KSA career diary

[TrooperCooper]

I have just started a new modded career and decided to start a diary with this thread to keep track of my progress and not spam the "what did you do in KSP today-" thread to much . Comments are always welcome.

The thread will probably be very picture intensive. I wont write down every little step, but rather focuss on the things that I believe are noteworthy. The career is played in a "no revert-" mode. Meaning if something goes wrong, I'll have to deal with it. Quicksaving/loading during flight wont be allowed except for bugs/game crashes etc. But since I play with the Kerbal Construction Time mod, it will be possible to run (payed) simulations. Cheating through the alt-F12 menu will only be allowed in a fair way (shortcomings of the game itself etc.). Part-clipping is allowed however.

Aside from that, the difficulty settings are all on normal.

A rough overview of the mods in use (might add/delete some later on):

The first unmanned launch with a cheap "sounding rocket" went just a few thousand meters up:

With the science gains from the first rocket launch, the next bigger rocket was designed, which made it into the upper atmosphere:

The third one already peaked into space, propelled by a BACC "Thumper" SRB:

After these first few babysteps, the VAB is upgraded to level 2.

And the research progress looks as follows. First time ever I am taking an early aviation approach. Will see how that goes...

Edited May 23, 2015 by TrooperCooper

[TrooperCooper]

After upgrading the SPH to level 2 as well, the first manned vessel was designed and tested. The P1 is a lightweight science plane that can land pretty much anywhere with its radially mounted parachutes. Below is Jebediah on his first flight.

Completing a contract for good money...

And the science gathered is nice as well. Along with that, Jeb earned his first set of ribbons.

Edited May 23, 2015 by TrooperCooper

[TrooperCooper]

Jeb and Val did a few more biome landings with the P1 in the vicinity of the KSC...

Then I launched a probe on a sub-orbital trajectory to explore the ice caps...

Booster drop...

Lander seperation...

Re-entry...

Probe with scientific toolset hanging on the chutes...

Then, after more than two and a half years of playing in the dirt, it was time to go into space and stay there. The Tiros 1 and the orbit contracts were accepted and an appropriate vessel created. Take off below.

Circularization...

Separation of the sattelite...

The Tiros 1, the first Kerbal-made sattelite in orbit, seconds before fulfilling the contract...

[TrooperCooper]

After this success with an unmanned machine, it was time to put a Kerbal into an orbit. Jebediah launched with the Vostok 1:

Once in a stable orbit, he performed a series of scientific experiments...

And then returned to the KSC with a well timed re-entry...

Splash-down in spit range of the space center...

Jebediahs flight was soon followed by Valentina in Vostok 2, proofing that Kerbals can survive in space for a prolonged time by completing nearly 20 orbits around the planet...

With the Voshkod mission, the KSP launched two Kerbals together for the first time.

The ship mainly consisted of two lightweight landercans, held together by duct tape.

Nonetheless, it returned Jeb and Val safely back to the surface.

The KSP turned back onto unmanned probe missions, as those naturally had to make the next step forward. At first, a few more sattelites were put into various orbits arround Kerbin.

Then the first Luna mission took off.

Burning out of LKO to make the first transfer to the mun in Kerbal history.

Arriving over the target, the lander probe is seperated and begins its descent to the surface.

Successful touchdown.

But since I accepted the Luna 2 contract, I had to smash the probe into the mun later on...

And now work is beginning on manned Mun operations...

Edited May 24, 2015 by TrooperCooper

[TrooperCooper]

A contract combination popped up that looked promissing. Scientific data from space arround the Mun, return from Mun orbit to Kerbin and a Mun orbit rescue mission. Dotrey had been stranded up there, probably rushing to beat Jebediah becoming the first Kerbal to walk on the Mun surface. So I put together a vessel that would have enough dV to burn whatever maneuevers I'd have to to catch this guy. The contract combination was promissing a net profit of about 500k Kredits. But things wouldnt work out as planned...

Taking of from the launchpad...

Just a few thousand meters up, the launch boosters were dropped. Unfortunately, they scratched into the rocket, rapidly disintegrating the lifter stage. Obviously, the mission had to be aborted. Thankfully, the craft was unmanned with the only seat reserved for Dotrey...

Trying to minimize the financial loss, the upper stage was landed into the ocean near the KSC...

I ran a few more simulations and it showed that by putting the craft into a radial spin during the drop, the SRBs should eject freely, beeing dragged away by the rotational motion. So one month later, the production of the same vessel type had been finnished and a 2nd attempt was due...

And this time, with the right technique learned in the simulator, the launch went flawless...

Seperation of the rescue craft in LKO...

Preparing the transfer...

Arrival over the mun, a few minutes before the insertion burn...

Planning the rendezvous in a high Mun orbit...

Looks like somebody desperately needs a snack...

Dotrey hopping over to the rescue craft...

Planning the return...

Bye bye Mun... we'll be back...

Return stage with Dotrey entering Kerbins atmoshphere...

Chute open, shield and probe core jetted to lighten the weight on the single chute...

We have a new scientist in the KSP.

The Programs bank account now was fat enough to upgrade some installations at the KSC. The launchpad is now maxed out and the Tech center was improved to level 2. Along with that, the production and research capabilities (in KCT) saw a big upgrade as well.

