A Spacetime Oddity - My KSP

[Tex]

 

If ever a species had a fate, a destiny written in the stars... It would be the Kerbals.

Crew Roster

=(Pilot Corps)=     Jebediah Kerman Valentina Kerman Doodtop Kerman Philmore Kerman Irjorie Kerman Carise Kerman Gilcan Kerman

=(Engineer Corps)=  Bill Kerman Orfry Kerman Katphe Kerman Kengun Kerman

=(Scientist Corps)= Bob Kerman Derby Kerman Duger Kerman Frovan Kerman Hadhat Kerman

Red Name = Deceased
Blue Name = Assigned
Green Name = New Hire

Space Programs
=(Project Moho)=
Project Moho is the first program in which Kosmonauts will fly on suborbital rockets, as well as fly very simple orbital science
missions to gather basic information on spaceflight and how it affects the Kerbal body.
(Link)
=(Minmus Program)=
The Minmus Program, fittingly, is a program that involves manned and unmanned missions to both Minmussian orbit and the surface of the moon. This program also includes surface bases and space stations that will be in place around the moon.
(Link)

=(Duna Program)=
The Duna program is going to be a series of primarily unmanned landings on Duna, and will likely feature scientific probes, impactors, and rovers.
(Link)

=(High Altitude Research Project [HARP])=
The High Altitude Research Project, or HARP for short, is intended to be a series of research stations placed on the tops of mountains to study the effects of the atmosphere at high elevations, and to study clouds, while also providing landmark beacons for guiding spacecraft.
(Link)

 

Mission Chronology
The Mission Chronology is a list of all missions launched by the Kerbal Space Program in chronological order.
Failed missions are colored red, and missions that are in progress are colored blue. Missions with red asterisks by their names are missions that are intended to be submitted to challenges on the KSP Forum.

Moho 1 - Moho 2 - Moho 3 - Moho 4 - Moho 5 - Moho 6 - Moho 7 - Moho 8 - Moho 9 - Moho 10 - Moho 11
Minmus 1 - Minmus 2 - Minmus 3
Duna 1
Minmus 4 - Minmus 5
Unnamed HARP ground test

 

[Tex]

=(Project Moho)=
Project Moho is the first program in which Kosmonauts will fly on suborbital rockets, as well as fly very simple orbital science missions to gather basic information on spaceflight and how it affects the Kerbal body.
Total Missions: 11
Failed Missions: 1
Program Success Rating: 91%

The Kosmonauts of Project Moho and the latest Moho Spacecraft. From left to right: Doodtop Kerman, Jebediah Kerman, and Philmore Kerman.

 

Moho 1
Status: Success
Crew: Jebediah Kerman
Final Orbit: Suborbital

Moho 1 launched and landed successfully after attaining a record height of just over 5km in altitude. Jebediah Kerman was the pilot for this historic mission, and reported no ill affects from the very brief period of ballistic weightlessness he felt. Experiments performed during the mission, both automatically and conducted by Jebediah, netted 40.3 Science points.

Moho 2
Status: Failure
Crew: Valentina Kerman
Final Orbit: Suborbital

Moho 2 launched successfully, and propelled Valentina Kerman to a final height of 101km aboard a new liquid-fuel rocket design. Valentina experienced about two minutes of weightlessness and performed several experiments.

Unfortunately, Valentina was killed upon splashdown. The spacecraft was moving too fast downwards to allow the parachute enough time to open and deploy safely, and while it did deploy, the capsule was still moving downwards at nearly 50m/s when it struck the water and broke apart.

Rest in peace, Valentina Kerman, first female Kosmonaut, and first Kerbal to reach space.\

Moho 3
Status: Success
Crew: Doodtop Kerman
Final Orbit: Suborbital

Moho 3 was a successful mission. Due to the Moho 2 disaster, a new ascent profile was taken that was intended to give more time to allow the atmosphere to slow the capsule down before the parachutes are opened and deployed around 2km above the surface. Doodtop Kerman did not reach space due to this ascent profile, but came exceedingly close, breaking the altitude record at 64km above Kerbin's ocean.

