Hyperion I - A Mission to Moho (and Back)!

[Diddly Feelerino]

Allright lads! Figured that since people have such a hard time with reaching Moho and returning that I would upload my own Moho mission. Was able to reach the planet, get into a circular orbit and return with some fuel to spare.

PS - This game uses mods such as Scatterer, Texture Replacer, SVE, Kerbal Engineer, NFT, RPM, OPM, Planetary Bases etc. I don't use MechJeb or anything that should be considered "cheating".* Was also played on a Science Sandbox game. I should also add that I have TAC installed, so the Kerbals required Food, Water and Oxygen to remain alive (adding to the challenge).

Anyways, without further ado, here goes!

*On Kerbin re-entry the Kraken struck, causing my craft to be insta-destroyed about 3 minutes into re-entry (this was with half ablator, G-Force down and a shallow approach, with SAS on and rigidly sticking to the retrograde icon. Moreover, I had already shed 2000m/s off my incoming velocity). I have reported it as a bug and was forced to put on the overheating cheat to circumvent the issue. Should also add that multiple quickloads were needed for various stages of the landing and such (which explains the irregular times on the mission clock). Decide on that as you will!

Introducing the Titan MK I; a massive rocket (for a massive job). Capable of crewing 4 Kerbals for extended periods of upto 6 years or more in the outer planets and returning them safely to Kerbin.

Edited May 14, 2016 by Diddly Feelerino

[Diddly Feelerino]

Liftoff was successful, with the powerful Mammoth engines providing enough thrust to carry the 1,100 ton rocket into the upper atmosphere.
 

 

 

Not long after, with their fuel exhausted, the first stage was jettisoned and the 5 Rhinos comprising the intermediate stage kicked in;
 

 

Upon reaching our 70km mark the fairing was discarded, with the remaining fuel on the Rhinos being prepared for our circularisation;
 

 

 

 

 

The burn was a success, with the engines managing to carry us up to HKO, with a periapsis of 320km and an apoapsis of 400 respectively. With that in mind, the Rhinos were jettisoned and the stage was set for the orbiter to make the long burn to Moho!

 

 

 

Edited May 14, 2016 by Diddly Feelerino

[Diddly Feelerino]

I decided that the mission for Moho should be given the designation "Hyperion", after the Greek Titan who fathered the sun (Helios). I figured Icarus or Daedalus was a bit of a bad omen, so I decided against naming them after those two!

Anyways at this point I should explain the layout of the ship. The craft itself is propelled out of Kerbin's SOI by 5 nuclear engines (with efficiency being more important than TWR in my opinion). Theoretically they should have enough fuel to carry the craft to the outermost reaches of the Kerbol system (or innermost, depending on need). The actual orbiter is powered by a single LV-N, and should carry enough fuel to make around 5000m/s Delta-V (more than enough for most return trajectories). As for the orbiter-lander configuration, I opted for the classic "Apollo" setup (if it isn't broke, don't fix it!).

Anyways, back to the pictures. Shortly after jettisoning the intermediate stage it was no problem plotting a course to Moho; the position of Kerbin was such that it was no difficulty matching periapsis to the orbit of Moho itself*;

 

 

 

With the course plotted, all that was left to do was wait for the craft to orbit into position for the burn. And not long after, Hyperion got underway (albeit with a lengthy burn of 20 odd minutes);

 

 

With the burn complete, the team had one last chance to see Kerbin before embarking on their grand odyssey!

 

 

 

 

Edited May 14, 2016 by Diddly Feelerino

[Diddly Feelerino]

Moving on; the next stage of the encounter was changing our orbital inclination to match Moho's (most of you are probably aware of the difference in inclination between Kerbin and Moho). The cost in fuel was substantial (around another 1000m/s Delta-V), but I was still convinced that the orbiter had more than enough fuel to get there and back. Eventually (after around 2 orbits of Kerbol) we had an encounter with Moho!
 

 

 

Due to the angle of approach, the craft was able to reach Moho with a relative velocity of only 2500m/s;
 

 

With that being said, I rapidly expended the remaining fuel on the "tug" to try and slow the craft down (starting about 15 minutes from periapsis, as the ship was simply going too fast to have slowed down at a later date). With the tug fuel exhausted, it was jettisoned and the orbiter began the long haul in slowing the ship down enough to circularise;

 

 

 

Also, here's a view of the cockpit from Chris Kerman's viewpoint =P

 

 

Thankfully it was a success! The ship was able to burn enough to get captured into a polar orbit, with more than half the tank to spare.

