Ore Travelling Circus 02: Episode 17 -- FOOL-1 Prospecting

[Geschosskopf]

EPISODE 1: 1st Jool Flotilla Launch

INTRO:

So, the original Ore Travelling Circus (in 1.0) lasted less than 1 week before 1.0.2 blew it out of the water. So, I started over in 1.0.2. In fact, this is a sandbox game because 1.x career mode is boring what with no science from contracts. And this way, I can catch the 1st Jool Window about Y1 D50. The boffins decided it was time to do Jool right with 1.x complications so the story begins with the launch of the 1st Jool Flotilla. The whole Jool system will be the main objective of this game as Duna is currently being covered quite adequately by Brotoro and he's left Laythe open to schmucks like me . So here we go....

This game is mostly stock apart from the necessary instrumentation. The only real part mod I'm using is Space-Y Lifters for the big stuff. I've also got Mk2 Expansion because Jool means Laythe and Laythe means spaceplanes. And finally, I've got BDynamics for .... things like retactable RCS thrusters to help with drag. And the Taurus 3.5m command pod mod, mostly for the Quadrapoodle engine, there being no good stock 3.5m OMS engine.

And as always, thanks to everybody for inspiration but I'd especially like to credit Brotoro who continually shows us all how things should be done. Anyways....

Episode 1: 1st Jool Flotilla Launch

Episode 11: Departure of 1st Jool and 1st Duna Flotillas

Episode 13: 1st Jool Flotilla Arrival, Part 1

Episode 14: 1st Jool Flotilla Arrival, Part 2

Episode 15: 1st Jool Flotilla Arrival, Part 3

Episode 16: Prospecting on Vall and Laythe

Episode 17: FOOL-1 Prospecting

Episode 11: Departure of 1st Jool and 1st Duna Flotillas

Episode 12: Arrival of 1st Duna Flotilla

Episode 13: Loose ends of 1st Duna Flotilla but mostly about 1st Jool Flotilla

Episode 2: Kerbin by Water, Part 1

Episode 3: Kerbin by Water, Part 2

Episode 4: Kerbin by Water, Part 3

Episode 5: Kerbin by Water, Parts 4 & 5

Episode 6: Kerbin by Water, Part 6

Episode 7: Kerbin by Water, Part 7

Episode 8: Kerbin by Water, Part 8

Episode 9: Kerbin by Water, Part 9

Episode 10: Kerbin by Water, Part 10 -- Complete

--------------------------------------------

1st Jool Flotilla

The boffins call this the 1st Jool Flotilla for 2 reasons. First, it's all probes, no Kerbals, and you can't have an expedition without Kerbals, so this is a flotilla. Second, this is just laying the groundwork for later operations, primarily in terms of scouting for Ore deposits, and nothing in this game has yet been to Jool, so it's the 1st.

While there's no Remote Tech or even Antenna Range involed here, I like to play as if there was, so the 1st priority of the 1st Jool Flotilla is to set up a communications network to support subsequent operations. To this end, there will be 2 satellites in highly eccentric polar orbits of Jool, 1 going up and 1 going down, so that at least 1 will always be well out of the line of sight of any intervening body except Kerbol once in a while, in which case hopefully relays elsewhere can pick up the slack. So here's the Jool contribution to the overall network, 1 rocket with 2 long-range commsats. Price: $260,265

They'll link up with these similar satellites at Kerbin and also some elsewhere by the time they get out to Jool.

At each world of interest, there will also be 2 short-range COMMsats to relay info from the surface to the main network described above. For 1JF, the boffins sent out a rocket with 6 short-range COMMsats, 2 for Laythe, 2 for Vall, and 2 for whatever else strikes their fancy in the future. They sit on an inverted 3.5m-to-7x-1.25m thrust plate from Space-Y Lifters. To be able to move between the various Joolian moons, the rocket needed a rather large OMS, so the whole thing was large as a result. Price: $324,250

This pic also shows what has become a standard feature of the OTC, as with the KTC before it. That is, using TAC Self-Destruct to remove spent boosters from cluttering up LKO. The OTC believes recycling is a commie plot to undermine our economy so takes especial pride in eliminating that possibility. Besides, explosions are cool .

Moving on to more interesting matters, we have the Dual FOOL. The 2 FOOLs (Finding Ore On Laythe) are the jet drones at the bottom, sandwiching an orange tank nuclear tug. Due to all the funky 1.x aero stuff from the wings of the FOOLs, they had to function as the tail feathers of the lifter, and the lifter kinda needed to be an SSTO rocket as a result (not necessarily, but for cool points ). The boffins exulted in such totally Kerbal things still being possible despite the changes in the atmosphere caused by the successive Supernovae of 100 and 102.

The FOOLs carry both the Surface Scanner (probably redundant) and the Narrow-Band Scanner, and pack enough fuel to fly nearly 1/2-way around Laythe. They'll be sent down to investigate the most likely areas spotted by the FOOLSCAP (see below) and will fly low to spot good landing areas nearby. Once they find a good spot, they'll land there to mark the LZ for later expeditions. Price of the Dual FOOL: $486,662.

Speaking of the FOOLSCAP (Finding Ore On Laythe SCAnning Probe), it packs all the orbital SCANsat stuff plus the low-res Ore scanner. $293,454

There there was the SLAC (Station, LAythe, Core), consisting of a Hitchkiker, a Mobile Lab, an empty orange tank, tanks for everything else, and lots of docking ports. This will be added-on to by later expeditions. Price: $373,688

Then there was the SPOOL (Science Probe On/Over Laythe). This single rocket carries a "doggie-style" lander and orbital probe, meaning the p-robe is atop the lander but they don't ever dock as in Apollo-style. Both are covered with DMagic Orbial Science parts as well as stock science. Their job is to finalize info about Laythe's atmosphere and surface prior to exiling pressganged---er, I mean, committing Kerbalnauts to Laythe landings.

There was also the VAPID (VAll Probe Identifying Desirables). Vall is willy-nilly the best place to get fuel for bluewater ships calling at Laythe so establishing an ore-refining system there is a must. This probe has the same payload and lifter as the FOOLSCAP, differing only in having a nuclear transfer/OMS stage, mostly for comparison purposes. $302,564.

