My 1.1.3 Jool-5 Mission

[Francois424]

Spent this extra week mulling around and doing my Jool-5 before the big patch day.  So lots of pics and mission reports that I'll break into categories with spoilers.

 

[ Departure ]
So this was the big day, between having last departure scrubbed because of a KSC blackout last week and with Mission Command being busy, the crew was getting restless and worried they'd never even leave for the Jool-5 mission.  But Wednesday around 1am (Kerbal Standard Time), the order came in... You are GO at mission start, godspeed and fly safe !  Bob plotted the burn node and Sugee (the mission commander and Mothership pilot) started maneuvering to exit LKO.  Minimal wobble, electric charge nominal, things are finally going our way !

Spoiler

All fueled-up and ready to go...  The Explorer II Mothership, fuel, Tylo Lander and Laythe Ascender.

 The Explorer II is about to leave Kerbin SOI for a very long time... The crew takes a final, long look at 'home' ! 

 

[ Arrival ]
After years of sailing the stars, the crew is finaly here.  Jool.  Knowing the hardships ahead everyone gets ready for some hard deceleration burns and slingshots.  Jebediah suggested doing the 0.23 maneuver of using Jool for a huge Aero-braking thing, and it wasn't until Valentina made him remember that Jool now eats ships (and Kerbals) that way that he let go of his dare-devilish plan.  Calculations where made and after a few slingshot we'd end-up captured in the Joolian system no problem.

Spoiler

The ever majestic Jool... as beautiful as Galileo made it up to be! Unfortunately we won't be kissing it's atmosphere anytime soon.  Sorry Jool.


First slingshot capture: Laythe.  She will then throw us into Tylo, which in turn bumps us back to Laythe. What bullies, sheesh.


Isaselle, one of the ship's engineers, had a special music piece playing for us this afternoon: «Dance of the Joolian Moons»

 

[ Laythe ]

After spending far more Delta-V than everyone, including mission command, thought,  the final adjustment are made and stable Laythe orbit is achieved.  Everyone agreed that flying the "Laythe Ascender" spacecraft down to the surface and back up should fall onto Jebediah...  Nobody wanted to think of what would happen if we didn't let the hotshot pilot have it's way on the first landing. But nobody could find him until Valentina found him strapped into the lander's cockpit with a few spare snacks.  Looks like Jeb was a little too eager and would not be left behind no matter what on this one.

Spoiler

The final adjustment are being done and BAM!  Laythe orbit achieved !  Everyone agrees that Laythe is getting more beautiful with age ! 


First a sapphire, then an amethyst, and now an aquamarine, Laythe's beauty is beyond belief. The lander splits her gentle atmosphere and begins the decent.


Jebediah aims for a patch of land, deploys the chutes and the landing legs . . .


 . . . then opens a snack bag and enjoys the view.


Touchdown.  Jeb heads outside to gather the science and stretch his legs.  He plants a flag, gather a sample, and heads back inside.


Having served it's purpose, the science package is ejected and Jeb begins pre-flight check-up before lift-off.


Jet engine to maximum, ladders/landing legs ejected... Liftoff complete !


Jebediah: «Laythe Ascender is ascending and on it's way to orbit !»


Now on internal cycle using a Terrier, the Laythe Ascender is circularizing as much as possible . . .


 . . . until it runs out of fuel and Jebediah finishes orbit the 'Kerbal Way' by EVA-pack. Of course he downloaded the science before leaving.


After a few hour of weightlessness fun and games, the 'Explorer II' meets up with Jeb and he climbs on board for the next leg of the trip. 

 

[ Vall ]

After four days of R&R in Laythe's orbit  The crew sets sail towards Vall.  Four more days later the ship is in orbit.   A departure from the usual order, into which Tylo came second to lighten the lander.  However during simulations, Valentina and Bob always reported running on fumes by the time they got to orbit, so the decision was taken to get to Vall second.  According to Mission Control, the large fuel tank being carried with the ship should have more than enough fuel to indulge in a bit more safety.  As such Valentina and Bob started preparing the Tylo lander for a Vall landing.

Spoiler

Entering Vall's SOI, under the watchful eye of her father, Jool.  Valentina and Bob are ready to go.

