KSA career diary

[TrooperCooper]

What is that ionizing radiation thingy you have there?

Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean.

[Geschosskopf]

Nice Duna trip.

[lajoswinkler]

Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean.

[Captain Sierra]

Its the orbital version of the PDU from MKS.

Its so hard to tell how big or small everything is from the liberal tweakscale usage.

[TrooperCooper]

Yeah thats a nuclear reactor from OKS, indeed.

Its so hard to tell how big or small everything is from the liberal tweakscale usage.

I like low part counts.

Edited June 14, 2015 by TrooperCooper

[TrooperCooper]

In preparation of the first Kerbalnauts landing on Duna, the KSA launched its attempt to deploy the 44 ton Habitation Rover on the surface of the red planet. Click the spoiler below the picture to see more.

Bill recalculated the dV requirements for the rover deployment once again and came to the conclusion, that the current Duna Carrier could not fullfill the KSAs safety standards. So an upgraded version was developed that simply got an aditional tank- and engine section added below the existing one. Due to this, the mass of the ship increased so much, that a massive Thor II L booster package had to be attached to the already designed lifter stage. The total mass grew to 2,000 tons and the part count exceeded 400. Just the booster recovery parachutes alone were 120 parts.

The biggest problem however was the fact that upon booster seperation, the Thors attached to the central section would have to travel outwards through the openings inbetween the outer lifter lanes. Several launch simulations failed due to this difficulty untill the engineers figured out that by avoiding any kind of sideways drag during seperation, the central boosters could clear of freely. The system was supposed to launch through a more or less regular gravity turn. A straight ascend out of the atmosphere with a following circularization would have driven up the dV requirements and costs immensley. So it was decided to keep this design and hope for the best that mission control will be able to keep the vessel steadily in the airstream during the booster seperation.

But first the Duna Habitation Rover (which had seen some minor upgrades - screwdrivers for everyone! ) had to be brought into space. So the SkyDragon took off from the KSC.

And hauled the backbone of the project into a 100 km orbit around Kerbin.

Then the carrier was rolled out.

And as the rover was about to pass overhead, it lifted off the pad.

The telemetric data from the massive vessel was almost to much to handle for the mission controls hardware.

Shortly before the boosters had burned out, the accelerating ship was put right into the airstream, even though that ment a less than ideal ascent. Then the moment of truth as Gene pushed the red button, the Ullage motors began to fire...

With this many of them and their fireworkds, it is always hard to tell whether or not a collision was happening...

But it didnt look to bad.

The Thors seemed to had cleared without taking half the ship with em...

Free at last!

And up we go, continuing ascent...

Seperation of the lifter.

And soon the Duna Carrier had its rendezvous with the Habitation Rover in orbit.

Lining it up...

Due to the increased length of the carrier...

...this pickup was going to be pretty tight. The rover had to sink in inbetween the tanks...

One contact and the maneuver would be ruined, since the rover had to be precisely mounted.

Almost there...

There we go!

Next up Bobster left the KSS Alpha again. This time with the new Orbital Engineering Craft, a tiny vessel to transport engineers to locations of orbital construction in LKO.

He docked up with the Duna Carrier.

And strutted the rover up. Those struts were not displayed anymore later on.

But mission control knew from prior tests that Bobsters invisible hand will keep things in equilibrium. So he returned to the KSS.

He was followed by the Andromeda Tanker, which docked up at the station...

...to grab some fuel...

...and ship it to the carrier. After its tanks were filled up again, the vessel was ready for the flight to Duna and waited for the transfer window.

Three month after it had been put into space, the package started its trip.

To bad there was nobody on board to enjoy the view...

Trajectory looking good!

Arrival at the red planet.

Orbital insertion...

Based on the data from Duna Explorer, a landing zone was picked.

And the carrier began its descend. Fingers crossed at the mission control room!

Falling like a stone...

Then the engines kicked in...

...and started to slow down the descend...

Dunas cold atmospheric gases reacting with the engine emissions...

One last burn shortly above the ground...

And we have touchdown.

Soon the drills of the Habitation Rover began to work and it turned out that despite the nuclear reactor requiring a crew to run, its large energy storage buffer could be refilled during the day with the solar cells and kept the drills and the converter running through the night.

Mission success! And now the first team of Kerbalnauts can follow to make a landing.