And last but not least, there was the PERV Carrier (Probe Exploring Rovers at Vall). This rocket carries 4 small rovers (each with surface and NBS scanners) all intended to scout likely spots to set up a refining base on Vall. The job could probably be done with 1 or 2 rovers but roving is treacherous and there'll be no conscripts to fix flats for a while, so the boffins opted for redundancy. And any leftover rovers can be used at Bop and Pol should need arise.

The PERV Carrier is one of the biggest rockets designed by the boffins in a long time, over 1100 tons on the pad. Still, it's quite simple in operation, just the usual thing of starting out with SRBs and sustaining with the core, it's just that all these parts are bigger thanks to Space-Y. And it's got a big price, too, $1,156,096.

I'm glad this is a sandbox game so the boffins don't have to worry about prices. The cost to launch the 1st Jool Flotilla came to $3,548,356 or thereabouts.

Anyway, all is up in LKO with about 50 days to go until departure.

Note that most of the transfer stages are chemical instead of nuclear. The nerfing of the LV-N is the main reason, not its heat problems (which I have tamed thanks to ModuleManager). It's just that now there are other, often better options.

Tune in next time for when all this stuff leaves, and possibly other stuff of interest.

Edited June 28, 2015 by Geschosskopf

[Brotoro]

Nice explosions

Good luck with the mission!

[Geschosskopf]

Nice explosions

Good luck with the mission!

Thanks. Hopefully, things have mostly settled down now so grandiose plans can come to fruition for a change, at least for those of us who are slaves to mods

[Mister Dilsby]

Outstanding work, I followed you here from the "How Not to Flip" thread. Very smart use of payload space to send multiple probes at once.

[Geschosskopf]

Outstanding work, I followed you here from the "How Not to Flip" thread. Very smart use of payload space to send multiple probes at once.

Tnankee, sir . Time was, I'd have sent each probe individually and ended up wtih a flotilla of 20 or so ships. Ah, those were the days.... I credit Brotoro for showing me a better way as usual.

[Geschosskopf]

EPISODE 2 -- THE ELCANO CHALLENGE Part 1

Geez, nearly 50 days before the transfer burns for 1JF start. I really hate to waste so much time via warping so I was wondering what to do in the meantime, and decided this Elcano Challenge would be a great diversion. By attempting to circumnavigate Kerbin itself, I could avoid having to fly something somewhere, and by doing it mostly by boat, I could avoid most of the hazards of rovering except for a "short" portage due to there being no land-free corridor around Kerbin.

So the boffins set to work on the idea of an electrically powered boat using a lot of Firespitter parts (pontoons, cockpit and sleeper cabin, and electric engine), and decided the Near Future solar panels would suffice for power. And thus was born the Electro-Boat Mk 1

This proved the overall concept but was too slow, top speed on water being only 35m/s. The boffins therefore scaled it up into the twin-engined Electro-Boat Mk 2. This proved to be excellent, just needing a few minor tweaks, resulting finally in the ECK-1 VACUOUS (Elcano Challange, Kerbin #1 Very Ambitious Circumnavigator Upon Oceans and Up Shores). The overall design was inspired by the Soviet Ekranoplans but ground effect doesn't seem to work and in KSP and is against the rules of the Elcano Challenge anyway, so I'm cool that it stays in contact with the surface.

Using the retractable rover wheels in the Firespitter pontoons, the VACUOUS can reach 29m/s on level ground and a totally insane and useless 90m/s with the props running. But the props are intended for moving on water and there it can cruise along at 50m/s in full sunlight. As the light fails, it has to shut down 1 engine to use all the juice in the other, which limits speed to about 25m/s. But it's as stable as can be expected at 4x physical warp so 50m/s turns into a good speed to cover ground in a reasonable amount of real time. Thus, with the vehicle finalized, it was time to go. But the Kraken had other plans.

It turned out that the day selected for departure began with a total eclipse of Kerbol by Mun. In all the time I've been playing KSP, I've never seen an eclipse on Kerbin, so I took this as a sign of special favor from the Kraken, even though waiting for the eclipse to end delayed departure. There was only one appropriate response---choosing the KSC Monolith as the start/end point for the circumnavigation attempt.

With the ceremonies concluded and the eclipse over, Jeb and Val set off on their adventure. Given wasting the morning due to the eclipse, it was decided at the last moment to head west to make the most of the remaining daylight, instead of east as originally planned. Jeb took the controls for the 1st leg of the trip, down the east coast south from KSC.

Val really enjoyed the ride.

After following the coast for a while, the VACUOUS came to a headland jutting well to the east slightly north of the bottom end of the continent.

Although KSC was by now well below the northern horizon, this was the last place from which you could stand and point at it without needing a compass, so Jeb and Val stopped here to plant a flag at a spot they named Cape Farewell. Having seen this coming for a while, the name had been a subject of debate, with "Point Regret" being a top contender in case the VACUOUS proved to have some undiscovered flaw. But all went well so Cape Farewell it became.

Just arouned the corner from Cape Farewell, the VACUOUS came to the southernmost tip of KSC's continent which, based its resemblance to a place on a map in a fantasy novel Val had trought along (when she wasn't reading "Helicopters for Dummies" instead), was named Cape Goodhope.

At this point, Val took over the controls for the 1st major ocean crossing undertaken by the VACUOUS. Soon Cape Goodhope disappeared below the horizon and the VACUOUS was all alone on the vastness of the ocean.

This venture was a bit risky due to the late start. The planned course had them making landfall on a small island in the middle of the South Seas but sundown darkness was catching them up from behind as the sun set in Jeb's right eye as the VACUOUS droned along heading 250. But Jeb and Val agreed that the Kraken would not have eclipsed the sun had It not wanted them to continue. Audentes Krakeni iuvat!

It was a very near-run thing. Just as the island rose above the horizon ahead, Kerbol dipped so low that the solar panel could only run 1 of the 2 electric propsm which cut the speed of the VACUOUS by half. Would they make it to shore before night?

YES! Just barely!

This was a narrow escape. With Val driving, Jeb was navigating this leg and had his dead reckoning course to the island been out by much more than it was, they'd have never made it, and would have spent the long, slow night at sea.

Needless to say, Jeb and Val named this place Sunset Island.

So, on this 1st, somewhat abbreviated day's run, the VACUOUS had made good about 21^ of latitude and 50^ of longitude. Not too shabby for a prop job. This having been an eventful day, what with the eclipse to start with and barely making landfall before dark, Jeb and Val retired to their bunks in the rear compartment.