Moho 4
Status: Success
Crew: Jebediah Kerman
Final Orbit: ~85km x 80km

Moho 4 was the first successful spacefaring mission that the Kerbal Space Program has undertaken. Pilot Jebediah Kerman took Moho 4 up to a stable orbit around Kerbin and landed safely in the ocean, becoming the first Kerbal to survive spaceflight. The only issue in the mission occured when Jebediah forgot to perform every single experiment he was supposed to do in space, leaving the mission with a large Science deficit that will be corrected in future missions.

Jebediah did, however, remember to take plenty of photographs of the first-ever orbital mission while he flew.

Moho 5
Status: Success
Crew: Doodtop Kerman
Final Orbit: ~100km x 120km

Moho 5 was a complete success, and was completed without any difficulty. However, the launch did bring to light some engineering issues regarding rocket stability, which engineers have devised a solution to, and intend to work it into the launch vehicle for Moho 6 and beyond. Doodtop Kerman also broke altitude records for the flight, and actually completed his assigned experiments, unlike Jebediah Kerman.

Moho 6
Status: Success
Crew: Philmore Kerman
Final Orbit: Suborbital

Moho 6 was Philmore Kerman's very first flight, and he truly earned his Kosmonaut wings. The mission was a suborbital one, but for the purpose of doing experiments in space high over Kerbin, as well as testing the effects of re-entry at higher speeds. Not only did he break both speed and altitude records (coasting to a final apoapse of 1,523km above Kerbin), but he also recovered his rocket from what would have been an abort scenario when the rocket did a complete backflip on its way up. Philmore Kerman, you are a pilot among pilots, and your first mission is going to go down as one of the best.

In addition, Philmore took some great photographs of Kerbin from so high up.

Moho 7
Status: Success
Crew: Jebediah Kerman
Final Orbit: Munar Flyby

Moho 7 was an enormous success, despite some problems later during the mission. Jebediah Kerman flew a frankly underdesigned Moho spacecraft into Munar orbit, gathering Science and taking some very epic photographs along the way. However, during reentry the capsule rocked back and forth, destroying the slightly-exposed Mystery Goo canisters that contained vital data. The Moho spacecraft is being redesigned to accomodate extra battery capacity as well as more Science modules in a protected container to circumvent the problem.

 

Moho 8
Status: Success
Crew: Doodtop Kerman
Final Orbit: Munar Flyby

Moho 8 was another successful Munar flyby, one that, due to redesigns of the Moho spacecraft, netted 70 Science when all experiments were returned successfully. Doodtop Kerman added to his growing list of successful missions and became the second Kerbal to fly by the Mun. 

Moho 9
Status: Success
Crew: Philmore Kerman
Final Orbit: Low Munar Flyby

Moho 9 was another very profound mission in terms of its accomplishments. Not only did ace pilot Philmore Kerman perform the first-ever low flyby of the Mun, he also rescued himself from an escape trajectory out of Kerbin orbit and broke speed and altitude records once more, reaching 3277.8m/s from a high point of 74,657.9km above Kerbin. He also took some excellent pictures of the Mun in a detail and closer to the Mun than ever taken before.

Moho 10
Status: Success
Crew: Jebediah Kerman
Final Orbit: Minmus Flyby

Moho 10 was another famous first for Jebediah Kerman. On this mission, Jebediah became the first Kerbal to fly by Minmus, Kerbin's second moon, and performed many experiments that netted a great deal of Science for future missions. Mission planners have confirmed that there is to be just one more Moho flight, to be conducted by Doodtop Kerman, before more programs follow.

Jebediah also took the first photographs of Minmus that show any detail, which we are proud to show: 

Moho 11
Status: Success
Crew: Doodtop Kerman
Final Orbit: Low Minmus Flyby

Moho 11 is the triumphant last mission of Project Moho. Doodtop Kerman took his spacecraft closer to Minmus than any craft has been before, and broke many records, the most notable of which was Most Science Gathered during a single mission. He also took some fantastic photographs of Minmus both near and far, and took amazing shots of Kerbin as well. It just goes to show how tiny Kerbin really is in the scope of things.

 

Edited March 11, 2016 by Maximus97

[Tex]

-NEWSFLASH!-
March 6, 2016

PROJECT MOHO ENDS IN TRIUMPH, KERBAL SPACE PROGRAM LOOKING UP

The Kosmonauts of Project Moho and the latest Moho Spacecraft. From left to right: Doodtop Kerman, Jebediah Kerman, and Philmore Kerman.
 