Current tech tree:

And whats on the drawing board right now. The Luna Lander. Since I dont have Mainsails yet and want to avoid seperation problems that I ran into before, it turns out a bit bigger than normal. But hey, safety first.

[Snarfster]

Nice work. Keep it up

[TrooperCooper]

Nice work. Keep it up

Thank you!

Jebediah taking off with the Luna Lander:

In orbit, seperation from the lifter...

In transit towards the Mun...

Jeb running a few experiments at the science bay...

Arrival over the Mun...

Beginning the descent burn...

Travel stage left behind...

Searching for a better landing spot...

Mission accomplished...

More science...

Heading back home...

Mun SOI eject initiated...

Arrival at Kerbin, return-stage activated...

Woooooosh!

Not bad for the first quick landing...

With the science gained, the KSA was finally able to develop a real exploration ship, able to transport a full crew and loads of scientific instruments/experiments. Take off from the KSC:

Launch-boosters dropping - Sepratrons FTW!

Auxiliary lifter engines kicked away as well when their tanks emptied out. Main engine kept running. At this stage the ship becomes extremly wobbly as expected. But since the turn is mostly done, she is just laying flat in the stream for the most part anyway...

After the ship had been pushed into a high orbit, the travel stage is taking over...

Bob could not wait to get his hands on some real SCIENCE...

Hanging between two worlds...

In Mun orbit, Bob continued with his work...

Coming down to the surface...

Great! We can still receive TV.

Outdoor party...

The return trip has become a routine...

Except for the lander stage almost falling on my head during re-entry...

But it missed, and the A-Team returned safely...

Having a real scientist on board clearly makes a difference. Loads of science gains...

...resulted in the space program beeing busy for half a year doing research...

The current tech-tree:

And currently on the drawing board is the Longbow, a nuclear-propelled long-range exploration vehicle to do multiple landings on Minmus...

[TrooperCooper]

Year 4, Day 173 of the space program, the Longbow is taking off from the KSC with the exploration crew on board:

The heavy boosters almost overheat...

Jetting empty boosters with Ullage motors is always fun

Looking good...

The Longbow beeing pushed into a Minmus transfer orbit...

3 days later, shortly before the Minmus encounter,... Bob looking back at Kerbin and Mun.

Soon he was pretty busy again once an orbit was established...

Eventually it was time to disembark the latest high tech ship of the KSP...

...and bring it down to the surface.

Leaving a mark.

The Longbow and its crew continued to explore Minmus.

Several biomes were visited.

And in total seven landings were made before the ship began to head back to Kerbin...

After a 5 days long journey, the ship began its last maneuver...

And the A-Team returned home...

With lots of goodies.

A couple years were spent on upgrading the KSC a little more and developing fascinating new technologies...

The tech-tree is now almost complete...

Edited May 25, 2015 by TrooperCooper

[TrooperCooper]

Its been more than four (earth-) years since the Kerbals visited Minmus for the first time. Four years during which the KSA could not claim any such bold new achievements. Interplanetary expeditions seemed out of reach. However, the agency worked hard on laying the foundations for further progress...

Several new lifter systems for various payloads were designed, simulated and tested, including some standardized LKO crew launchers.

Some more exploration probes were launched to the Mun...

and Minmus.

For the first time ever, two vesseles docked in space arround Kerbin when Jebediah and his gang practiced this important technique with the unmanned Agena probe ship.

With the Apollo Program (historical missions from MCE), the Kerbals improved their abilities to regularly travel to the Mun and Minmus with bigger and bigger rockets, using the new 5 meter parts they had developed...

As the Apollo project ended, the KSA began to study the effects of long term missions in a zero G environment on Kerbonauts, using the first tiny space station in LKO: the SkyLab.

Experiences were also made in the area of EVA based orbital construction and repairing.

Finally the first interplanetary probe was sent out...

Mariner 2 made a close fly-by on Eve, investigating Kerbins closest neighbor in the solar system.

In preparation of creating a logistical backbone, a resource survey orbiter was sent out to the Mun.

The Space Center is almost fully upgraded. Just the administrators are still sitting in a trailer...

Bill is already making plans for future space station modules...

All in all things are going well at the KSC. The little green men are optimistic that their hard work will pay out eventually and they get the permission to start working on something big again. Rumors exist about the Apollo Program beeing extended to Duna...

[juw]

Wow! Brilliant job mate, you've revived my interest in KSP again after a month or so out playing damn Cities skylines, and no I can't succeed at that either I might just give up and go play COD .... or not

[TrooperCooper]

Wow! Brilliant job mate, you've revived my interest in KSP again after a month or so out playing damn Cities skylines, and no I can't succeed at that either I might just give up and go play COD .... or not

Thank you. I'm glad if I could inspire you.

Lately the politicians have given their green light for a project aiming to reach out to Duna with manned missions. Considering the distance and technical requirements, it will mean a great effort. And so the agency has decided to further improve the logistical abilities of the space program, including the construction of a real orbital station that can act as a hub for all operations as well as fuel resource gathering at either Minmus or Mun.

Below: the last crew arriving at the SkyLab.

After the crew had completed its experiments and before returning home, the outdated micro station is beeing pushed into a higher parking orbit.

