How Japan might have done a manned lunar mission [RSS/RO mini-series - Complete]

[Pipcard]

Burning the first trans-lunar injection stage

Final trans-lunar injection

Course correction maneuver

Approaching the Moon

Lunar orbit insertion

Course correction to intercept the lunar lander in orbit

Slowing down (relative to target)

Detaching from the transfer stage

Rendezvous...

and docked!

[Pipcard]

Hibito and Mutta transfer to the lunar lander while Kenji stays in orbit.

The lunar lander separates, and the landing legs are deployed.

Powered Descent Initiation

Touchdown!

Hibito descending the ladder

"Yay!"

Hibito and Mutta standing together

planting the flag

Edited August 1, 2016 by Pipcard

[UnusualAttitude]

11 hours ago, Pipcard said:

planting the flag

Awesome, you made it!

I was just wondering why the additional lander can on the command module/ship...? Is that to simulate a Soyuz-style orbital module?

[Pipcard]

5 hours ago, UnusualAttitude said:

Awesome, you made it!

I was just wondering why the additional lander can on the command module/ship...? Is that to simulate a Soyuz-style orbital module?

Yes, that is supposed to be the "Orbital Habitation Module." In Realism Overhaul, the mass (2.5 t -> 6 t) of the Hitchhiker Storage Container are increased (because the diameter is increased 2.5 m -> 4 m) to the point where it is too heavy for my purposes.

Edited August 2, 2016 by Pipcard

[Firemetal]

The lander is two stage right? Awesome work! Keep it up!

[Pipcard]

Running into some issues:

1. The propellant tanks of the ascent stage were connected by fuel ducts to the crew cabin. Unfortunately, that part didn't crossfeed into the engines. So I had to make another copy of the lander (with altered fuel ducts), hyperedit that onto the moon, move the crew to the new lander, then delete the old lander and edit the savefile so that the new lander was at the same exact location.

2. The thrust/weight ratio should be correct. The weight of the ascent stage on the Moon right now is 6556 kg * 1.622 = 10.63 kN. 15.57/10.63 = 1.46. So why isn't it getting off the ground?

[Geschosskopf]

Hmm, Moon's (not Mun's) gravity is 1.622m/s^2 so the acceleration numbers MJ is showing should world.  I can see what KER is saying because MJ's tab is covering all the important values.  So either MJ is lying to you or the gravity on RSS Moon is higher than the real Moon's.  Or maybe your engine is just bugged.

[Pipcard]

The descent engine was working just fine.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to use this PC for about a week because I have to move across the US for my third year of college.

Edited August 6, 2016 by Pipcard

[Pipcard]

Sorry for not doing this sooner, but the problem was that the fuel lines had to be connected directly to the engine, or else there was no thrust.

Lifting off from the lunar surface, a few days after landing

In low lunar orbit, preparing to rendezvous with the cislunar transfer vehicle.

Rendezvous and docking

Hibito and Mutta transferred to the cislunar transfer vehicle, while the ascent stage of the lunar lander was de-orbited.

Trans-Earth Injection

Separation of the Orbital Habitation and Propulsion Modules

The Manned Re-entry Module heating up

Falling towards the ground

Deploying parachutes

Splashdown!

[MaxL_1023]

Nice work with the rendezvous maneuvers! It is painful to dock in RSS - I use a single launch profile Apollo-Style and usually just EVA across from the Lunar Lander after returning. Your method is much more difficult but requires much smaller launchers.