Cailean_556's Space Program

[Cailean_556]

Admittedly, I started late in the piece. I only just recently got back into the forums after a few YEARS (time flies) and after playing around with the new career, decided to share my musings with you.

This will be presented in a semi-serious, semi-role playing fashion in that I am not an employee in any field of aerospace, the owner/director of any real life space program nor am I a <1m tall green humanoid that may or may not have evolved from amphibians...at least that's what my mother said to me last time we spoke...she didn't but, if she were to speak of such things to me, I imagine the answer would be thus...I hope...

I digress, how hard is rocket science anyway? As I said, I started this late. I am well into the first (R&D Building) tier of research. I have 5 x 90 point tech nodes to go (being: Aerodynamics, Propulsion Systems, Advanced Flight Control, Space Exploration and Miniaturization). I have upgraded my VAB, Mission Control, Tracking Station, Runway and Launch Pad.

I have lost 1 Kerbal. Bob Kerman. He died in a freak "Liquid Fuel Booster 45 degree side-ways landing at 87m/s" accident. Being an engineer, I figured he would know landing several tons of highly explosive, flammable material sideways at reasonable velocity would end badly... I guess Bob skipped "Sound Judgment 101" in Kerbal University. A (hopefully) lasting monument to his sacrifice will be constructed eventually - the Bob Kerman Orbital Station (BKOS). It will be the go-to station in Kerbal orbit - I plan on having it orbit around 150k-200k. It will be used for science(!), refuelling and serve as a docking point for shuttles and any rescue vessels that happen to be needs up there. His replacement, Jesise Kerman, has conducted several suborbital flights but has yet to reach orbit. She may not be part of the original team but she is a very keen engineer.

I codename my rockets. The codename corresponds with a letter of the alphabet and a roman numeral from I to X. Minor variations and enhancements are reflected by adding a lower case letter after the type designator (e.g. Apex Vd - a 3 stage orbital rocket used to relay orbital experiments to Mission Control, i.e. purpose build for sending crew reports for contracts)

So far, I have the Apex, Brimstone, Calliope and Daedalus series of rockets. The Apex are sub-orbital/orbital rockets. The highest version made thus far is the Apex Vd series. Production and use of the Apex Vd had been suspended due t the introduction of satellites for orbital science report collection/transmission. The last of the Apex Vd missions, Orbiter 7, was manned by Valentina shortly before her selection for the lead to to Munar 4. The Brimstone series was designed to be a suborbital science collection vehicle capable of reaching the poles (for arctic research). So far, the Brimstone Ia is only capable of becoming uncontrollable at high altitudes and speed and has since been put on hold. I do intend to revisit that series again, probably not for suborbital science however - maybe Duna instead.

The Calliope series is my current workhorse. The Calliope I was designed when I still hadn't upgraded the VAB as a craft capable of making a pass of the Mun. It failed. The 19.5m tall 41.6t Calliope II was able to successfully make a pass around the Mun. It is the vessel attributed to saving the space program. The even larger Calliope III, standing 20.6m tall, weighing in at 92.8t was more than capable of assisting an orbital craft reach the Mun. The Calliope III launcher used a 'Skipper' engine for the core transit stage with two 'Kickback' SRBs. Orbit was achieved using a 'Poodle' engine and a X200-16 tank to provide the fuel. The Calliope III's focus was the collection of orbital science by way of experimentation. It was unable, nor intended, to be remain on station for extended periods. Only 1 Calliope III mission was ever launched.

The ease of success of the Calliope III launch platform lead to it being adapted for use as the core stages of the Calliope IV. While the core stage remains the same, both the lander component and the boosters differ. Boost assistance is provided by 4 custom-designed liquid fuel boosters (LFB's - 3 x FL-T800's stacked with an LV-T30 engine, topped off with an aerodynamic nose cone). These are affixed to the core stage and set to be discarded via 'asparagus' staging. By the time the 'Skipper' is jettisoned, the craft is set for a 110km orbit and peaking at 1800m/s prior to coasting. The 'Poodle' is used to circularise and provided main thrust for Munar transit. The lander is an enhanced combination of the Calliope III Munar orbit vehicle (outfitted - obviously - for landing). It has two side mounted, jettisonable FL-T400 tanks linked to the central FL-T400. It is powered by an LV-909. It features 4 LT-1 landing struts. While the original model launched flawlessly, it was a rather heavy 111.3t craft that stood 20.8m tall. It was also unable to remain on (or in orbit of) the Mun for any extended period. Jebediah became the first Kerbal on the Mun piloting the lander, mission callsign' Munar 3'. Munar 1 and 2 were orbital flights only.