While intense development work on a station concept was under way, the agency sent out two interplanetary probe missions that were approved of and prepared a year ago already. Mariner 4 was sent to Duna to make a close fly-by.

Even though it did not enter a stable orbit, it executed several scientific experiments and mapped parts of the surface.

The Eve Splasher arrived at its destination as well...

And made it through the thick atmosphere...

It was designed to land in one of the oceans of the planet, hoping to find liquid water. Unfortunately it turned out to be a slightly less healthy substance...

Next up it was time to launch the first segment of the KSS Alpha, its command tower.

Aided by four oversized Thor II boosters, the lifter propelled the module off the launchpad.

Booster seperation, shortly before the apoapsis has been burned out:

Optimizing the orbit at 80 X 80 km...

Lifter seperation:

And destruction to avoid Kesslars revenge...

The space needle was now ready for further extensions.

Then it was time for the KSA to launch its biggest object till this day...

The central fuel depot module for the KSS Alpha, consisting mainly of a super heavy loaded 5 meters tank.

Despite the constructions shape, Bill insisted on this object still beeing able to launch through a regular gravity turn as KCT-simulations would have proven,... and so it did...

One hour after launch, the depot was beeing docked to the command tower in orbit.

As soon as the 3.5 meters docking clamps locked in, remaining fuel was transferred and the lifter began to pull back...

A few minutes later, this lifter was blown up in a safe distance from the station as well.

Meanwhile Bill had developed an engine that could serve as both, airbreather or rocket. Together with him and Val the SPH crew is now beginning to figure out a new kind of access into space...

Edited May 29, 2015 by TrooperCooper

[TrooperCooper]

The KSA is continuing to lay the foundations for future space exploration.

A 30 ton lifter taking off from the KSC:

On board: the first habitation section for the KSS Alpha.

Setting up the rendezvous with the station for one hour after the launch, exactly above the KSC...

Arrival at the target. The payload is released. KSC visible at the bottom right corner.

The payload docked up with the command tower.

A few days later, the second habitation section is delivered in the same procedure.

Then the top level of the KSS Alpha was complete.

And the station was now waiting for the arrival of its first crew.

To get on board, six Kerbals manned the new Scorpion passenger SSTO, developed by Bill and Valentina.

Vertical ascent...

Leveling out and going supersonic...

Whats cooking?

Once in orbit, the SSTO began to chase the new station...

Arrival at the KSS Alpha...

Once moved into a parking location next to the station, Bill went on EVA...

To remove the probe core module that was still tied to the habitates docking port from when this section was delivered...

Then it was time for the Scorpion to dock up.

Four Kerbals formed the first regular station crew. Two scientists, one pilot and one engineer. Together with Bill, they cleaned up the place, turned on the life support systems and removed some more unnecessary travel modules from the habitation sections.

Then Val and Bill went back on board of the SSTO and undocked again, leaving the long-term crew at the station.

The Scorpion setting course to return home. Bill to Val: "Say, did we ever run a re-entry simulation for this thing?" - Val: "Nope, you said you need the simulator for something big the other day.." Bill: "Hmmm... all right..."

I was certainly a bit worried upon re-entry...

But the ship held together and Val and Bill landed safely...

So then Bill had to show off what the simulator was occupied with... The age of unmanned cargo lifter SSTOs is coming up for the KSA.

The first one is the Phoenix.

It is able to lift about 70 tons into LKO.

Despite its fragile look, its actually a quite stable platform and easy to fly. The Phoenix will probably become the mainstay for orbital logistics when it comes to hauling goods (life support, fuel, resources, whatever).

The second cargo SSTO is the even more astonishing Titan.

Featuring a 7.5 meters cargo bay, it is designed to transport even the bulkiest modules and equipment into space. Even the large industrial MKS/OKS items can fit inside. The actual maximum cargo mass has not been defined yet. But theoretically it should be somewhere north of 150 tons.

The downside of the plane: when its coming home empty, it can become a ..... to fly and would even make Jeb puke. Combined with the fact that it costs more than 1.2 million Kredits to produce (production time of about two month), it has the potential to accidently cut a hole into the space programs budget. So it will probably only come to service during the construction of the space station and for other high priority tasks...

Neither of these planes has actually flown yet. Only in the KCT-Simulator. But they soon will be put to the test...

Edited May 30, 2015 by TrooperCooper

[TrooperCooper]

The KSA did two orbital construction missions to the KSS Alpha with the new Titan SSTO. Details below.

The Titan cargo SSTO took off from the KSC for its first flight. The payload was bulky but light. So the plane rapidly ascended...

Gaining speed at higher altitude and going supersonic...

Soon it breached into space...

Just as the target passed overhead...

One hour later, the SSTO arrived at the station...

And released its first cargo section: a station science lab...

Which then moved over to the station by itself...

It docked up at the center of the KSS Alpha...

As night-time came up, mission control resisted to do the 2nd cargo transfer in the dark...

Instead, the stations engineer went on EVA and strapped the travel modules off the new laboratory...

When the sun came up again, the Titan SSTO closed back in on the station...

To release the next piece of its payload: an OKS/MKS Training Academy...

Which docked up next to the lab...