Tune in next time for the further adventures of the VACUOUS, which will continue until it's time to leave for Jool

Edited May 31, 2015 by Geschosskopf

[Geschosskopf]

EPISODE 3: Elcano Challenge Part 2

After an unconfortable night's sleep due to the rather steep angle the VACUOUS was parked at, Jeb and Val arose at dawn and began preparations for depaturing Sunset Island. This mostly involved scraping encrusted salt off the solar panels.

Once Kerbol was high enough to run both props full power, the VACUOUS got underway with Jeb at the helm and Val navigating. Their initial goal was the peninsula on the SE corner of the "Western Continent" (Kerbin really only has 1 huge "Pangaea" continent but it's divided into several huge fingers the Kerbals call "continents" in their equatorial regions). To get there, they went south down the east coast of Sunset Island. Daylight revealed it to be a rather hilly place with really only 1 good landing beach on the SE corner. Jeb and Val wished they'd been able to sleep there last night, but they'd have never made it, especially with the tall hill just to the west of it that would have blocked the light even sooner.

Once around the SE corner of Sunset Island, Val put them on a course of West by South and away they went on another long ocean crossing. Sunset Island soon disappeared below the horizon astern.

As the VACUOUS skipped across the vaguely disturbing flat yet constantly shifting ocean surface, Val continued checking the map, taking sun sights with her sextant, and otherwise doing navigation stuff. And it soon became apparent that something was badly off. She could never get a consistent value for longitude. It kept alternating between about 130^W and well over 200^ E in the same spot. ...? Due to all previous Kerbals having circumnavigated Kerbin at hypersonic or orbital speeds, nobody had ever really cared about longitude before so this inconsistency had gone unnoticed until now. Val decided that the only way to track their progress around Kerbin was to ignore the gibberish all her navigation systems were spouting and just use the mobile version of Kerbalmaps she and Jeb had in their personal tablets.

Val's navigation was spot-on and after a few hours, the SE corner of the "Western Continent" rose over the horizon ahead.

This peninsula was nearly as steep all around as Sunset Island, but some scouting revealed a nice, low beach on the SE corner.

This proved to be a good place for a snack break. Jeb and Val decided to name the spot "Beachy Head".

After a short break, the VACUOUS contined around the south coast of the Beachy Head Peninsula until it came to its SW corner. At this place, just off shore was a big sandbar visible above the ocean surface. This was another good place to take a break and the Kerbals named it Sandspit Island. This was expected to be the southernmost point of the trip, about 24.5^ S.

Crossing local timezones had thrown the Kerbal's clocks hopelessly out of whack, but judging by their shadows while planting this flag, they decided it was about local noon. That meant it was time to switch seats, so for the rest of this day's journey Val had the conn and Jeb navigated.

The next leg was another long ocean crossing. After passing Sandspit Island, the VACUOUS had entered a distinct body of water bounded by the southern end of the "Western Continent" and some large islands to the south, so the Kerbals decided to name it the Wooks Sea after an inspirational circumnavigator. Jeb called for a course of West Northwest to hit the tip of a peninsula about half-way along the bottom end of the "Western Continent". Again, the onboard systems continued to struggle with longitude.

Jeb's navigation was also spot-on (somewhat better than the evening before) and the target peninsula became visible before the sun sank to dangerous levels ahead. Jeb decided to call the peninsula as a whole "Bob's Uvula" because it reminded him what he usually saw when he glanced at Bob during a launch.

However, the southernmost tip of Bob's Uvula proved to be surprisingly congeneal compared to previous landfalls. It had a nice little bay sheltered by barrier islands, a scenic and easy-to-spot-from-a-distance hill at its southern end, and a convenient boatlaunch in the middle. In suml, it was a beautiful spot, perfectly suited to be some sort of idyllic getaway, whether as a private hideout or a tourist resort.

Jeb and Val immediately agreed that this spot should be called "Brotoro Bay", after the inspirational explorer who has circumnavigated most if not all bodies in the entire Kerbol system.

The sun was now low in the western sky, too low to continue. Besides, Jeb and Val quite liked Brotoro Bay. So this is where they called a halt on the 2nd day of their journey.

On this day, the VACUOUS had made good (judging by Kerbalmaps) 48^ longitude and had traversed 9^ of latitude (from 21S down to 24S and back up to 18S). This put the VACUOUS slightly more than 1/4 of the around Kerbin from KSC.

All in all, a good day's run. Jeb and Val had a luau as the sun set, then climbed into their bunks to get a good night's sleep for a change. They hoped that on the next day, they'd reach the straits separating the Western and Eastern "Continents". Tune in next time to see if they make it.

Edited May 31, 2015 by Geschosskopf

[Commander Zoom]

That is a nice looking spot. I'll have to check it out myself.

[Geschosskopf]

That is a nice looking spot. I'll have to check it out myself.

FWIW, I have terrain detail set on high. If you use a lower setting, the topography there will probably be different.

I haven't messed with Kerbinside in a while so don't know if they've got something there or not. If not, they might want to build something. Hopefully not too huge and garish, though

[Geschosskopf]

EPISODE 4: Elcano Challenge Part 3

Next morning, with some regret, Jeb and Val shoved off from Brotoro Bay for the 3rd day's run. As usual, Jeb had the conn while Val navigated during the forenoon watch.

The 1st leg of the run took them West by South from Bob's Uvula to Bob's Molar. This was the only part of the day's journey when the VACUOUS was completely out of sight of land for any length of time.

As usual, Val's navigation was faultless and soon Bob's Molar appeared on the horizon ahead. It was definitely time for a snack break but the tip of Bob's Molar looked uncomfortably steep to make a landing so Jeb headed for some low ground on the east side. This turned out to be a fairly scenic spot, too, with a nice lake just behind it.

Jeb and Val decided to name this place Fengist Cove in honor of another intrepid circumnavigator and also the primary sponsor of this event.

Once VACUOUS had rounded Bob's Molar, the route was right up the Kraken's Belly Coast, so named because the the western end of this big peninsula resenbles a monster's jaws closing on a doomed rocket. This made for a much more enjoyable trip than a bluewater crossing, because the scenery was always changing out the starboard bridge window and the crew could actually see themselves making progress. It also allowed them to spot more cool terrain features. After some distance along the Kraken's Belly Coast, they came to this spot, probably a volcanic caldera. They named it Overland Lagoon in honor of a very inspirational explorer.