[TrooperCooper]

The KSA has finalized the plan for its biggest endeavor yet, the first crewed landings on Duna. Click on the spoiler below the picture to see more.

The KSA ran several launch simulations with the Apollo-Duna vessels and the administration has finaly given the green light to get this thing going. A brief overview of the plan:

Apollo-Duna 3 will consist of the following Kerbalnauts:

As planned, they will carry the big expedition setup with the lander, command and return-vessel and travel stage, brought into space by a 185 ton lifter. Once they arrive at Duna, they will land and stay at the Duna Habitation Rover on the surface for approximately 134 days (more than a Kerbin-year) before heading back home through the next return-window.

Their planned transfers look as following:

Kerbin > Duna

Duna > Kerbin

Apollo-Duna 3 launch vehicle:

Total mass: 1,180 tons

Part count: 307

Cost without recovery: 586k Kredits

Apollo-Duna 4 will consist of these Kerbalnauts:

As planned, this mission will rely on the lander brough by AD 3 already beeing in place at Duna. So they only have to bring some extra fuel for their descend and apart from that their gear consists of just the travel stage and the command-and return vessel. They will land at the Rover as well and stay on Duna for approximately 148 days.

Their planned transfers look as following:

Kerbin > Duna

Duna > Kerbin

Apollo-Duna 4 launch vehicle:

Total mass: 739 tons

Part count: 185

Cost without recovery: 298k Kredits

If you look at the transfer windows, you may notice that the two missions will indeed overlap and while AD 3 will be enroute back to Kerbin, AD 4 will be in space heading towards Duna at the same time.

Both vessels have gone into production and will be finished in time for the first launch window if everything goes as planned. Additionally, a rescue ship with the full configuration of Apollo-Duna 3 is in production as well, should the need for it arise.

Edited June 14, 2015 by TrooperCooper

[TrooperCooper]

The KSA has launched the mission Apollo-Duna 3, the first attempt to land a team of Kerbals on Duna and return them safely to Kerbin. Click on the spoiler below the picture to see more.

Year 14, Day 81 of the space program. 27 hours before its transfer window, the rocket of Apollo-Duna 3 standing ready on the launchpad.

Lift off! We have lift off...!

Valentina and Haychel were enjoying the action. Bill however did not really seem to trust his construction...

The vessel started to perform a regular gravity-turn.

Then the six Thor L boosters were burned out and got seperated by their ullage motors.

The powerfull Griffon Century took over and continued to accelerate the Rocket through the upper atmosphere...

...and into the sunrise...

Seperation of the launch stage...

...and the Kerbodyne Rhino engine did the rest of the job...

As it breached into space, the payload package was revealed.

And after finalizing the orbit, the last empty lifter stage was left behind.

The three Kerbalnauts were pleased by the smooth launch and as the Duna-transfer window came up, they started their burn...

...and left the orbit arround Kerbin.

Leaving the SOI of their home world...

A small maneuver at the descending node adjusted their trajectory. Then they travelled for more than two month through the cold, dark depth of space...

Then, on the 70th day of the mission, Haychel was able to spot the distant red planet. Can you, too?

As they came closer, preparations for the final stage of the mission began...

After the orbital insertion burn...

...the next step would be to land closely to the deployed Duna Habitation Rover. Since nighttime was coming up there, the team decided to hurry up a bit to avoid having to stay in space for another day.

Val, Bill and Haychel boarded the lander and left the command vessel on autopilot in orbit.

After an orbital correction burn...

The descend was initiated as the team was about to pass over the rover location. Meanwhile the target-approach computer of the small ship had a malfunction (computer froze everytime I set a target) and thus Valentina realized that she would have to land the ship without its guidance, just eyeballing the targets relative position...

Soon the lander dropped nearly vertical through Dunas atmosphere and the surface came closer and closer...

Bill was chewing on his fingernails while the ship began to trail heated gases...

Haychel drooled in excitement and sedated Bill.

It took a few more manually corrective maneuvers...

...that Bill certainly wouldnt have approved of in a clear state.

And the final approach began vertically.

The Rover and its carrier had become visible and were already casting long shadows in the sunset.

Valentina slowed down the lander even more...

...nearly coming to a full stop...

...and the eagle had landed...

First thing the relieved Kerbals did was sending a status report back to Kerbin.

Then Valentina had the honor...

To become the first Kerbal walking on Dunas surface...