Then the Titan had done its job and left the station behind...

Heading back home...

First re-entry west of the KSC...

The plane still had plenty of fuel left over. And so handling was good. Seven hours after take off, the Titan landed safely at the KSC again.

Confidence in the KSAs newest tool was growing so that just one week later, the SSTO went on its 2nd mission to the KSS Alpha...

This time it delivered a massive OKS/MKS logistics hub...

This piece of equipment can rapidly reallocate resources arround Kerbin with its logistics drones if needed...

It docked up at the bottom level of the station...

The Titan went into a higher orbit to release its 2nd payload...

Mariner 10 is a lightweight ion craft that is supposed to make a fly-by on both, Eve and Moho. It was lifted piggyback by the Titan since the other station sections are so big that only one of em fits into the cargo-bay at a time.

The SSTO returned to the space center, this time with much less leftover fuel due to the higher probe-deployment orbit. So mission control was somewhat expecting to experience control issues that were already occuring in the simulator when the plane was very light...

The landing ended quite oddly. The mission control team almost suffered a heartattack as the tail end of the 1.2-million-Kredit-plane tipped on the runway. But Bill looked all excited. Mumbling something about poor flight behaviour at low weight and fuel-shifting and ran off to the simulator. The plane was later recovered intact by having 257 volunteer Kerbals climb onto its nose...

Edited May 31, 2015 by TrooperCooper

[Ferdoni]

The KSA is continuing to lay the foundations for future space exploration.

http://i.imgur.com/rtyvZGC.jpg

Skylon replica?

[TrooperCooper]

Skylon replica?

Nah, not really... it is similar in terms of beeing an unmanned cargo SSTO. But the design is slightly different...

[Ferdoni]

Nah, not really... it is similar in terms of beeing an unmanned cargo SSTO. But the design is slightly different...

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/75168000/jpg/_75168903_img_0029.jpg

Oh yes now I see. I like your design tough!

[TrooperCooper]

Oh yes now I see. I like your design tough!

Thank you!

The KSA had to step back from lifting their space station modules with SSTOs since a successor for the Titan (that has its control-issues fixed) was still in development. Instead, the remaining sections for the KSS Alpha were launched with traditional rocket lifters. See spoiler below for details.

An 82 ton lifter on launch from the KSC:

It lifted a large tank which had been converted into a massive storage for life support goods.

Soon it was docked to the KSS Alpha...

Next up a 36 ton lifter boosted the stations industrial core into orbit:

It consists of two ISRU converters and a nuclear reactor and was docked to the station as well...

Using a 20 ton lifter...

another station science lab was delivered to the KSS.

For the next launch, a new 70 ton lifter was used. It revealed some issues as the ignition was soon followed by a big explosion near its bottom.

However, it became clear that nothing essential was damaged and thus the vessel continued with its launch. Upon release of the empty boosters, the ground crew noticed that one sepratron was either not firing or not existent.

The rest of this flight continued normal and a liquid fuel and Kibbal storage was brought to the KSS Alpha.

Then it was time to lift the last and biggest section for the new space station. A 100-ton-lifter pushed this long and heavy payload off the launchpad:

Booster drop with ullage motors at 10k...

Ignition of the top-stage...

As it entered space, the payloads fairings were taken off and revealed two station science Cyclotrons with a Spectrometron in between.

Rendezvous with the KSS was made...

And the futuristic section docked at the stations center...

...and the KSS Alpha was complete.

Bobster, the current stations engineer, used the last remaining sunlight before night to take off all travel modules during an EVA run.

As it turned dark, the new modules went online...

And when the sun came up again, the stations crew began to install the main solar panels.

Now the station is fully operational and soon will become a bustling hub in low Kerbin orbit...

Edited June 2, 2015 by TrooperCooper

[TrooperCooper]

The KSA continued to develop and deploy new tools of space travel, science and resource exploitation. See the details by clicking on the spoiler below the picture.

After completion of its orbital spaceport, the KSA developed a reusable passenger ship: the Kerbin-Taxi, loosly based on the older Longbow-design, will bring Kerbals to any location in the Kerbin system except for the homeplanets surface.

Its first task was a set of rescue missions arround Mun and Minmus.

The stranded Kerbals were returned to the KSS Alpha in LKO.

From here on, disposable capsules took over and brought the passengers back down to the surface.

During one of the rescue missions, the KSA suffered its first fatal loss, as Rary Kerman forgot to switch on the life support systems of the Kerbin-Taxi after boarding it.

Rary Kerman will be always remembered as the Kerbal with the shortest service-time in the history of the KSA, dieing within minutes after joining the agency.

Several new spaceplanes were developed.

One of them, the automated Twin-Star, was designed with a single type of mission in mind: transporting station-science experiments to the KSS Alpha in LKO.

Here it is arriving at the station.

Docking up...

Inside its small cargohold, it can ferry a single experiment canister, which is then used by the scientists in the labs.

Re-entry over the KSC...

The SkyDragon, successor of the Titan, is still in development. It is featuring an even longer cargohold and improved flight characteristics. Here it is taking off on a test-flight...

The KSA tried to adapt the plane into a role of a commoditie-hauler for the KSS, while the craft was originally ment to be a lifter for bulky payloads. So it brought a load of liquid fuel to the station.