Project Moho was the first space program undertaken by the Kerbal Space Program. Its program goals were to perform Science experiments in Kerbin, Munar, and Minmussian orbit and gather data about how spaceflight affects the Kerbal body. Pilots Jebediah, Valentina, Doodtop, and Philmore Kerman all took part in the program, and set numerous records and performed amazing feats of science and piloting.

Jebediah Kerman was the second Kerbal to reach space, the first to orbit Kerbin, the first to do a flyby of the Mun, and first to do a flyby of Minmus. Doodtop Kerman was often the second to do such tasks, and Philmore proved his skills after saving his mission, Moho 6, after performing a backflip. Stylish!

The Project has been nearly flawless success, though its accomplishments were tainted somewhat with the death of pilot Valentina Kerman early on in the project, when her spacecraft failed to slow down enough after its parachute deployed. Valentina will go down in history as the first Kerbal to ever fly in space aboard Moho 2. Rest in peace, Valentina Kerman.

The Space Program is moving ahead, and sources say that the next target is Minmus, for manned landings to gather information about the little-known Kerbin moon.

Edited March 11, 2016 by Maximus97

[Tex]

=(Minmus Program)=
The Minmus Program, fittingly, is a program that involves manned and unmanned missions to both Minmussian orbit and the surface of the moon. This program also includes surface bases and space stations that will be in place around the moon.
Total Missions: 6
Failed Missions: 1
Program Success Rating: 83%

Minmus 1
Status: Success
Crew: Philmore Kerman
Total Mission Time: 25d, 03:26:23
 

Minmus 1 was a very huge success. Philmore Kerman led the charge to the small cyan moon with a fantastic first run of the new KLES-136 "Valentina" spacecraft, named, of course, in honor of the great female Kosmonaut Valentina Kerman. She was also immortalized on the mission plaque that rests on the flag at the Minmus 1 landing site, where she can look down upon Kerbin and wish us all well:

All in all, Philmore made a very thorough test and showed just what a Kosmonaut can do. Even in the face of danger, when rampant timewarping nearly caused him to smash into Minmus at 300m/s+ after he lifted off the surface, he acted quickly, burning and turning his recovery into a successful return trajectory to get back home. Philmore Kerman certainly is apt at removing himself from a tight spot. He's also a pretty good photographer, as evidenced by the pictures he took on the way down and whilst on the surface.

Minmus 2
Status: Success
Crew: Jebediah Kerman
Total Mission Time: 19d, 02:44:32
 

Minmus 2 was another successful Minmus landing. Jebediah Kerman piloted his spacecraft down to the surface at Minmus's Midlands, collecting extra Science thanks to a cool new gadget: a seismic accelerometer.

As you'll notice, the mission was a full 6 days shorter than Minmus 1, and this is likely due to a change in ascent profile, more accurate burns, and an overall better launch window for going to Minmus. The spaceflight was actually efficient enough that there was likely enough fuel left in the second stage to have landed safely on the surface of the moon, and give a kick back to the actual landing stage in the return to Kerbin. However, it was jettisoned in favor of using the landing stages... well, landy bits. The second stage actually survived impacting the surface, and Jebediah took some neat photographs of the damage to help engineers with their math sorcery.

Minmus 3
Status: Success
Crew: Doodtop Kerman
Total Mission Time: 25d, 02:07:51
 

Minmus 3 was a successful Minmus landing. Its target area was originally Minmus's North Pole, but it was decided upon seeing where the periapse of the original elliptical orbit was, the landing site was changed to the Minmussian Lowlands. Doodtop Kerman landed on the body for the first time, and compared to previous missions took few photos. It was also notable for being the most skewed landing yet, as the terrain Doodtop landed on was quite slopey. The spacecraft actually required SAS assistance (that's a new tongue twister) when it threatened to tip over upon contact. All in all, another excellent and textbook mission.

Minmus 4
Status: Failure
Crew: Philmore Kerman
Total Mission Time: 0d, 00:00:00
 

The aftermath of the Minmus 4 disaster.