The shadows indicated it was 8 bells of the forenoon watch which meant lunch and Val taking the conn for the afternoon watch. The VACUOUS reentered the water and continued West Northwest along the Kraken's Belly. Eventually, about 4 bells, they came to another interesting spot, looking like a whole collection of small calderas from a local hotspot. This place they named Snjo Sound after one of their major corporate sponsors.

Not much furhter along, the Kraken's Belly had a large, tall, promontory, an obvious landmark deserving a name. So they called it Nertea Ness after the other major corporate sponsor of the VACUOUS.

It was now about 5 bells in the afternoon watch and they were nearing the mouth of the Kraken. Definitely dangerous waters. The goal for the day had been to reach the Kraken's chin but there seemed to be enough daylight left to go a bit further, so as not to linger near the Kraken's teeth. So, they landed on a small drop of Kraken slobber at the entrance to what they now named Slam_Jones Strait (another famous circumnavigator), worked up their courage, and made a dash past the Kraken's jaws.

They even posed for a close-up this time, just in case it would be the last record of their existence.

Slam_Jones Strait passes between 2 large islands. That to the east is the doomed ship already within the Kraken's jaws so there was no going there. So they crossed to the SE corner of the western island, then turned north to run the strait up its western shore. This was because it was now nearly 7 bells and the light was starting to fail. Jeb and Val hoped to get through the strait before dark but if not, by staying close to shore they could make a landing at any time darkness caught them.

VACUOUS droned northwards up the strait while Kerbol steadily sank in the port bridge windows.

At last, VACUOUS made it through Slam_Jones Strait and turned the corner of the western island. It was by now nearly dark so Val found a nice beach to camp on for the night, safely beyond the reach of the Kraken. Jeb and Val posed for a pic in the last rays of the sun over the island's hilltops. They named this TaranisElsu Island after the maker of the OTC's favorite piece of hardware, the TAC Self-Destruct charge.

It wasn't quite 8 bells yet and there was enough light to have gone slightly farther. However, this spot marked a turning point in the voyage. On the morrow, VACUOUS would cross both the Equator and the 1/2way point of the journey in longitude. Then, for the next while, VACUOUS woud be crossing a new major body of water, the vast Inland Ocean of the "Eastern Continent". It would also be starting a long run to the north to reach the narrowest neck of the "Eastern Continent", all the way up at 47^ N. How would the solar panels work in such high latitudes? And how would the inevitable portage go? All these things were best faced after sleeping on them, which is what Jeb and Val now did.

Day 3 had been a good run from Brotoro Bay to TaranisElsu Island, gaining 42^ of longitude per Kerbalmaps, and traversing 32^ of latitude (18S down to 21S and back up to 8S). VACUOUS was now nearly half-way around Kerbin from KSC.

It's actually starting to look like we're getting somewhere.

Things should start to get more interesting now. Tune in next time to see.

Edited May 31, 2015 by Geschosskopf

[Geschosskopf]

EPISODE 5: The Elcano Challenge Parts 4 and 5

Part 4:

Once Kerbol had risen sufficiently high next morning, Jeb drove the VACUOUS down the beach of TaranisElsu Island and away they went across the Inland Ocean.

The original plan for this stage of the voyage had been to cut boldly across the bulk of the Inland Ocean directly at the narrowest neck of the "Eastern Continent". This would have involved a stop at a small island near the middle of the Inland Ocean. The 1st leg was no problem but from there on, experience had shown that the VACUOUS probably wouldn't reach the farther shore before dark, even they had a whole day's run from the island, and this was just based on performance in the tropics, not the higher latitudes. So, the OTC instead directed the VACUOUS to follow the coast westwards until it reached the last of several big headlands, then do the bluewater crossing. As before, the stage would take about 2 days but there'd be more margin of safety.

Thus, Val called for a course of Northwest and VACUOUS eventually reached the 1st of the target headlands, its first actual landfall on the main bulk of the "Eastern Continent" instead of an offshore island. They named this spot Point Maximus97 after another intrepid explorer.

From here, Val navigated them Northwest by West across the mouth of the vast Sarbian Sea, an arm of the Inland Ocean that penetrates deeply into the bowels of the Eastern Continent. It's named for one of the greatest navigators in Kerbal history. During this crossing, the VACUOUS crossed the Equator and started the long haul to the north. Jeb and Val did the necessary "Crossing the Line" ceremony, enjoying a double rum ration and pouring some overboard in honor of King Keptune.

The landfall after this crossing was on another of the large headlands, apparently yet another volcanic feature, although old enough that the caldera had largely silted up and been filled by later eruptions. Jeb and Val named this place RocketPilot573 Point, after a noteworthy explorer.

It was now about local noon so Jeb and Val switched seats and, after a lunch break, continued. The course was now essentially due West. The next landfall was a smallish, highly irregular volcanic island, one of several in the area. This particular island, however, was roughly 1/2way around Kerbin from KSC, so Val turned VACUOUS ashore and she and Jeb had another double rum ration. They decided to call this spot Tw1 Island after an inspirational mad scientist and teller of tall tales, this being more appropriate than the generic "Antipode Island".

It was now 7 bells of the afternoon watch and Kerbal was sinking fast ahead. Fortunately, they didn't have much further to go. Soon, their planned campsite hove into view.

Upon closer inspection, this appeared to be yet another volcanic feature. Still, rather scenic and with a useful harbor and large lake adjacent. Jeb and Val named this Kuzzter Cove in honor of a talented graphic artist and author.

This was another momentuous point in the voyage. It marked the end of gaining great chunks of Westing for a while and the the start of the uncertain run to the north, where VACUOUS would be tested like never before. So Jeb and Val had another luau, enjoying their last tropical evening for some time to come.

It had been another good day's run. From TaranisElsu Island to Kuzzter Cove, VACUOUS had made good about 46^ of longitude and 11^ of latitude. And VACUOUS was now a bit more than 1/2way around Kerbin.