The plane was never ment to dock itself to anything, and it sure wasnt easy to link up two such huge objects with 1.25m docking ports. Even worse: after contact was made and the fuel transfer was underway, the connection became unstable and even just tiny motions of either object resulted in enormous forces pulling on the docking ports and pylons. Seeing the majestic KSS Alpha with its current crew of four Kerbals as well as a 1.5 million-spaceplane on the brink of beeing ripped apart, the KSA aborted the test at once. The Skydragon undocked and pulled back immediately. The stations SAS was able to stabilize the movement before any real damage was caused. But it became clear that this plane would never become a resupply hauler for the LKO spaceport.

Nonetheless, a reliable SSTO had to be developed in order to routinely bring commodities to the orbital station. The old Phoenix simply had a to to high part-count to operate arround the KSS. So the Mammoth was created. It is a very sturdy design, compared to the Skydragon. Within its 5 meter wide tanks it can transport at least 120 tons of goods.

Its main feature however, is the 3.75 meters wide docking port at its backend, slightly sticking out between the two engines.

With this tool, and combined with its compact design, the Mammoth can easily dock at the stations largest docking ports and the connection remains safe.

Now the KSA began to figure out an inexpensive way to aquire fuel in space. It turned to Minmus, which would allow easy lifting of large quantities due to its low gravity. And so an orbital survey scanner was sent to the small moon, which mapped the resource hotspots from high above.

It was soon followed by an automated scanner lander...

...which found the exact location for upcoming mining operations.

While the development department began to design and simulate various types of harvesters and refineries, mission control finally catched a launch window to send the Mariner 10 probe to do its fly-by mission of Eve...

...and Moho, visiting the latter for the first time ever and completing the historic mission-contract.

Continuing with its Minmus-project, the KSA launched a Griffon Century based lifter...

It brought a set of mobile refinery rovers into space.

Once in orbit, the pair was seperated with one staying as backup just in case. If unnecessary, it might come to use later on another celestial...

Since the rover systems had no RCS and thus were unable to dock themself to the KSS Alpha, a 180 tons-lifter was prepared with the new Andromeda class tanker to refuel the mining equipment in LKO for its trip to Minmus.

Take off...

Coming in to dock...

After it had been refueled, the carrier-system set course for Kerbins 2nd moon.

After arrival at its destination...

...it deployed the rover-based Harfinery in the vicinity of the ore seeker probe that was landed earlier.

And now the rover is waiting for the arrival of its crew, since the KSA did not dare to send a Kerbal on board of this system which was untested and somewhat difficult to handle.

Edited June 8, 2015 by TrooperCooper

[GehringGame]

I love the variety in your designs. You have made some really cool looking rockets, and the Titan SSTO looks sweet.

[TrooperCooper]

I love the variety in your designs. You have made some really cool looking rockets, and the Titan SSTO looks sweet.

Thank you! The varity comes from all the different purposes of the crafts. There is so much one can do in KSP, its mind-boggling.

[TrooperCooper]

The KSA got its mining project on Minmus up and running. For details, click the spoiler below the picture.

A 40 ton lifter taking off from the KSC...

It carried a large exploration probe into orbit: the Ike Inspector, which will investigate Dunas moon.

While the KSA was waiting for the Duna window and the VAB was busy creating more equipment for the mining setup on Minmus, the TwinStar was sent to the KSS Alpha to run another experiment.

Then the Pegasus, a new class of heavy tanker to ship fuel from Minmus to Kerbin was finished and rolled out.

Booster seperation at 20 km...

The vessel continued through the upper atmosphere. Soon the nuclear engines would take over...

And then it happened...

Upon seperation of the launch engines, the LV-Ns fairings collided into the body of the ship.

When the dust had settled, it became clear that the tail-section of the 770k Kredits vessel had been ripped off by the debries.

So the engineers had to start building a new one... with 90° rotated main-engines this time, so that the fairings could hopefully seperate freely... while the 3-month long construction work was going on, the Ike Inspector catched its launch window and headed for Duna.

Two month to transfer...

While it had been planned to continue with the Minmus mining operation, the KSA now had plenty of time to do more profitable experiments at the KSS Alpha with the Twinstar, due to the prior accident.

Ike Inspector arriving at Duna...

Swinging arround the planet on entry with direct catch of Ike...

Arriving at the mission target...

Nice line-up.

After the probe had inspected the surface, it went into a polar orbit...

And mapped the moons resource concentrations for later use. In the background: the old probes Mariner 4 and Mariner 10 wandering off into deep space...

Finally the second Pegasus had been finished and it was soon launched from the KSC. The KSA was hard-pressed to finally get mining on Minmus going and so there was a sense of tension in the mission control room...

Booster seperation forming a nice pattern...

As the oxizider was almost completly consumed in the upper atmosphere, the moment of truth was coming up...

The launch engines stopped, throttle cut to zero... and the seperation was initiated...

The LV-N fairings flew away without leaving a scratch...

Then the 4 X 2m nuclear rockets took over and blasted the launch engines away...

The Pegasus moved over to Minmus into a parking orbit and waited for its partner-ship.

