My Final v.90 Mission: Kerbfleet Voyage to Duna--ACCOMPLISHED!

[Mister Dilsby]

With V1 coming out soon (soon?) and the probability that I will have to change all my spaceplane designs, I am just going to finish up my long-planned Duna system exploration mission and then hang out in the lounge car of the hype train until its time to download.

Mission Goals:

--Establish a permanent mobile base and laboratory on Duna

--Make landings in multiple biomes

--Recover atmospheric data from high and low altitude

--Land and explore Ike

Vessels:

--KSS Kerbin Maru: 44t long-duration tanker/research ship, with mk3 bay for the Ike lander

--Gliido Mk90: 20t SSTO/SSTA (Single Stage to Anywhere) interplanetary-capable, V/STOL spaceplane with seating for four Kerbals

--Dunablab: mobile base and surface laboratory

And here's the fleet in pictures, up to rendezvous in Duna orbit:

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Next post, Dunablab's landing (and subsequent repairs...)

Edited March 4, 2015 by Kuzzter

[Nik333]

Your vessels look really great! Looking forward to next part.

[lajoswinkler]

Yes, very unique look, I like it.

[Mister Dilsby]

Thanks all! Next up, the three vessels separate and Dunablab executes its de-orbit burn, targeting a lowland zone on the equator. Crew consists of pilot Thomwig, science officer Mac, and engineer Bill. We expect to need all three Kerbals' special talents before this is over.

The descent, landing and subsequent repairs, in pictures:

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I'm finding I really like driving a 10t rover around Duna! The gravity is heavy enough to hold the ship down, but light enough that you can blast straight up most hills. I would definitely consider using a rover like this to road-trip from biome to biome.

In the next installment, Dunablab finds a nice, flat landing spot for Gliido--which the spaceplane overshoots by a couple dozen kilometers, Mission Control still not quite believing how thin Duna's atmosphere really is.

[Mister Dilsby]

Next installment: a surface meetup. We'll leave one Kerbonaut aboard Dunablab, and pick up the rest of the crew for transport back to orbit.

Anyone who's tried to put a spaceplane on Duna knows there are some challenges. The thin air limits both lift and drag, making it difficult to touch down at a speed that won't break off landing gear and explode engines. But on the other hand, the light gravity makes VTOL a viable solution.

Gliido employs a set of Vernor thrusters arranged around, and close to, the line along which its center of mass will vary as fuel tanks empty. It has enough of them to lift off in Kerbin gravity, so we're sure to have plenty of thrust on Duna. Regular hypergolic RCS is needed to stabilize the ship in VTOL mode: I find it works best to have the attitude control blocks as far from centerline as possible, so a small bit of thrust gives you the necessary torque to counter the inevitable imbalances. Finally, don't forget to put the Vernors on an action group so you an disable them--otherwise docking is going to be a nightmare, as you have 4-5kN of thrust in five of six directions, and over 200kN firing whenever you press 'K'!

So anyway here we go--in pictures:

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For the next phase we'll refuel, swap crews, and try a Gliido landing in the northern polar region.

Edited March 2, 2015 by Mister Dilsby

[Mister Dilsby]

Gliido has tanked up, we've swapped crews in order to share out the XPs, and we're ready to try a second landing in a polar region.

Departing the KSS Kerbin Maru from low altitude, Gliido has to spend quite a bit of dV to change its inclination enough to hit the poles. (800, if I recall correctly). Knowing I would need extra dV to get back to an equatorial orbit, I didn't incline all the way to 90 degrees, instead aiming for a spot near the south edge of the icecap. And, I missed . No worries, I did get a landing in a second biome, and this leaves something for my Duna mission to accomplish in V1.0.

Here's a brief slideshow:

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So, what caused the ship to roll down the hill? When it happened I was running Kerbals around on EVA, with time accelerated 4x. I know that sometimes a control input meant for one vessel will steer BOTH of them when those ships have recently been docked. Does the same thing happen between Kerbals and ships? Or was the physics warp simply high enough that the frictional force of wheels on the ground got lost in a rounding error, and gravity won the tug of war?

[Yukon0009]

When you physwarp near a ship with wheels, usually the vehicle will roll backwards even if the parking brakes are set.

[Wabbit]

I've had my Laythe rover fall into the ocean with no means of recovery because of that little glitch.

[Mister Dilsby]

Aha, thanks to both of you for confirming that! I suppose I should either avoid physics warp on the ground, or retract the gear before doing so.

In any case, no more wheels on this mission; all that's left is for Kerbin Maru to get into Ike orbit and send down the non-atmospheric lander.

Edited March 3, 2015 by Mister Dilsby

[Mister Dilsby]

This sequence completes the mission, with a lander launched from KSS Kerbin Maru going to Ike's surface and back.

Compared to the Duna landings above, and my many trips to Mun, this seemed really easy. I suppose the Duna system is even more "fun-sized" than Kerbin's, it's great to play around in low gravity and light atmosphere.

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Had a bit of an adventure lifting off from the surface; while I was distracted taking pictures I achieved Ike escape velocity! But did manage to correct before I got too high, and set up an intercept with Kerbin Maru within one orbit.

Following these missions Kerbin Maru is left in Ike orbit with about 1800dV, and the Gliido spaceplane is in LDO with about 1500. Both ships are slated to return to Kerbin on the next transfer window, but by that time I will likely be starting all over again in V1.0.

Thanks everyone for your views, and your comments!

Edited March 4, 2015 by Mister Dilsby

[SmallFatFetus]

Is that Astronomers Visual pack? If so which one?

Cool mission, too!

[Cydonian Monk]

Congrats! Nice mission here. Duna is such a fun little system.... I think you can get to Ike orbit and back with just the fuel in an EVA suit.

[Mister Dilsby]

Is that Astronomers Visual pack? If so which one?

Cool mission, too!

Thanks! I'm actually not quite sure WHAT I'm running, the folders are Environmental Visual Enhancements (of course) and BoulderCo. A little embarrassed here, I get a lot of joy out of that mod and I can't remember the source.

[Mister Dilsby]

Congrats! Nice mission here. Duna is such a fun little system.... I think you can get to Ike orbit and back with just the fuel in an EVA suit.

Hmmm, interesting! I'd heard you could do that with Minmus but not Ike. Numbers show it must be possible-- dV map gives 535m/s required to get to orbit from surface, and IIRC the packs hold 600. From one of the high peaks, it should be even easier.

[Death Engineering]

Neat mission with some unique and beautiful crafts! I especially like your horizontal stabilizer/elevator solution.

[Mister Dilsby]

Neat mission with some unique and beautiful crafts! I especially like your horizontal stabilizer/elevator solution.

Thank you! I tend to put those stabilizers on most of my craft intended for low speed/deadstick landings. I think the torque induced by the high (above centerline) lift helps counter the typical moment due to COM imbalance when there is not a lot of air moving over the control surfaces.

[Landge]

Awesome mission and awesome spacecraft! Here's some rep.

[Mister Dilsby]

Awesome mission and awesome spacecraft! Here's some rep.

Thank you! I've always dreamed of joining the ground crew