---------------------------------

]Part 5:

Today's run would necessarily be shorter due to heading mostly north instead of chasing after Kerbol, so the Kerbals wanted to start as soon as possible. However, it turned out they left a bit early. While they'd waited for the solar panels to reach the usual level of power they'd been using thorought, this morning they discovered that the orientation of the panels affected their performance. VACUOUS had been facing more or less E-W the whole trip, even at night, but when it headed off north, the power fell dramatically. The result was that for the 1st 30 or so clicks of this stage, VACUOUS was limited to about 35m/s. Both engines could run but not at full power without depleting the charge.

This problem didn't last long, however, and soon VACUOUS was bounding along at its normal top speed of 49.something m/s. The top speed of VACUOUS had varied slightly every day of the trip, and sometimes during a trip as well, from a high of 49.9 to a low of 49.2m/s. Nobody could quite understand this because VACOUS was actually getting lighter with the consumption of rum, so the boffins had put it down to variations in salinity and temperature.

In any case, the first job today was the long bluewater crossing of the Inland Ocean. The target was a prominent bulge in the western shore and Val put them on course North Northwest. She had proven to be the better navigator so it was fortunate that the watch schedule had so far always put her in charge of long passages out of sight of land.

As usual, her navigation was spot-on and soon the destination rose above the horizon. It was a fascinating contrast to the long line of volcanic features they'd been passing previously. Here, a great cliff rose high and sheer from unimaginable depths and ran straight N-S for many clicks. It was obviously some massive geologic fault, doubtless a plate boundary. Definitely tsunami territory. The Kerbals decided not to linger. However, it was now past 8 bells of the forenoon watch and time to switch seats, so Jeb guided VACUOUS onto a beach at the south end of the cliffs. The Kerbals named this place Kasuha Cliffs in honor of a famous sane scientist who has been of great help to many would-be engineers.

Val now took the conn Fortunately, Kerbol was still high so the cliffs cast no shadow out to sea, allowing VACUOUS to cruise along close ashore to better examine this feature. It was as if the Kraken's Own Battleax had fallen here. Definitely not the place to be should the fault decide to let go. Forutnately, VACUOUS was in a racing mood at this point, surging along at 49.8m/s, and soon passed the north end of the great cliff.

This leg of the voyage headed due North with the western shore of the Inland Ocean often just out of sight. But before too long, snow-capped moutntains poked above the northwestern horizon. This reminded Jeb and Val of how far north they were going, and they began to keep a very watchful eye on the performance of their solar panels. Thus, they named these the Mountians of Ill-Omen.

And sure enough, power began to fail. While both motors were still able to run at full throttle without depleting the battery, speed began to drop off. As VACUOUS pulled even with the south end of the mountains, she was barely making 48m/s. Kerbol was slanting down and the Mountains of Ill-Omen were now near at hand to the west, threatening to throw shadows across VACUOUS's path. But fortunately, the planned landfall was already just above the horizon ahead, and they were now so far north that Kerbol would set behind the lowest, most distant peaks at the southern end of the mountains. Thus, Jeb and Val decided to press on rather than stop here.

And they made it, although it was another near-run thing. As in the morning, they had to throttle back to maintain charge and thus made the last few clicks at about 30m/s, but they did ultimately reach a safe landing before dark. They stopped on a huge shoal that had built up on what appeared to be a mountain-sized mound of debris and scree, no doubt the leavings of a monumental tsunami in ancient times. They noted a line of cliffs here, too, lower and more eroded than back as Kasuha Cliffs, but apparently part of the same faultline. All in all, an ominous place to spend the night but they had no choice. Hopefully, the fault would remain quiet a few more days, long enough for VACUOUS hopefully to be well away from the area. This place they named Squiggsy Shoal, in honor of another inspirational explorer.

Jeb and Val noticed a distinct chill in the air. No luaus on this beach, that was certain. Still, it was a rather scenic spot, in a creepy, gothic sort of way, so they took another travel pic.

So all in all, Day 5 was another good run. VACUOUS didn't make much progress towards circumnavigation but still put good distance behind her. This day she made good only 13^ of longitude but made up for that with 37^ of latitude.

VACUOUS had also demonstrated the ability to perform adequately in northern waters. She's not as fast up there, nor can she steam as far in a day, but that was expected and the results are a bit better than anticipated. Of course, that's not really an issue at present because VACUOUS is only up here to make a portage anyway, and that will test the design in new and dangerous ways. And that will start on the morrow, following a short run up the coast to the start-point of the portage.

Here's the situation at present:

Tune in next time for at least the start of the overland journey.

Edited May 31, 2015 by Geschosskopf

[Mister Dilsby]

Upon closer inspection, this appeared to be yet another volcanic feature. Still, rather scenic and with a useful harbor and large lake adjacent. Jeb and Val named this Kuzzter Cove in honor of a talented graphic artist and author.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8828/17896261858_0f293bafef_z.jpg

Awww, thanks! Very much honored, it's a beautiful spot and I'll have to send a plane over to see it for myself.

[Geschosskopf]

Awww, thanks! Very much honored, it's a beautiful spot and I'll have to send a plane over to see it for myself.

No problem . Be sure your terrain detail is on high or it probably won't look as shown.

[Geschosskopf]

EPISODE 6: Elcano Challenge Part 6 -- Across the Land

When dawn came, Jeb and Val set out on the most worrisome stage of their voyage, taking VACUOUS across the narrowest neck of the Eastern Continent. Having camped at about 40^N, it took a while to juice up the motors and once fully charged, VACUOUS could only do 48m/s, but that was good enough for the short water trip ahead.

The only thing of note during this water run up the coast was that the massive faultline continued all the way to what the Kerbals were soon to name Trailhead Bay. All the way from Kasuha Cliffs, 27^N to 46^N. No wonder Kerbals live far from this dangerous area.

But all was quiet along the fault and VACUOUS turned into Trailhead Bay without incident.

Putting ashore at the head of the bay, the Kerbals decided to call this spot Roverdude Trailhead, hoping this name would be auspicious for the long portage ahead.

Once at this spot, Val (who was navigating) considered their options. The goal was to reach the eastern end of the big lake in the middle of the neck but there wasn't a really good direct route. Thus, she planned to run the ridgelines as much as possible to avoid big slopes. Of rourse, this was about the exact opposite of marking a trail for the later digging of a canal, but she decided to leave that chore to the distant future when Kerbals actually invented a means to move dirt. By then, they'd probably also have a means of doing such terrain surveys from orbit anyway.