Next up for launch was the Moonhammer, the actual fuel-lifter for the mining op.

Take off...

After booster seperation, the four Kerbodyne engine clusters propelled the ship into the upper atmosphere...

At 35k meters these engines were dropped, together with the aerodynamic controls.

And the more efficient Rhinos took over.

Once the Moonhammer had reached its orbit, the Mammoth took off from the KSC runway.

It refueled the tanker in LKO.

Then the Moonhammer set course for Minmus as well.

Now that these two fatties were on their way, a team of Kerbals took off from the KSC.

They docked up at the KSS Alpha and boarded the waiting Kerbin-Taxi.

One hour after launch, they left LKO on their way to Kerbins smaller moon.

A few days later, the Kerbin-Taxi landed next to the Harfinery.

The apprentice-engineer Roissa had been responsible for the Pegasus-accident earlier, and thus it was decided that she would have to take the burden of becoming a lonely miner at Minmus. But somehow the expectation of having to listen to the ISRU-converter and the mining drills for a few years could not ruin her smile.

The Kerbin-Taxi with the other Kerbals headed back home again. And when the Moonhammer had landed, Roissa had to do some minor construction work before the drilling could begin...

Soon that was done, and the tanks began to fill.

Due to the nuclear reactor on the Harfinery, energy is not a concern and thus the drills can run round the clock... as long as the Uranium lasts... a few dozen years or so...

When it was filled up, the Moonhammer took off again...

Parking in a low orbit arround the cold moon.

The Pegasus with its more efficient nuclear engines took over to haul the precious fuel back to Kerbin.

And while the Moonhammer landed back at the Harfinery to be filled up again...

The Pegasus arrived at the KSS Alpha...

And pumped 320 tons of fuel and oxidizer into the stations tanks...

Now that the logistical backbone has been set up and the budget isnt as tight anymore, the KSA is beginning to develop the equipment for the Duna project...

Edited June 10, 2015 by TrooperCooper

[TrooperCooper]

The KSA is developing the equipment for its Duna project and beginning to test the new gear on the Mun. Click the spoiler below the picture to see more.

The upcoming Duna project means a massive effort for the growing Kerbal Space Agency. The goal is to send a colony module, that can keep three Kerbals alive, to Kerbins outer neighbor-planet. Once it has been landed, a team of Kerbals will travel to Duna with the next transfer-window and remain there for at least one year. Then it will travel back, leaving the colony-module on the surface and a 2nd crew will come from Kerbin to live on Duna for another year.

Here is an overview of the vessels that will be used:

The backbone of the project will be the Duna Habitation Rover with a total mass of nearly 44 tons. It is based on the mining rovers that were developed for Minmus earlier. However, since there will be plenty of time for refueling the landed ships, its drilling capacity is much lower. Instead it has more living space for a bigger crew, better life support systems and a wheel-system more suited for Dunas surface. The main power-source is a nuclear reactor, just like on the mining rovers, positioned just behind the crew quarters to save on heating costs.

The KSA finished developing and testing of the Skydragon heavy cargo-SSTO. It will be used to haul the Habitation Rover into a low Kerbin orbit.

Once the rover is in space, a carrier (some might call it a tug) will come to pick it up. Since this carrier-system is heavy and awkward enough to launch by itself, it wont be burdened with its payload during take off (lifter-stage not included in the pic below).

After the above setup has deployed the Habitation Rover to the surface of Duna, the first exploration crew will launch from Kerbin. They will take off with the largest "regular" single-lane-rocket constructed thus far by the KSA. The three Kerbals and their gear that you can see within the fairings in the pic below (from top to bottom: lander, command- and return vehicle, travel-stage) will be riding a 180-ton lifter that was thus far only used for the unmanned Andromeda tanker class.

Approximately one year later (depending on transfer windows), the 2nd crew will launch. Since by then a functional and re-useable lander should be in place at Duna, they will only carry a little extra-fuel in their travel stage and thus can use a slightly smaller lifter system (payload weight about 130 tons). Picture below: in the fairings the command- and return-vessel and the travel- and fueler stage below.

Since this project deemed to be somewhat complex and Kerbal-lives were at risk, after a few launch simulations, a more or less complete test-run on the Mun was set up to learn the procedures and get a chance to iron out any design-flaws. So as a first step, the Skydragon took off from the KSC runway.

Pedal to the metal... or something like that...

The Skydragon released the Habitation Rover in LKO...

...and returned to its nest.

Just half an hour after the return of the SSTO, the carrier-system, that was already waiting on the launchpad took off.

In the upper atmosphere, the lifter package was dropped...

And the ship continued on its own engines.

Rendezvous with the Habitation Rover.

Come to papa...

I got you.

Bobster, chief-engineer of the KSS Alpha, boarded the Kerbin Taxi and headed for the Rover Carrier.

Docking up at the target.

And then it was EVA-time for Bobster to properly strut the Rover up on its carrier.

Once his work was done, he seemed pretty pleased...

The Kerbalnaut headed back to the orbital spaceport.

As mission control turned its focus back on the carrier-system and its payload, it had to realize that somehow the cargo struts were gone again. It looked like Bobster would get a tiresome miner-job on a distant moon just like Roissa.

