RSS Lunar Program: Virgo-Libra - Virgo 1 and 2 missions added !

[Gaarst]

I've been playing with RSS for some time now and started recently to gain interest for the Moon, once I have pretty much filled LKO with random probes...

So, I've decided to make a lunar program and, as I am very satisfied about it, I've also decided to make a report, here, on the forums, telling what I'm doing and stuff (which is precisely why this section exists ).

Here it is:

The Virgo-Libra Lunar Program

First, how it's done:

I play with RSS, in sandbox mode (launching a 1M Kredits rocket for the Moon isn't really convenient) and with only a few basic mods: SpaceY for bigger rockets, Real Fuels for more realistic fuels (really useful explanation on this one), Kerbal Joint Reinforcement, KER, Real Plume and a few others.

My PC is not borrowed from NASA, far from it, so no RVE, no high-res textures, best I can do is Real Plume !

All launches will depart from Kourou, because European reasons.

This is not an Apollo recreation, rockets are not designed to be copies of real ones and their masses and payload fraction may not be realistic.

Second, the missions:

• Virgo missions are all manned missions aiming to test and design the Lunar landing, as well as the landing itself.
  
• Libra missions are unmanned missions with different aims, mostly to learn how to get there safely, and to get comfortable with Lunar flybys, orbits and landings.
  

Mission schedule and quick explanations:

• Libra 1: Aims to study a flight trajectory from landing site in order to get in an orbit parallel to the Moon's, as well as to get delta-V information of the process.
  
• Virgo 1: Test of the main crew capsule in normal Moon return conditions.
  
• Virgo 2: Test of the main crew capsule in abnormal Moon return conditions, here with a very steep reentry.
  
• Libra 2: Get in low orbit around the Moon.
  
• Libra 3: Get in a polar orbit around the Moon.
  
• Libra 4: Get in an equatorial orbit around the Moon and start to study the surface for possible landing sites.
  
• Virgo 3: Test of the main module and the lunar lander in LEO.
  
• Virgo 4: Make a lunar flyby with the command capsule, with a free return trajectory.
  
• Libra 5: Lunar impacter.
  
• Virgo 5: First test of the complete Lunar rocket. Aims to make a flyby of the Moon and to test the module and lander there.
  
• Libra 6: Land a probe on the Moon's equator.
  
• Libra 7: Land a probe on one of the Moon's pole.
  
• Libra 8: Land a rover on the Moon.
  
• Virgo 6: Place the capsule and lander in lunar orbit, and return to Earth.
  
• Libra 9: Make a targeted landing at either one the probes already landed or at a defined point on the surface (ie: crater)
  
• Libra 10: Land a probe on the Moon and return it to Earth.
  
• Libra 11: Place a probe in very low Lunar equatorial orbit to determine a landing area for the manned mission to the Moon.
  
• Virgo 7: Land a manned vessel on the Moon and return from there to Earth.
  

This schedule may change if a mission doesn't happen quite like expected or if a new issue appears, especially for Virgo missions.

Third, the launchers used:

Seen on the image with the Libra 1 probe as payload.

A simple 2.5m sized rocket, rated for 3t to LEO, 77t at launch. Two stages, uses kerolox for 1st stage and hydrolox for 2nd.

Used for the Libra 1 to 5 and Libra 11 missions.

Seen on the image with the Libra 6 probe as payload.

A two stage 3.75m rocket, with two SRBs for higher TWR at launch. Rated for 10t to LEO, 270t at launch. Uses kerolox for 1st and 2nd stages.

Used for the Libra 6 to 9 missions.

Seen on the image with the Virgo 1 capsule for payload.

A 3.75m rocket with two stages and two large SRBs for higher thrust. Design loosely based on Ariane 5. Rated for 20t to LEO, 560t at launch. Uses kerolox for the 1st and 2nd stages.

Used for the Virgo 1 and 2 missions.

Seen on the picture with the lunar command module for payload.

A 5m rocket with two stages. Design based on a real rocket, can't remember which one though... Rated for 25-30t to LEO, 525t at launch. Uses kerolox for 1st stage and hydrolox for 2nd.

Used for the Virgo 4 and Libra 10 missions.

Seen on the image with the lunar lander and module for payload.

A 5m rocket with two stages. Basically a C5 Jupiter with a larger 2nd stage. Rated for 35t to LEO, 710t at launch. Uses kerolox for 1st and 2nd stages.

Used for the Virgo 3 mission.

The lunar rocket, seen on the image with its standard payload: the lunar command module and lander.

A 5m rocket with 3 stages and 4 large liquid fuel boosters. It is called Alba Ultra because it is a redesign of my original Alba rocket, weighing half of its orignial mass for the same payload to lunar orbit. Rated for 30t to lunar insertion orbit, 1640t at launch. Uses kerolox for liquid boosters and 1st stage, and hydrolox for 2nd and 3rd stages.

Used for the Virgo 5 to 7 missions.

Last, the missions reports:

I will add posts to this thread when I complete the successive missions. There may be only one post for several missions if they are very similar or just empty/boring on their own.

A mission report will typically contain 4 sections: Objectives, Description, Progress and Mission status and results.

• Objectives: the objectives of the mission... Did I really need to explain that ?
  
• Description: the rocket and payload explained.
  
• Progress: what happened during the mission.
  
• Mission status and results: conclusions of the mission, successes and failures.
  

I will most likely add an Imgur album to these in order to avoid hundreds of spoilers or kilometer-long posts.

That's it for the introduction, I hope you'll enjoy this as much a I enjoyed making it ! I am open to any suggestions or critics, so feel free to do so.