So Jeb started driving VACUOUS up the ridgeline framing Trailhead Bay. VACUOUS had no trouble with traction but lacked anything resembling suspensions, a condition made more noticeable by having small wheels widely separated on the ends of the pontoons. Thus, it was a rough ride punctuated by large tilts and hard bumps as one wheel or another lifted high in the air crossing a change of slope and then slammed down as the vehicle's CoM crossed the ridge. Oh, and the CoM was rather far aft to improve seakeeping, which accentuated the slamming. It was about this time than Val admitted she'd never learned how to fix a flat, and Jeb realized the Supernova of '90 had killed those brain cells, so a mere flat tire would be unfixable. So both resolved to drive slowly and carefully, but even so it was a rough and painful ride.

Eventually, however, the VACUOUS made it to the top of the ridge surrounding Trailhead Bay and the Kerbals paused for a last, longing look at the ocean before it disappeared behind terrain. This was the highest elevation reached by VACUOUS that anybody bothered to note, 358m above sea level, although there might have been higher points along the trail. Jeb and Val named this spot Jealous Sea, something of a pun, and blamed the rough ride on the ocean's jealousy at their leaving it.

From here on, it was a long, slow slog across what appeared to be steppes, a totally treeless expanse. Concerns about the ride and the tires made obstacles like this seem quite daunting.

Every few clicks, VACUOUS stopped to plant a flag to show progress. Of which there wasn't a lot. Due to the frequent changes of slope, Jeb kept the speed between 15-20m/s and Mission Control forbade using more than 2x warp. Once they had a few flags out, Val had estimated that it was 45-50km from Trailhead Bay to the end of the lake as the rocket flies, rather longer by the route they were taking. They hadn't gotten quite halfway there when 8 bells rang and they stopped at a Nameless Spot to eat lunch and switch seats.

Mission Control also took a break, meaning closing the game completely just to flush out any memory leak build-up. When everybody was ready to go again, the game crashed almost immediately upon attempting to re-establish contact with the VACUOUS. This happened several times. Mission Control did a full system reboot and tried again. Another crash. Next time, Mission Control checked the status of various ships in orbit and no problem, but attempting to contact VACUOUS caused another crash.

However, this time, Mission Control got enough telemetry to get an inkling of the problem. In the static-filled display of VACUOUS just before the last crash, Mission Control could see many trees in the background, where no trees had previously existed, even behind VACUOUS, not in front. What the...?

KRAKEN TREES! Spawned from nothing, appearing without warning, and glitching out all communications. Mission Control sorted through the dump from the last crash and found nothing at all implicating trees, but rather thermal gauges, which hadn't even been tested on this entire trip. Still, the phenomenon manifested in the form of trees, so Mission Control fired a herbocide bomb, utterly eradicating all trees throughout the entire Kerbol system.

This solved the problem. Communications wtih VACUOUS were restored and all went smoothly from then on as far as Mission Control was concerned. Of course, Jeb and Val could dispute the "smoothly" part. But anyway, progress continued through a success of more Nameless Spots.

And speaking of spots, Jeb and Val noticed another troubling phenomenon. Periodicaly, a drop of luminescence dripped out of their headlight and remained glowing on the ground. The 1st time this happened, they thought a part had fallen off VACUOUS so Val put it in reverse and went back to check. It was just a spot of disembodied light, nothing more. And fortunately, the headlight seemed undiminished by the loss, so they ultimately just ignored this when it happened several more times.

The terrain was smoother for the last 1/4 or so of Roverdude Trail, so Val was able to push the speed up to about 25m/s, sometimes 30, although Mission Control still imposed a ban on warps above 2x. However, the clicks gradually disappeared behind and eventually, after snaking down a steep surrounding ridgeline, VACUOUS arrived at the east end of a big lake, where she could fulfill her intended purpose once more. Jeb and Val named this Lack Lake, after a famous designer of very useful and interesting rocket parts.

As can be seen above, this lake appeared to be one of a pair separated by a narrow isthmus. However, after screaming across the water at 48m/s and 4x warp, the Kerbals joyfully discovered that Lack Lake was actually all one body of water so didn't slow down passing the strait. Maybe it had rained a lot recently so the lake was higher than normal? Who cares! SWEET, SWEET liquid for which VACUOUS was designed! Hammer down!

Lack Lake proved to be about 51km E-W. Val drove VACUOUS up to the crest of the ridge on the west end where they stopped to plant another flag. This place had a nice view so they named it M4V Hill after the great engineer who allowed Kerbals to make balanced RCS systems and spaceplanes whose CoM doesn't move despite fuel consumption.

Although it was nearly 8 bells of the afternoon watch, it really didn't matter now because the electrical demands of the rover wheels were WAY less than those of the big props, power wasn't an issue as Kerbol set. Thus, the Kerbals resolved to drive on until it got dangerously dark, every click bringing them closer to the ocean and an end to this rough, bouncy, danger-fraut ride.

Finally, just as Kerbol was touching the highest point on the southwestern horizon, VACUOUS arrived on the shore of another lake, rather smaller than the last. And at its far end, across a narrow neck of land, was the ocean again. So Val stopped here and she and Jeb took a picture to commemorate completing the hardest stage of their voyage. The portage was essentially complete and it had taken only 1 day, much better than expected. No damage done to VACUOUS, although the Kerbals' spines would never be the same again. They called this small lake Porkjet Puddle after a famous aerospace engineer who has done much for Kerbal aviation.

And here' s the story for Day 6:

This amounted to 19^ longitude gained, along with traversing 7^ of latitude, from 40N up to 47N. VACUOUS is now about 2/3 of the way around Kerbin....

... but still a long way from home, what with all the Northing to eat in the final stages. Stil, the boffins were rather proud of VACUOUS. She was an amazing seaboat and worked well enough as a rover, provided the necessary care was taken. Everybody involved in this mission slowly exhaled at this point, thinking the worst was behind them.

Status at the end of Day 6:

Tune in next time for what will hopefully be a much less-stressful series of updates.

Edited May 31, 2015 by Geschosskopf

[Fengist]

Spawned from nothing, appearing without warning, and glitching out all communications.

Not nearly as boring as flying on Duna huh? Oh wait, I saw your other thread. I don't wanna get you wound up again

And speaking of spots, Jeb and Val noticed another troubling phenomenon.