But the connection seemed rigid enough to carry on with the mission. And after all, it was a test... so the Rover Carrier met up with the Pegasus tanker to refuel.

And then it headed off to the Mun for its deployment.

Insertion burn into Mun orbit...

Soon it was descending on Kerbin... on the Mun surface.

Mission success.

Next step was a test of the lander. The test-contract did not involve the actual travel stages of the first crew. Considering the costs of the whole rocket, a lander-only test makes this quite profitable instead. But it means some risk for the future...

So the lander and a small travel-stage were strapped on a cheap lifter and boosted into space...

A few hours later, the lander about to do an inclination change on the backside of the Mun. Since the farside crater, where the Habitation Rover had landed, was in the dark, the loiter-time was used to swing arround the Mun and get this nice image of it with Kerbin and the sun on it.

Shortly afterwards, the lander gets put down within spit range of the rover and its carrier.

And the 2nd trial-mission of the Apollo-Duna project was complete.

Next up was a full blown practice run for the 2nd crew transfer.

As mentioned further above, the 2nd crew wont have to carry an own lander, since they should be able to rely on the one that travelled with the first crew. So a much smaller and more affordable rocket comes to use.

Take off from the pad...

Boosters out...

Jeb seems to like the action as usual...

The X-10L "Thor" SRBs falling back towards the KSC...

Through the gravity turn...

Mid-launcher seperation...

And into space we go...

As the vessel breached into space, the fairings came off...

Half an hour later, after seperation from the last lifter stage, the vessel started the burn for the Mun.

On a trajectory towards the target. Sending back a status report.

As the three Kerbals entered orbit arround the Mun, the lander took off again from the surface.

Rendezvous 30 km above the Mun.

Gerke, the missions engineer, pumped the fuel from the travel stage into the lander. Then the three Kerbals went on board...

... and left their command- and return-module in orbit...

...to do a precision landing near the Habitation Rover.

On the Mun yet again...

Gerke had the honor of placing a test-site flag.

Then he went over to the carrier and inspected the Rover.

After boarding it, he declamped the docking ports and tried to move forward. To his surprise, the vehicle would not move much, beeing held back by what seemed to still be a connection with the carrier-ship.

Gerke checked out the docking port again and fired the emergency-decoupler underneath it to make sure the connection was cut.

But still, the vehicle was not moving at all. So Gerke even blew up the now useless radial connector port.

But that didnt help either. So Gerke pulled back, shaking his head and crawled back into the lander to discuss with the rest of the crew.

The three Kerbals decided to try lifting the carrier up, even though that was considered as slightly risky as the mission depends on the intact Habitation Rover. But it beeing tied to the carrier would make things difficult at best, too, since the Rover had to refuel the lander vessel in order to get the Kerbalnauts back to their command module later on. So Jeb pulled out the remote device and gently lifted the carrier up. Unfortunately, the Rover remained fixed to it even in flight.

After Jeb had almost crash-landed the ship, Gerke had an idea and flew over to the relocated carrier, mumbling something about invisible struts...

And indeed... the struts that were installed in EVA in LKO earlier were intact, just not displayed. All right, Bobster,... no need to worry about becoming a miner yet.

Gerke started to take down the invisu-struts...

As he pulled out the last one, he accidently smashed his oversized head against the nuclear reactor and fell to the ground between the huge tires of the rover.

Still giggling about the situation, Jeb and Bob in the lander realized that the rover had started to roll due to the slope of the terrain and the released brakes and joints. And Gerke was laying and tumbling right in its way as the rover began to pick up speed...

Bob yelled like crazy over the radio as Gerke tumbled further underneath the 44 ton colossus...

...just enough to be inbetween the lanes and the rover rolled over him...

...without catching him.

Looking back at the rolling monster. Ground clearance can not be valued high enough...

Then Gerke had to hurry up...

And chase the rover down before it would become to fast and roll over the next cliff...

Now the mission finally seemed to be on the right track. The engineer boarded the rover and drove it up...

...to the lander to start mining and refueling.

Only to discover another problem... the connector ports on the rover were attached at the top... and on the lander at the bottom.

Gerke: "Uh, Jeb... this doesnt look good". Jeb: "Yeah, those ports were moved out of the way to make room to mount the vehicle inside the SSTO lifter. You are an engineer. Take your screwdriver and reposition those ports." Gerke: "Uh... Screwdriver... nobody told me to bring my own." Bob: "D'oh!"

So the three Kerbalnauts sat down inside the Habitation Rover to consider their options. Bob said mission control could certainly send a package with a screwdriver within a short time. But Jeb was against that, since such an option wouldn't be available on Duna either and calling for help was not his style anyway. Gerke mentioned that this lander was designed for Duna,... it still had plenty of fuel for a Mun orbit left. They wouldnt need to use the mining equipment to get home again. But Jeb shaked his head again. The mission requirements precisely listed a full test of all key elements of the upcoming Duna operation.

Eventually they came up with a plan. The carrier also had connector ports for refueling, since this vessel was planned to be re-useable. So it might be possible to position the Rover on one side and link it up and connect the lander on the other side of the carrier. Then pump fuel through the tug into the landers tanks. However, it would require very precise maneuvering with the lander right next to the carrier-ship...