The Calliope IVa was intended to fix that issue with the addition of solar panels. Calliope IVa, piloted by Valentina, launched as normal however upon jettison of the first boosters was destroyed after booster struck, and destroyed, the main engine. Valentina was forced to eject to safety. Calliope IVb was intended to fix issues suffered by the Calliope IVa by adding stability enhancers however it suffered the same fate upon jettison of the first boosters and again Valentina was required to eject. The current Calliope IVc is a slightly more enhanced version of the Calliope IVb. The main difference is the positioning of the radial decouplers to be more central on the LFBs. Valentina Kerman is now currently conducting a Munar excursion in the East Crater aboard the Munar 4 lander.

Jebediah Kerman has since been selected for a new mission utilising the Calliope IVc. 'Blue Rock 1' is intended solely to make an orbital pass of the Mun prior to orbit and landing. Management is considering hiring another pilot who can, for the time being, focus mainly on conducting orbital flights with Bill Kerman and Jesise Kerman.

The Daedalus series has been desiged to place a satellite in LKO, and the Daedalus I has been proven with the launch of the newly christened K-Sat. The K-Sat provides data transmission to surface facilities.

Pending the outcome of the Blue Rock missions, an improved long-range version of the Daedalus may be developed, allowing for Munar and Minmus mission profiles.

Thanks for reading, tune in next update!

[Cailean_556]

So, it turns out - in all the excitement - I actually forgot to disclose information about a few purpose-built rockets - the Joyride I and II and the X-Type and QX-Type. The X-Type is a manned experimental rocket that is purpose built to achieve the mission objective(s) set out by a given contract. It is one of only two craft that does not receive a version designator with every change. The other is the QX-Type. As some of you might suspect, the QX-Type is a drone/probe craft - it has the same function as the X-Type however with the benefit of being expendable.

The Joyride I and II are hybrid probe/manned craft that are typically used to fulfill Kerbin suborbital (Joyride I) and orbital (Joyride II) tourist contracts. The current models can only support one passenger, later models will obviously house more as required.

My second manned mission to the Mun, Munar 4, was successful and has returned safe and sound. Valentina has expressed her desire to "do it again" and a contract was recently accepted which requires a manned mission - planting a flag.

Jebediah, in the Blue Rock 1, has also successfully landed on Minmus. This was done, oddly, without a contract. I am hoping that, due to the fact I only recently fulfilled the "Fly Past Minmus" contract, that an "Explore Minmus" contract will be offered upon the return of the Blue Rock 1. If not, I have missed out on some funds and possibly some science however I could not justify the cost of launching a capable lander only to do a fly by and return.

I have also unlocked two new tech nodes - Space Exploration and Aerodynamics. I modified the Daedalus I to equip either a satellite or a probe (satellite orbits, probe lands - satellite has "space only" experimental instruments: currently only thermometer, while the probe features the Barometer and the Thermometer). As both types use the same launch vehicle, they are designated Daedalus Ib and Daedalus Ib-L (signifying "Lander"). The original 'new' models (the Ia and Ia-L) had some minor issues in relation to the fairings (not being able to detach the satellite from the rest of the craft, an oversight on my behalf) however after some minor adjustments Ib and Ib-L are both quite capable of Mun (and therefore Minmus) missions. The Mun is now home to MunSat 1 and MunProbe 1 - MunProbe 1 landed in the Eastern crater approximately 22.6km North West of the 2nd Munar Landing site.

Once Blue Rock 1 has returned, I expect MinmusSat 1 and Minmus Probe 1 will be launched, followed by further manned missions to both the Mun and Minmus in order to generate both funds and science. The intent is to upgrade the R&D labs, developed a space vehicle capable of taking multiple Kerbals into space, the Mun and Minmus and also to begin construction of BKOS, which will in fact be a long term, evolving project. All of this is intended to be done PRIOR to any manned (not ruling out unmanned) missions to planets outside the local Kerbin area.

I was also thinking today that it would be a nice touch to designate missions and assign personnel and craft to them, and possibly assign mission patches to the kerbonauts, as well as set and track the objective(s) of the overall mission and each individual flight (like the Apollo missions). Such as my 'Orbiter' series of missions, where the objective was to achieve orbit and remain in orbit transmitting science data until battery power was nearly depleted and returning to Kerbin. The program could track each craft assigned the mission, how many days the mission was active, the crew assigned to the mission, whether or not the set objectives were achieved...that sort of thing. My 'Munar' missions are obviously related to the Mun, and 'Blue Rock' to Minmus. I'm thinking 'Red Star' for Duna missions... Thinking 'Nightshade' for Eve, on account of it being purple, like the flower, and it being called 'Eve' - like 'evening'...

But, one thing at a time... Time to recall Blue Rock 1 and plan the next set of missions!

Cailean_556, out.