Constellation Craft Pack [Permissions Fixed, 6/2/16]

[pTrevTrevs]

     The proposed Constellation program to return astronauts to the Mun has long been a subject of my fascination. I consider it as one of the two major missions that sparked my interest in space exploration (the other being the Mars Exploration Rover). Recreating the Constellation program has been on my KSP bucket list since I bought the game, so when I first saw the forum thread for @Majorjim's Duna Constellation Mission, I was amazed. Once the discussion thread started up I followed it with great interest, but refrained from participating because I was unsure if i would be able to make craft with low enough part count to be practical, and most of the craft I have released on the forums have been planes rather than spacecraft. After 1.1 was released, I began considering giving the lunar portion of Constellation a try, and I got to work on this project. I've encountered many obstacles, setbacks, and disappointments, but after nearly a month of work, I am proud to finally present my Constellation Replica Pack!

Orion and Ares I

Spoiler

 

Ares I was a medium lift rocket designed to launch Orion to Low Earth orbit. Its first stage was an extended Solid Rocket Booster from the Space Shuttle era, while the second stage was developed from the Space Shuttle's External Tank and powered by a descendant of the J-2 engine which powered the second and third stages of the Saturn V. Due to the... unwieldiness of solid rocket boosters, the rocket can be difficult to control while the first stage is burning, however there are Vernor engines mounted at the bottom and the first stage and top of the second to aid in controlling the vehicle.

Ignore the Altair ascent stage, I forgot to take a good screenshot of Orion by itself so I had to use this image

Orion is the spacecraft designed to house the crew during their mission, and is the only part of the entire mission to return to Earth. In real life it can seat four to six astronauts, but mine seats only three Kerbals. It also featured round solar panels originally, however later concepts replaced them with four rectangular ones (derived from ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle). Orion contains a probe core to allow it to operate autonomously while the crew is on the lunar surface. This allows Orion to adjust its orbit to minimize the amount of fuel spent during the liftoff from the Mun. In real life, Orion is the only component of Project Constellation still in development, and only one of two components to actually fly (the other being the Ares I in the form of Ares I-X test vehicle).

 

Altair and Ares V
 

Spoiler

 

Ares V would have launched the Altair lunar lander and its Earth Departure Stage (Ares V second stage) to Low Earth Orbit, where it would dock with an Orion spacecraft and fly to the Mun from there. If completed, it would have been more powerful than the Saturn V and be able to lift slightly more tonnage. Like Ares I, it was derived from older Space Shuttle and Apollo hardware. Its SRBs were modified from the Shuttle program, its first stage was developed from the Shuttle's ET, and its second stage was powered by a J-2X engine. Ares V is somewhat easier to control than Ares I, but not much. As long as you fly an efficient trajectory, you shouldn't have any problems getting the spacecraft to orbit and later to the Mun.

Altair was the spacecraft which would have actually landed on the Moon. Like the Apollo Lunar Module before it, it was split into two sections, an Ascent Stage and a Descent Stage. Altair would have been able to support four astronauts on the Lunar surface for around a week or longer, and also had many different variations to bring different types of hardware to the Lunar surface. My Altair seats three Kerbals (albeit in cramped, makeshift conditions), and is capable of making a targeted landing on the Mun near any target you choose. Four detachable fuel tanks are mounted to the bottom of the Descent Stage, which is (as far as I know) inaccurate, however there is a purpose to this. It appears that Altair was supposed to have been used to perform the burn into Lunar orbit, which led me to assume that it may have been used for midcourse corrections too. My Altair is incapable of doing both these burns and still having enough fuel to land on the Mun by itself, so I have added the tanks to provide some extra fuel to use before landing. Despit this, it is still recommended to use Orion to perform the Munar Orbit Insertion (Provided you did not use too much fuel during the rendezvous in LKO).

 

 

 

Cargo Altair

Spoiler

 

This variant of Altair carries an SPR, high gain antenna, and solar array to the surface instead of a crew and ascent stage. It isn't necessary to send one of these to the Mun for the mission, but it is highly recommended. Driving around your landing site and exploring its features sure beats plodding around ten feet from your lander with nothing else to do!

 

SPR

Spoiler

 

The SPR (Small Pressurized Rover) is designed for long distance travel on either the Mun or Duna. It is delivered to the Mun on the Cargo Altair and is lowered to the surface by an RCS pod mounted on top of it (shown in the above image because it failed to detach). It is an extremely hardy rover, capable of making good speed on flat ground and navigating the treacherous mountains of the Mun. It is a fairly light rover, and one must be careful not to flip it over while driving, but if handles correctly, it can be a infinitely useful tool in exploring the Mun.