Check my Eve circumnavigation when you get a chance. I had the 'shiney spots' too. In my case, they happened every 6km like clockwork and, if you EVA a Kerbal, the Kerbal can't see them. They're only visible from the craft. I was told... mind you... that it was part of a bug fix to prevent a Kraken type event.

Edited May 26, 2015 by Fengist

[Starwhip]

Looks like it's going well, wish you the best of luck!

Edit: *mumbling* stupid Dawn Racer, get your tail in gear! *mumbling*

Edited May 26, 2015 by Starwhip

[Geschosskopf]

Not nearly as boring as flying on Duna huh? Oh wait, I saw your other thread. I don't wanna get you wound up again

No, this has definitely not been boring, even the long bluewater legs out of sight of land. I'm having a lot of fun with this.

I'm still puzzling about the Kraken Trees. It's like the terrain scatter overslept, then rushed in all at once, and tried to insert itself retroactively into everywhere I'd already been. I'd had it set at 10% since forever without any problems, so when I got on land here and saw no trees, I figured there just weren't any in that biome. Then when I reloaded the save, suddenly there were trees all around, even in places I'd previously driven through without any. I've never seen anything like it.

Check my Eve circumnavigation when you get a chance. I had the 'shiney spots' too. In my case, they happened every 6km like clockwork and, if you EVA a Kerbal, the Kerbal can't see them. They're only visible from the craft. I was told... mind you... that it was part of a bug fix to prevent a Kraken type event.

That's nice to know. Saved me from reporting this as a bug .

Looks like it's going well, wish you the best of luck!

Edit: *mumbling* stupid Dawn Racer, get your tail in gear! *mumbling*

Yeah, let's see some more of this. That's a very cool vehicle .

[Mister Dilsby]

Nice "portage" there. You are very near the highest spot on Kerbin, which some call Mt. Keverest. Enjoy the sights!

[Geschosskopf]

Nice "portage" there. You are very near the highest spot on Kerbin, which some call Mt. Keverest. Enjoy the sights!

Thanks for telling me. I'll keep an eye on the northwest horizon but I don't think I'll deviate from the route just to see it from the ground. I need to get back to flying rockets

[Geschosskopf]

EPISODE 7: Elcano Challenge Part 7 -- Homeward Bound

I had planned to do 2 days' worth of travel today but due to real life, I only managed one so this is a pretty short update.

Jeb and Val spent the night under the northern lights. Except there wasn't an aurora. Instead, the "Sacred Strut" that holds the halves of the sky together was leaning over sharply in response to their position at latitude 47N. They also noticed that Jeb's helmet lights had leaked on the flag.

The Kerbals could hardly wait until dawn because today they would be reunited with the ocean, shoving off homeward bound. So Jeb took VACUOUS across Porkjet Puddle, aiming for the gap in the western shore. The map showed an isthmus separating Porkjet Puddle from Portage Bay, but given what had happened at Lack Lake, the Kerbals had hopes that they were already in the ocean.

Unfortunately, this time the tide was out or something because there was dry land ahead. This was the official end of the portage and Jeb and Val had to suffer 1 more short, bumpy ride. So they called this the Inconvenient Isthmus.

Then they were truly back in the ocean. VACUOUS leapt ahead, rejoicing in being reunited with her proper element and, as the day went on and she got further south, her speed crept back up over 49m/s. Val set a course skirting the headlands along the south shore of Portage Bay.

They stopped at the big headland at the mouth of Portage Bay, and decided to call this NoPanShabuShabu Ness in honor of a famous circumnavigator of Eve.

By now, the spray had washed the dirt and grime off VACUOUS that'd she'd picked up during the portage. However, the Kerbals themselves were still filthy. And it wasn't quite 8 bells of the forenoon watch yet. So this time, they decided to change the watch at sea and take a bath in the Northern Ocean in the process. They got some distance from NoPanShabuShabu Ness when 8 bells rang.

Val had already set them on the proper course when they left NoPanShabuShabu Ness, so they were comfortable with Jeb navigating the rest of this leg. To start with, they headed straight Southwest to be sure of making landfall before dark, but as the afternoon watch wore on, it became apparent that they could go a bit further, so they changed course slightly to Southwest by West and ended up further down a prominent bulge in the coast than originally planned. They ended up picking a landing with a nice beach and a tidal pool just behind it. They named this place Cape Xannari Ferrows after the famous Moho circumnavigator.

Jeb and Val then observed the sun with seakerbal eyes, deciding what to do next. There was still a fair amount of light left in this day, but they decided not quite enough to get anywhere convenient for further travel on the morning. Besides, they were in a good spot and hadn't quite gotten their sea legs back after the portage anyway. So, they decided to stop here for the day.

At the end of Day 7, VACUOUS was nearly 3/4 around Kerbin. Given the changes in latitude along the way, the distance traveled by now was probably more than Kerbin's circumference. Today, VACUOUS made good 32^ of longitude and came south 18^ of latitude.

And here's the status map:

Edited May 31, 2015 by Geschosskopf

[Geschosskopf]

EPISODE 8: Elcano Challenge Part 8 -- Getting Close

ASIDE: What's the bbcode for doing spoilers?

Anyway, at dawn on the 8th day of the voyage, Jeb and Val ran a wide straight, nearly a Channel, between Cape Xannari Ferrows and some large islands out in the Northern Ocean.

This strait ended in a very prominent headland. The Kerbals decided to call this area the Startwhip Strait after an incredibly mad scientist and inspirational explorer. The tip of the headland appeared somewhat volcanic with some weird faultlines just offshore.

From here, Val aimed VACUOUS South Southwest towards a bulge in the coastline. This took them across a body of water known as the Bay of Biscuits. It was hard to tell what time it was but they decided it was close enough to the end of the forenoon watch to switch seat and take another bath.

With Val now at the wheel and Jeb navigating, they made landfall exactly where desired on the coastal bulge. It had a nice beach right in the middle so VACUOUS stopped there, at a place the Kerbals named Cape Damerell after a promising explorer.

After this long crossing, Jeb and Val considered Kerbol's position. There was still a fair amount of daylight but they decided it wasn't enough for another fairly long bluewater crossing towards the east, so instead they continued along the coast. And Jeb, decided he'd been short-changed on stick-time earlier, took the controls for this final leg of the day.