Minmus 4 encountered a catastrophic explosion while on the launchpad. A staging error that was not found prior to launch caused the six TT18-A Launch Stability Enhancers that supported the Minmus 4 spacecraft disengaged, sending the rocket dropping about six or seven meters to the launch pad. The launch pad itself could not support the weight of the spacecraft crashing down onto it, and was destroyed. The Minmus 4 spacecraft initially survived the crash when the first explosion struck, but as the launch pad collapsed and the rocket began exploding, Philmore Kerman engaged the second stage engines in an attempt to clear the blast zone and survive. However, these engines were LV-909 "Terrier" engines, which are not rated for atmospheric flight, and the thrust of the engines were not sufficient to keep the spacecraft aloft. Minmus 4 crashed into the ground and exploded, killing Philmore Kerman.

The launch would have been the first to feature a slightly redesigned KLES-136 "Valentina" spacecraft, one that featured smaller bottom fuel tanks, which reduced the overal delta-V of the spacecraft, but would allow for more efficient usage of the second stage engines in travelling to Minmus and back.

Minmus 5
Status: Success
Crew: Irjorie Kerman
Total Mission Time: [Data Lost]
 

Minmus 5 is the first mission to be undertaken since the Minmus 4 explosion, and because of that, it is an important stepping stone. It just goes to show the strength and character of the male and female Kerbals that went into making the space program what it is, and demonstrate their unwillingness to surrender  a single step even due to a catastrophe. The mission is the second to carry with it a memorial plaque on its flag, forever letting Philmore Kerman's name reside where he was the first to conquer: Minmus.

As shown by the plaque, this mission was also the first mission for pilot Irjorie Kerman, the first female Kerbal that has flown into space since Moho 2. Unlike the ill-fated flight of Valentina Kerman, however, Irjorie successfully carried out a Minmussian landing and performed many science experiments to further advance the space program's goals. Irjorie is also notably the first to take a space selfie, though the bulky camera provided to Kosmonauts prevented her from taking a very clear image. The mission album also includes some notable pictures of Minmus 5's liftoff and coast into orbit. The separation of the first stage occurs too high up for reliable imagery.

 

Minmus 6
Status: Success
Crew: Gilcan Kerman
Total Mission Time: [Data Lost]
 

Minmus 6 is the sixth manned mission to Minmus, and is notable for a few reasons. First and foremost, the mission was dedicated to the fallen engineer Bill Kerman, who was recently killed in a test of rover equipment.

Like Minmus 5, an error resulted in the loss of the total mission time (which may be technically a memory error), so that data has not been released. This flight was the first of Gilcan Kerman, who unintentionally broke the spaceflight endurance record when an errant timewarp made him skip the aerocapture and re-entry to Kerbin on his first pass. He spent nearly 40 days in space. In addition, when the navball was switched from Orbital to Surface mode, Gilcan forgot to switch it back and actually ended up on a Kerbin escape trajectory before the mistake was discovered and the correct burn made.

In addition, famous artist Pablasso Kerman was gracious enough to create some images of Minmus 6's re-entry during the night on Kerbin. Excellent work!

[Tex]

=(Duna Program)=
The Duna program is going to be a series of primarily unmanned landings on Duna, and will likely feature scientific probes, impactors, and rovers.
Total Missions: 1
Failed Missions: 0
Program Success Rating: 100%

Duna 1
Status: In Progress

Duna 1 has been launched and is currently parked in a 521 x 500km orbit around Kerbin. The mission features a newly-designed probe, the KLESU-092 "Carlgan" Dunar Probe, which is, of course, named for the famous science popularizer Carlgan Kerman. Carlgan is an astronomer who also created the wildly successful educational television program, Heavens: A Self Journey. As such, he helped design the probe, which, in hindsight, could have used extra solar panels because its panels only face upwards, to supply the probe with electricity when it is on Dunar soil. Power problems aside, the mission is waiting for a proper launch window to maximize its efficiency.

Update (11 March 2016): Upon clicking on the KSP launch window planner doing some very complicated research and mathematical predictions as to the optimal launch window, Duna 1's transdunar injection burn has been set for Day 236 according to the KSC program clock, which means a countdown for 71 days has been initiated.
 

 

Edited March 12, 2016 by Maximus97

[TopHeavy11]

Cool, but moar pics of launch?

[Tex]

Sure thing! I shall post some pictures of launches using a technique I did before. I'll contact the camera crew at KSC and we'll get right on it.