 

 

Mission Profile

Constellation was different than Apollo in that it followed an Earth Orbit Rendezvous profile. This means that Altair and Orion are launched separately and then rendezvous and dock in LEO before flying to the Mun. I recommend that you launch Altair and the EDS first to allow it to act as a target for Orion. Orion has the fuel to spare for a rendezvous, the EDS doesn't. Once the two spacecraft are docked, shut down Orion's engine and set the craft to be controlled from Altair's docking port (or the EDS's guidance unit). Plot and perform the Trans-Munar Injection (Free Return Trajectory advised but not necessary), then separate Orion and Altair from the EDS. Once at the Mun perform a course correction to lower your periapsis to around 15km (optional), and insert the craft into orbit at said periapsis. Videos seem to suggest that Altair would have been used for this, however I use Orion more often than not due to its overabundance of fuel. Once you have a circular orbit around the Mun, move the crew into Altair and detach it from Orion. Deploy the landing legs and communications antenna and land the ship. Jettison the drop tanks well before landing, so the don't land near your landing site (extra important if you're aiming for a Cargo Altair). You get bonus points if you choose a landing site on the mun's terminator so the Sun is rising, casting long shadows (the Apollo astronauts did this). Once landed, get your Kerbals out, plant a flag, drive the rover, do whatever you want. When it's time to go, launch in the Ascent Stage. It's a good idea to periodically change the inclination of Orion's orbit so that it passes directly over the landing site to avoid having to make a costly plane change in Altair. Once Altair and Orion are back together, move the crew back to the CM and jettison Altair. Perform the Trans-Kerbin Injection and wait for the ship to reach Kerbin. Shortly before reentry detach the Service module and Orion the craft so that its heat shield faces retrograde. From there it's pretty straightforward; reenter, deploy the drogue parachute at about 3,000m, cut drogue and deploy mains anywhere between 1,500 and 1,000meters, splashdown (or land if you're unlucky), celebrate successful mission.

 

Extra Pictures

Here are a few pictures that I decided to share.

Altair landing on the Mun next to a Cargo lander.

The entire stack in LKO waiting for the upcoming TMI burn.

Altair lifting off from the Mun to begin the homeward voyage. If only the lander knew that it wouldn't be coming home...

 

DOWNLOADS

Altair + Ares V

Orion + Ares I

Cargo Altair + Ares V

If you find a problem with the craft, have a suggestion for improvement, or harbor any other concerns, please feel free to tell me here. Any screenshots of your own missions with these craft are certainly welcome and encouraged. Feedback of any sort (as long as it is valid and not simply "u suk git gud skrub lel") is welcome and appreciated, so please tell me what you think of these craft. If this does well enough (or if I feel like it), I may start working on the Mars portion of Constellation to go with this. Thank you for taking the time to read this thread, and enjoy!

Edited June 2, 2016 by pTrevTrevs
Fixed permissions for Cargo Altair

[Majorjim!]

Very, very well done man!

 These craft are not easy to make and you have done a really great job recreating the Moon portion of the constellation mission! Congratulations on the release and I look forward to seeing the Mars craft if you decide to tackle them.

 Rep for you good sir, and well deserved, that must have been a lot of work.

[CommanderSpock]

These are all very amazing!

 

If I can make one suggestion, it would be to maybe make the Orion service module shorter. It looks really long.

 

 

God, I really haven't posted in a while

[pTrevTrevs]

2 hours ago, CommanderSpock said:

These are all very amazing!

 

If I can make one suggestion, it would be to maybe make the Orion service module shorter. It looks really long.

 

 

God, I really haven't posted in a while

Sure, I'll take that into consideration! I'll check some images to see if it really is shorter and if so by how much. I've already got a list of possible improvements I could make, although I'm not ready to reveal them all at this this time.

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

Wow, it's so exciting to finally see a constellation release thread!  Looks amazing, too!

[pTrevTrevs]

WIP launch platform and tower. Still needs access arms, a little reinforcement, and possibly a little greeble. I may or may not do another one of these for Ares V.

[pTrevTrevs]

Apparently I forgot to set the permissions for the Cargo Altair to allow people to download it. This issue has been fixed.

[Ozymandias_the_Goat]

Great job, especially on the Altair. The details are outstanding. Glad I can download them now. Would love to see more packs like this come out as well.

[pTrevTrevs]

On 6/5/2016 at 3:32 PM, LetsGoToMars! said:

Great job, especially on the Altair. The details are outstanding. Glad I can download them now. Would love to see more packs like this come out as well.

Somehow I didn't see that you posted here until now...

Thanks! You might have seen in the discussion thread that I'm also working on the Duna part of the program, and I expect to be done with it in approximately two weeks*.

 

*Terms and conditions may apply. Be advised that two weeks is an approximate guess and may be less or more than the actual construction time. Don't kill me if I release it later than two weeks from now.

 

[Frank_G]

Very impressive craft, youve built! The Altair landers are awesome! Keep up the good work

[Ozymandias_the_Goat]

1 hour ago, pTrevTrevs said:

Somehow I didn't see that you posted here until now...

Thanks! You might have seen in the discussion thread that I'm also working on the Duna part of the program, and I expect to be done with it in approximately two weeks*.

 

*Terms and conditions may apply. Be advised that two weeks is an approximate guess and may be less or more than the actual construction time. Don't kill me if I release it later than two weeks from now.

 

Awesome. Can't wait for it. I would never kill you!