 

 

 

The next while was spent circularising the somewhat elliptical orbit and mapping the surface with ScanSAT. Afterwards the orbit was lowered to just 30km over the Moho surface (to prepare for the landing);
 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, the lander was detached from the orbiter carrying just two Kerbals - the commander and the mission scientist. Their destination - the Mohole!

 

 

 

Edited May 14, 2016 by Diddly Feelerino

[Diddly Feelerino]

The hard part in reaching the Mohole is timing. If you overshoot you'll spend too much fuel trying to reach the area (or pancake into the Moho surface). If you undershoot you'll simply waste fuel correcting your descent.

After a few quickloads I was finally able to get a good approach;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And with that last picture, we touched down some 100m from the edge of the Mohole. Not long after it was time to take the Kerbals out for a wee leg stretch and walk about. Even took them to the edge of the Mohole (although tempted, I did not send them down there!);
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After some periodic excursions, with their food/oxygen/water reserves nearing the return threshold it was finally time to return to the lander, and prepare for the ascent and re-dock with the orbiter.
 

 

 

Edited May 14, 2016 by Diddly Feelerino

[Diddly Feelerino]

With the orbiter just passing overhead, the time was right to make the ascent burn; of all periods on the mission this was the one where I thought I'd be most likely to run out of fuel =P
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the auxiliary tanks exhausted they were simply jettisoned, with the "spinning top" continuing its journey from the surface;

 

 

Soon we reached our apoapsis (around 28km), and began preparing for the circularisation. Moments later, the engine fired up;

 

 

 

Then, after a few corrective impulses from the engine we were on our way to intercepting the orbiter;

 

 

 

 

 

Slowly but surely, the lander was reaching the orbiter. Just a few more engine impulses.....
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After an age, we'd finally re-docked with the orbiter and transferred the crew. All that remained was to prepare for the long trip home....

Edited May 14, 2016 by Diddly Feelerino

[Diddly Feelerino]

Finally, it was time to return to Kerbin. That being said, the faithful landing module (being a lot of dead weight) was jettisoned and left to orbit Moho. Sorry!
 

 

 

Not long after, a burn was made to take the Hyperion Orbiter out of Mohos SOI (and back into Kerbol orbit);

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saying goodbye to Moho....

 

 

 

After a period of several orbits, a course was finally plotted which allowed the orbiter to intercept Kerbin. It was quite high for Delta-V (2700m/s) but the orbiter, on half a tank, took it in its stride;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the craft was finally on its way home. Fast forward a bit, and with a few minor course corrections later we had lowered the Kerbin periapsis to 25km; a good re-entry height for aerocapture;

 

 

 

And Kerbin was finally in distant view - what a happy sight! All that needed to be done was to await the re-entry stage;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we came in for re-entry, the service module was jettisoned leaving the command module/passenger module to face the atmosphere;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Success! The landing stage successfully touched down in Kerbin's water!

 

 

 

To conclude, the whole trip had its hairy moments; most notably when the lander had to re-dock with the orbiter (the fuel gauge can speak for itself - nail biting at the best of times!) I apologise for my odd narrative but I hope the pictures can speak for themselves. The story might even help those of you looking to build a Moho rocket in future endeavours!

I hope you enjoyed reading about the wee mission, feel free to comment below! =)

 

Edited May 14, 2016 by Diddly Feelerino

[Nahim]

That was a great amazing mission good sir!

Im eager for moore as soon as your kerbals were ready! ^ ^

[Diddly Feelerino]

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

I'll soon be preparing for my Laythe landing mission if you'd like to see that. Not long after will be my Tekto mission (OPM mod). I've tested the aerobraking capabilities of my slightly modified Titan Orbiter and it appears to work quite well (managed to dip into Eve atmosphere of 75km at 4500m/s, achieving orbital capture without flipping).

So I'll try and keep you posted!

[Geschosskopf]

Excellent mission!  Thanks for sharing.

[spacebrick3]

That's a great mission. I am also preparing for a long mission to Moho (sandbox), but it will have a lot more in terms of long-term exploration (station, rovers, etc.)