out launch vehicles as quickly as possible. However, the development of several key vehicles and modules for the Münstay program had encountered delays, and the agency now found itself with a supply of launch vehicles that needed payloads.

"The obvious first thing to launch was another

Safety

to retrieve the cosmonauts currently aboard

Zenith Station

. However, Gene wanted to send the first Münbase crew up with it, which would have to wait until more infrastructure was in place. So instead, we started launching probes." – Ambrose Kerman, VAB Engineer

First up was the Kerbin Orbital Observer, which would observe Kerbin from orbit.

Next was the Advanced Münar Surveyor, which would perform an in depth examination of the Mün to help locate sites for future scientific study. It would be launched with the Minmus Multispectral Altimetry Explorer, or MinMAX, which would perform a detailed mapping of the surface of the distant moon.

[Sampa]

very interesting looking probe! Never would have thought to build a tube probe, as I'm gonna call it...