(to be continued...)

Edited June 17, 2015 by TrooperCooper

[TrooperCooper]

The KSA is finishing its equipment tests on the Mun and prepares to start manned missions into interplanetary space soon. Click the spoiler below the picture for details.

The Habitation Rover pulled away from the two ships as the Kerbalnauts were about to start their planned maneuver...

Then the lander took off, remotely controled by Jebediah. Carefully he moved over towards the carrier ship....

And put it down next to it in a shaky landing...

Then Gerke connected the two vessels through their ports.

And the rover moved into position.

And as the Kerbals had hoped, in this setup a link connection was possible...

Now the drilling and fuel production could begin. The 3 Kerbalnauts spent the next month on the Mun to run further tests of their equipment.

A few weeks later they were pretty positive, that with a few bug fixes they could survive on the surface of Duna for a prolonged time as well. The mission was a success and after shutting down the Habitation Rover, the team boarded the lander.

And left the test site.

Meeting up with the command- and return- module in Munar orbit.

After the crew transfer, the travel stage was jetted and the lander left in Munar orbit. Who knows, maybe one day the KSA might need it there...

Jeb fired the Vesta-engine and the team left the Muns orbit...

With a live-test of the return stage, they landed back on Kerbin one day later.

Now that the KSA had completed testing the backbone of the Duna projects gear, it was time to iron out all the minor issues that occured in the designs.

In the meantime an upcoming Duna transfer window was to be utilized. Two automated vessels took off from the KSC...

One was a small automated station that was to be transfered into Dunas low orbit to serve as a safe haven if the need would arise in the future.

It was soon followed by the next lifter-launch...

... which brought the Duna Explorer, a combination of orbiter and lander into space.

Both vessels left Kerbin during the transfer window...

Course set...

As Duna Explorer arrived at its destination...

It split up...

The orbiter accelerated a bit ahead...

While the lander stayed back to avoid overlapping maneuver times on arrival...

The orbiter went into a polar orbit and started to analyze the planet in all possible ways...

The lander went into an equatorial orbit. And after leaving its travel stage behind...

...it descended on the surface.

First touch-down of a kerbal-made object on Duna. Loads of scientific data were transmitted at once.

Shortly afterwards, the orbital outpost arrived and burned into a plane orbit.

After deployment of its solar panels, it is now ready to serve as a shelter for any upcoming team of Kerbalnauts that might have to wait for a rescue ship. It also has a little backup fuel for the return stages or the Duna lander, in case some pilot should pull a wastefull maneuver...

The KSA has also decided to take a slower approach. Instead of going for a landing right away, there will be one or more manned missions to the red planets SOI without a descent to the surface at the beginning, just like during the Apollo-Program. Jebediah, Bob and Gerke are already gearing up to catch the next transfer window...

[TrooperCooper]

The KSA finally did its first manned interplanetary mission. Click the spoiler below the picture to see more.

12 years after the beginning of the space program, the KSA was ready to step into interplanetary space. Since the first manned mission beyond the SOI of Kerbin was just aiming to achieve an orbit arround Duna and then head back during the next return window, the payload was much lighter than for a landing mission that was planned for later. The setup of the top stage basicly consisted of what would be used for a crew rotation of the Habitation Rover minus the extra fuel for the lander. The package was strapped on a standardized 85 ton lifter and Jeb, Bob and Gerke prepared for their voyage.

We have lift off...

Launch booster seperation...

The Griffon XX engine cluster accelerated the rocket further...

Seperation of the launch stage at 30 km...

Finalizing the ascent, going for a 100 km orbit...

Breaching into space and ejecting the fairings...

After arriving in a parking orbit, the transfer was planned. 3 days buffer time and then a 3 month long flight ahead...

When the countdown reached zero, the ship began to burn out of its orbit,...

...leaving Kerbin behind.

The first crew report from interplanetary space, while the home planet in the background became smaller and smaller...

After a midflight correction burn, the final approach was set.

And almost 89 days after the launch, finally the red planet came in sight...

As they got closer, the Kerbalnauts couldnt hold on to themselfs and all of a sudden there were all three of them stargazing outside...

...enjoying the view.

Approaching Duna and its moon...

Orbital insertion burn...

First sunrise above a new world...

Arriving at the automated outpost. While it wasnt planned to go there, the three Kerbalnauts decided that they need a party room.

The team remained in orbit for almost four month.

Then, as the return-window was about to open up, they undocked from the tiny station and prepared to head home.

After the travel stage was dumped, the three Kerbals planned their flight.

Another 81 days untill they would be back.

When the time was right, the little Vesta engine fired up.

Zipping past the outpost...

...and leaving the red planet behind.

Bye bye Duna and Ike,... we will be back.

Nearly three month later, Kerbin and its moons came in sight.

Approaching the home world...

Orbital insertion burn. To stay on the safety side, a direct aero-brake-descend was not planned.

After the re-entry, the capsule hang on its chutes...

And the mission was a flawless success.

Since this run had no issues at all, the KSA is now preparing for the real thing: deployment of the Habitation Rover on the surface of Duna and then a manned landing.

Edited June 13, 2015 by TrooperCooper

[lajoswinkler]

What is that ionizing radiation thingy you have there?