[TopHeavy11]

[Tex]

-NEWSFLASH!-
March 11, 2016

MINMUS 4 EXPLODES ON LAUNCHPAD,
PILOT PHILMORE KERMAN KILLED

The aftermath of the Minmus 4 explosion.

Minmus 4 encountered a catastrophic explosion while on the launchpad. A staging error that was not found prior to launch caused the six TT18-A Launch Stability Enhancers that supported the Minmus 4 spacecraft disengaged, sending the rocket dropping about six or seven meters to the launch pad. The launch pad itself could not support the weight of the spacecraft crashing down onto it, and was destroyed. The Minmus 4 spacecraft initially survived the crash when the first explosion struck, but as the launch pad collapsed and the rocket began exploding, Philmore Kerman engaged the second stage engines in an attempt to clear the blast zone and survive. However, these engines were LV-909 "Terrier" engines, which are not rated for atmospheric flight, and the thrust of the engines were not sufficient to keep the spacecraft aloft. Minmus 4 crashed into the ground and exploded, killing Philmore Kerman.

The launch would have been the first to feature a slightly redesigned KLES-136 "Valentina" spacecraft, one that featured smaller bottom fuel tanks, which reduced the overal delta-V of the spacecraft, but would allow for more efficient usage of the second stage engines in travelling to Minmus and back.

Philmore Kerman was one of the four Kosmonauts chosen to participate in the original Project Moho, the first manned space program in KSP history. He showed himself to be an ace pilot, once saving a rocket and completing his mission after performing an unplanned backflip, and was also the first Kerbal to set foot upon Minmus. Minmus 4 would have been his second landing.

Rest in peace, brave Kosmonaut. Your achievements will continue to inspire us all.

[Tex]

@TopHeavy11, there's some images of the Minmus 5 launch for you up in the Minmus Program section!

Edited March 12, 2016 by Maximus97

[TopHeavy11]

Awesome! Re-entry pics are cool too, if you want to add them.

[Tex]

38 minutes ago, TopHeavy11 said:

Awesome! Re-entry pics are cool too, if you want to add them.

They are, but I can't do them believably in the style of crew-taken photographs in the tiny Mk1 Command Pod; the effects are just a bunch of polygons from that close up. I suppose I could get Pablasso Kerman to get some nice pictures painted, but in the meantime I'm going to see if I can do better with larger command pods with more room to make it blend a bit easier. Maybe I can even try blending the polygons afterwards, who knows.

Anywho, maybe when I can make it look good and fit the style 

[Tex]

-NEWSFLASH!-
March 12, 2016

KERBAL SPACE PROGRAM ENGINEER KILLED
DURING RECKLESS TEST OF EQUIPMENT

The wreckage from the failed research craft.

Another tragedy occurred several kilometers West of the Kerbal Space Center earlier today as engineer Bill Kerman was killed whilst performing a test of the newly-designed KoSts-78 Mobile Mountain Research Station. 

Bill Kerman was the lead engineer for the newly-designed program, the High Altitude Research Project (HARP), which was intended to conduct research at very high elevations, primarily in the mountain range to the west of the Kerbal Space Center. To get there, the science station would have to be transported across several kilometers of rolling hills, navigating through sparse forest before then ascending the mountain. The program is also intended to help study the effects of new rover technologies on long and arduous journeys, in an attempt to perform the Elcano ground circumnavigation challenge.

If the recent disaster is any indication, the project has a long way to go before high-altitude testing can begin or provide any meaningful data for the space program.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

-NEWSFLASH!-
March 13, 2016

H.A.R.P. DISCONTINUED, PROGRAM FUNCTIONS TO BE REDESIGNATED

In an announcment earlier today, the Kerbal Space Program announced the disbanding of the High Altitude Research Project, or HARP, following the death of chief engineer Bill Kerman.

It is unclear at this point whether or not the decision was influenced by the incident, although certainly the disbanding's proximity to the disaster raises questions. The fundamental goals of HARP were to "be a series of research stations placed on the tops of mountains to study the effects of the atmosphere at high elevations, and to study clouds, while also providing landmark beacons for guiding spacecraft." These functions are said to be passed to a program of an entirely new designation, which will likely involve other types of ground-based research stations.

Edited March 13, 2016 by Maximus97

[max_creative]

Another awesome mission report and story! +rep!