Edited September 2, 2015 by Gaarst
Added Virgo 1 and 2 missions

[Gaarst]

Here is the mission report of the Libra 1 mission:

Objectives:

Determine the delta-V requirements for a orbit with minimal inclination relative to the Moon's and study flight and heading of ascent.

Description:

The Libra 1 probe is launched by a C1 Pegasus launcher. The mass at launch is 77t and delta-V is more than enough for tests in orbit.

The launcher itself has two stages: the first one is powered by a kerolox-fed Mainsail and powers the rocket for the greatest part of the ascent, until around 90km; the second one by a hydrolox-fed Poodle that gives the payload the rest of the horizontal velocity needed to be in a stable orbit.

The payload is made of a hypergolic (Aerozine50 + NTO) third stage with a diameter of 1.25 powered by a Terrier engine, and of the Libra 1 probe, which itself contains two hypergolic Spider engines for small orbtial maneouvres.

Progress:

The mission was successfully launched from Kourou, following a 63-64° heading for most of the ascent.

The probe was depolyed once in orbit, with an inclination relative to the Moon of around 1.5°.

After a very small orbital manoeuvre to correct the inclination, the probe was in its definitive orbit: a 250x217km orbit with 28°22'11" orbital inclination and 0°0'26.892" inclination relative to the Moon.

Mission status and results:

The mission is over and a complete success, it showed that the delta-V requirements to correct the orbital inclination to match the Moon's are even less than expected when following a 63° heading from launch, when launching during the right window. Libra 1 is deployed in an orbit almost parallel to the Moon's (less than half an arc minute of relative inclination).

Image gallery (Imgur album):

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[Gaarst]

Here the report of the Virgo 1 and 2 missions. The two missions are very similar in their objectives and in their flights, so this report will contain both missions.

Objectives:

The objective of these missions is to test the lunar capsule in ballistic lunar reentry conditions. The capsule will be placed in LEO and manoeuvre will be done to simulate the final part of a Moon return: apoapsis will be raised to 400 000 km, and periapsis will be reduced to <130km. The Virgo 1 mission aims to test the capsule in nominal reentry conditions, while Virgo 2 aims to test is in abnormal conditions: with a steeper reentry than normally planned.

Description:

Both missions will be launched by C4 Icarus launchers. The mass at launch is 560t and a third stage has been added to increase the delta-V abilities of the launchers.

The launcher has two stages and two S223 Super Heavy Lift (SpaceY part) solid boosters. The first stage powered by a Ratite engine (SpaceY part) and the solid boosters will provide thrust for most of the ascent while the second stage will put the payload into orbit. The second stage being powered by a Rhino engine, it can be re-ignited once, hence the two Separatrons used as ullage engines.

The payload is made of a 2.5m diameter third stage powered by a Poodle engine and uses Aerozine50 and NTO as bipropellants, it is therefore reignitable several times, although one ignition will be required for these missions.

Finally, on top of the third stage sits the command capsule that will be used for the lunar missions. This model is derived from another capsule already used on LEO, so the modifications were essentially reinforcements for reentry at greater speeds and the addition of survival systems for the duration of the trip to the Moon. For the Virgo 1 and 2 missions, the survival systems have been removed and replaced by many sensors, and additional safety systems for the crew to survive the G force experienced during the reentry.

Virgo 1 crew: Kathlie Kerman (Pilot) and Podald Kerman (Engineer)

Virgo 2 crew: Billo Kerman (Pilot) and Bill Kerman (Engineer)

Progress:

Virgo 1 and 2 timeline:

t+0:00:00: Ignition of the first stage liquid engine and of the two SRBs

t+0:00:01: Liftoff of the launcher

t+0:02:21: Separation of the solid boosters

t+0:04:04: Separation of the first stage

Virgo 1 timeline:

t+0:04:15: Separation of the fairing at an altitude of 92km

t+0:08:25: Shutdown of the second stage, the rocket being in an orbit of 398x101km

t+0:50:45: Ignition of the ullage engines

t+0:50:54: Re-ignition of the second stage

t+0:51:10: Separation of the second stage

t+0:53:28: Shutdown of the third stage, the capsule being in an orbit of 387000x42km

t+0:54:35: Entering the atmosphere with a surface speed of 10.5 km/s, and separation of the third stage

t+0:56:40: Max G force experienced during reentry: 8.4 g at an altitude of 40km

t+0:59:18: Parachute deployment at 5km high

t+1:01:55: Splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, north-east of Indonesia

Virgo 2 timeline:

t+0:03:22: Separation of the fairing at an altitude of 96km

t+0:07:25: Shutdown of the second stage, the rocket being in an orbit of 332x129km

t+0:48:53: Ignition of the ullage engines

t+0:48:58: Re-ignition of the second stage

t+0:49:10: Separation of the second stage

t+0:51:26: Shutdown of the third stage, the capsule being in a suborbital orbit with an apoapsis of 385000km

t+0:51:47: Entering the atmosphere with a surface speed of 10.6 km/s, and separation of the third stage

t+0:53:05: Max G force experienced during reentry: 32 g at an altitude of 30km

t+0:54:38: Parachute deployment at 5km high

t+0:57:12: Splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, north-east of Indonesia, a few kilometers away from the Virgo 1 capsule

Mission status and results:

Both missions are considered as successes as the objectives of each one have been completed.

The Virgo 1 mission proved that the capsule is capable of surviving a reentry from the Moon: the ablative heatshield was left with 16 units of ablator out of 250 initially and the G force experienced during the ballistic reentry is acceptable.

The Virgo 2 mission showed that the capsule is also capable of surviving a critical reentry from the Moon, as well as its crew, whom survived thanks to the special survival systems that allowed them to withstand 32 g of acceleration during the reentry.

Image gallery:

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