She was soon joined by the other two Kerbalnauts and together they planted their landing flag.

Then it was time to unleash the Duna Habitation Rover. Unfortunately, the team had to realize that Dunas gravity was stronger than expected and their jetpacks were not able to lift a Kerbal up from the ground. Entering the rover was relying on this assumption, since it had no ladders attached to it.

Nonetheless, the heavy vehicle had to sustain the Kerbals lifes. And thus it was moved over to the lander.

Bill connected the two units through KAS pipes.

And the Duna Habitation Rover started to pump not just fuel but also life support resources into the lander.

The Kerbalnauts joy had been washed away by the perspective of having to sit for several month within the cramped lander capsules, without the option to have a shower or relax.

Nighttime fell on the landing site and three peeved Kerbals tried to catch some much needed sleep...

(to be continued...)

Edited June 16, 2015 by TrooperCooper

[GehringGame]

Holy cow, the Apollo Duna 3 is epic for sheer scale alone! What a monster.

The Duna Habitation Rover is also pretty darn imposing with that giant reactor in the middle. Just plain cool. I bet your Kerbals could climb on to the Rover with some Jebediah-inspired problem solving. You could probably have them jump over if you nosed the rover up to the ladder on the lander.

[DancesWithSquirrels]

Is it possible for your Kerbals to scramble up the landing legs at the front of your rover?

[TrooperCooper]

Thank you two for the suggestions.

Totally didnt think of the new climb ability and yeah... it worked.

[TrooperCooper]

The KSA continued with its first manned Duna missions. Click on the spoiler below the picture to see more.

The following morning the Kerbalnauts were woken up by a series of explosions. The carrier vessel had probably been damaged when the rover was released. The unit would have been a nice tool to have on Duna in the future, but it was not really important for the rest of the planned out project.

The same day the three Kerbals finally managed to climb on board of the Habitation Rover...

...which made staying on the surface for next few month much more comfortable.

Time passed bye and as their transfer window was coming up, the team went back on board of the lander...

...and took off...

...leaving the Rover behind.

Rendezvous with the command module in LDO.

Burn time!

Apollo Duna 3 leaving the red planet and its moon...

In the meantime on Kerbin, the KSA had been preparing for the launch of Apollo Duna 4.

Launching into the gravity turn...

Dropping the fairings after leaving the atmosphere...

And when the transfer window for AD 4 came up, it left its home world as well...

Almost a month later...AD 3 and AD 4 crossing in interplanetary space...

AD 3 was first to arrive at its destination when Kerbin came in sight...

After re-entry, the first crew of Kerbals returned from the surface of Duna back to their home.

Two weeks later, AD 4 arrived at Kerbins neighbor-planet.

Meeting up with the lander.

The landing approach for this mission was much easier, since the team had brought a new targeting computer from Kerbin. Landing at the Rover...

And planting their own flag...

To make a long and uneventfull story short, after more than four month on the surface, the Kerbalnauts took off again...

...and safely returned back to Kerbin.

[TrooperCooper]

Somehow I got sucked into RSS with Realism Overhaul and Remote Tech. I guess this is the end for this career... for now.

[Fizwalker]

Sounds like it's time for a new one! I've really enjoyed reading your diary.

[JDCollie]

Same, I really like this one. I hope you decide to document you RSS adventures as well

[GehringGame]

Your Duna mission and gigantic launch vehicles were pretty epic. Share your RSS exploits as well!

[TrooperCooper]

All right. Thanks guys. I will start a new one once it really gets going.

Though, at the moment I am just messing arround a bit in sanbox mode and it seems like I have to wait for a few mods to be updated for 1.0.3...

[Fizwalker]

What better way than to risk Jeb and the resr? Tho I might run 1.0.2 until everything caught up...

You've been in orbit, haven't you?

Edited June 24, 2015 by Fizwalker

[TrooperCooper]

You've been in orbit, haven't you?

Yeah sure. No real problem with that, except for right now the RO mods not beeing updated and my SRBs not working at all.

Running 1.0.2 would feel like a backstep. I'm just gonna wait...

[Landwalker]

TrooperCooper, in your very first post, what mod are those rocket parts from? They look excellent!

[Fizwalker]

TrooperCooper, in your very first post, what mod are those rocket parts from? They look excellent!

Those are from USI's sounding rocket mod