VACUOUS passed the 1st headland to the SW and the crew decided they could make the next one. However, as they started getting close, the light began fading rapidly. Even worse, there was no good place to put ashore close at hand. However, the map showed a small harbor around the corner on the southern side so they decided to head there.

Despite having to reduce power slightly by this point, all went well until Jeb made the final turn towards the harbor. This changed the orientation of the solar panels and power dropped almost to nothing. The sudden deceleration nearly stood VACUOUS on her nose but Jeb reacted quickly, shutting down the pusher prop and throttling way back on the tractor prop, and disaster was just barely averted. VACUOUS then limped towards shore, not the more desirable location further on but the closest practicable slope. Any port in a storm, as it were.

With Jeb constantly tweaking the throttles to use short bursts of power and then let the charge recover, VACUOUS eventually to the beach where the front wheels could get traction and pull her out of the water. The slope was very steep, meaning another uncomfortable night sleeping half on the mattresses and half on the bulkheads, so Jeb and Val named this place Cape Disappointment. But OTOH, they were very grateful to have gotten here at all.

During this last leg, VACUOUS had crossed the Equator again. Due to the need to hurry on before dark, Jeb and Val hadn't given a libation to King Keptune, which they with hindsight decided was the cause of their anxiety. So they remedied this situation immediately and had a double rum ration themselves.

VACUOUS is rather more than 3/4 of the way around Kerbin, this day having made good 27^ of longitude and 24^ of latitude. Progress has now been enough to see the end of the voyage in the light of the same day as VACUOUS just finished. If all goes well, VACUOUS could be home in perhaps 2 more days.

Tune in next time for what should hopefully be a good run to the west.

Edited May 31, 2015 by Geschosskopf

[Starwhip]

Oooh! Oooh! I got a thing!

You are so close, keep going!

[Squiggsy]

Nice progress!

the spoiler tags you asked about up top are done with "spoiler=your spoiler title here" in [] with a

at the end. there has to be no space between the spoiler, the = and the start of the title though or it wont work

[Starwhip]

Nice progress!

the spoiler tags you asked about up top are done with "spoiler=your spoiler title here" in [] with a

Here, you can copy and paste the below text as a spoiler prefab:

[noparse]

<Stuff Inside Spoiler>

[/noparse]

at the end. there has to be no space between the spoiler, the = and the start of the title though or it wont work

[Geschosskopf]

Squiggsy and Starwhip---thanks for the help. Anyway....

EPISODE 9: Elcano Challenge Part 9 --- Familiar Waters

Due to some rather high hills just east of Cape Disappointment, it was about 3 bells of the forenoon watch before VACUOUS could get underway.

But that really didn't matter today because Kerbin geography mandated that the rest of the voyage be 2 relatively short stages. The Kerbals also decided that because Jeb had been helmsman on their depature, Val should have the conn for their return. And rather than waste time switching seats mid-ocean again, they decided that they'd break with routine. Jeb would be at the wheel all day today and Val would conn the entire final stage.

Another notable distinction of Day 9 was multiple crossings of the Equator. They would do this twice today, plus return to it at the end. The 1st crossing occurred shortly after getting underway and the Kerbals duly made another libation to King Keptune and had some rum themselves.

At their next landfall, the crew of VACUOUS entered familiar waters. All the major terrain features in this part of Kerbin had long since been named due to their significance to space operations. This particular headland was known as MECO Point, due to most SSTOs having achieved sufficient apoapses about over this landform.

And so VACUOUS at last bade farewell to the Eastern Continent whose coasts she had followed and whose land she had traversed for the last 5 days. Most of the rest of this day's travel was crossing the Narrow Sea to the Central Continent, home to KSC. This entailed the day's 2nd crossing of the Equator and another round of drinks for King Keptune and the by-now jolly crew of VACUOUS.

After a good run, early in the afternoon watch Val spotted the tip of Deadstick Peninsula rising above the horizon dead ahead. Yet again, her navigation had been excellent.

The Deadstick Peninsula was another name coined soon after the Supernova of '102 had altered Kerbin's atmosphere again. Both Jeb and Val had actually been here before making emergency landings in unsuccessful SSTO prototypes.

There was still plenty of daylight left but not enough to cross Boosterbottom Gulf (guess where that name came from?). Besides, today's run was about 1/2 the remaining distance home and Jeb and Val had a deal about how far each would conn VACUOUS. They could have stopped here but decided that the beach wasn't flat enough. Besides, most of the last stage of the voyage would essentially be on the Equator, so they thought it appropriate to move back up to the Equator without venturing further west. That way, they could find a better place to camp, properly honor King Keptune and ask his favor for the morrow, and otherwise party.

So heading due north from the tip of the peninsula, they reached the coast of the mainland and then headed west just a little along it to find the best landing in that area as close as possible to the Equator. This is the spot they picked, which they called the Party Place.

Here, Jeb and Val divided the remaining rum into 4 portions. They gave 2 of these to King Keptune and each drank one of the others. They werne't worried about consuming it all because they expected to have plenty waiting on them at KSC. Jeb and Val thus got rather inebriated, especially because the new model of KIS helmets were removable, which allowed easier drinking.

Val was a bit concerned that Jeb's spotty navigation would be even worse than normal next day due to a hangover, even just crossing Boosterbottom Gulf. However, Jeb knew an old trick. VACUOUS was now close enough to home port for the 1st flag at the KSC monolith to show up as a target on the Navball. With that set into the computer, he knew he could sleep for most of the last stage .

VACUOUS was by this point about 7/8 of the way around Kerbin by longitude. During the day, she'd made good 39^ of longitude and 12^ of latitude (2^S to 2^N to 4^S to 0).

And here's the status at the end of Day 9:

So now it's just a straight shot due west in the morning. No more changes in latitude, so Mission Control took the opportunity to figure out how much latitude VACUOUS had traversed in the trip in her meanderings as far as 24^S and 47^N.

* Day 1: 21^

* Day 2: 09^

* Day 3: 32^

* Day 4: 11^

* Day 5: 37^

* Day 6: 07^

* Day 7: 18^

* Day 8: 24^

* Day 9: 12^

------------------

Total: 171^ of latitude. Nearly 1/2 way around Kerbin in N-S travel. No wonder this was taking a long time .

Tune in next time for what, Kraken willing, should be the joyous homecoming.

Edited May 31, 2015 by Geschosskopf