 
Where we were (Laythe), where we are (Vall), and where we will be (Tylo). For now, let's land this baby and complete this leg of the mission.


Having successfully landed, Val steps out, grab the science and plants the flag.  The land is so slippery, the crew hurries-up and lifts-off asap.


Successful rendezvous with the Mothership...


Aaaaand we're docked... This leg took so long because of landing gear exploding/slipping bug.  Was that ever annoying or what.

 

[ Tylo ]

The air was a little too serious this morning.  Tylo was scaring everybody off... well except for Sugee, since she is responsible for the Mothership she gets to stay behind.  As the ship neared orbit, Jebediah volunteered, and Kertris wanted to be that mission's scientist.  So they both boarded the Tylo lander, made sure the fuel tanks were full and begun repeating the landing procedures to pass the time.  Even Mission Control was on edge about this one, they called in to wish everybody luck.

Spoiler

Tylo, that huge bullying grey ball of doom.  If we crack this nut, then the mission is all but won.... *IF* we crack it. *shudders*

 
Tylo orbit achieved, the lander is decoupled in absolute silence.  The air is as heavy as Tylo's gravity.


Even the colors have left... The crushing feeling gripping the crews increases as the distance between both ship gets longer.


All 6 engines roars... As Kertris is starting to regret her choice she looks at Jeb... and see a broad smile.  The moods lift as Jeb cracks a joke and tell everyone he's got this covered !


 Very smooth 2.7 m/s landing and everyone cheers on the radio.  Kertris does some science, plant the flag, and rejoins Jebediah in the capsule.


Shortly after takeoff, the external tanks and their 4 poodles are ejected to lighten the craft, which makes it in a 31x30km orbit with 277 m/s left.


Sugee in the 'Explorer II' only has to perform a plane change, and 14 hours later they are within sight of each other.  The tug is dispatched and docks with the Lander.


Minutes later, the whole crew is docked together again. 10 days of R&R before Bop window so the crew throws in a party then gets back to work.

 

[ Bop ]

Everyone is in high spirits and even tho it was another week or so of travel to Bop, nobody felt bored.  Bill and Isaselle performed maintenance on the now very slim "Tylo" lander, Jeb and Val are starting to work on their future mission, Jeb wants to go to Sarnus, Val want to explore that new solar system the "Galileo Telescope" detected last September.  The other three are just catching-up with their families.  Then the alarm went up.  Time to take care of Bop.

Spoiler

Bop is really something else, from looking outside you wouldn't think we are 25km above the surface. Jool can't help himself in every shot it seems.

Having achieved orbit, Valentina and Bob are taking the Lander down. There are rumors "there be Krakens here", but nothing sighted on the way down.

Having landed, science'd and planted the usual flag, Bob sits on top of the lander taking-in the view. Then it was an uneventful return to the 'Explorer II'.

 

[ Pol ]

The final leg of the mission consisted of 14 days waiting for the window, and another 14 to get to the moon in question.  At this point everyone is starting to realize that the mission is almost over... and as these things go, it always feels like the longest part.  However the mission commander, Sugee, got permission to land on Pol.  Long ago this spiky moon was supposed to be the spot for a huge refueling base with living accommodations for 32 kerbals.  Although the KSC always kept the project alive, other commitments and multiple software versions always kept the thing conceptual at best.  First there was thoughts of Kethane deposits, turns out it was ore deposits, then there were these 32-bits limitation of the KSC itself.  Still, Sugee would like nothing better than to go back there in the future to make it happen.  The other member for this landing is going to be Isaselle, the only kerbal to not have landed anywhere yet. Sugee and the KSC both wanted her down there to evaluate sites for a future mining base.

Spoiler

As Pol grows larger, everyone is getting ready for the trip back home.  Except Sugee and Isaselle who are eagerly awaiting the landing.

With Sugee and Isaselle on their way down, the crew decouples the fuel tank with the tug. There are still fuel inside it, and it might prove useful to future expeditions.

This looks like a promising spot... Isaselle thinks a good concentration of Ore could explain the overabundance of spiky rock formation in that spot.  They decided to land there.

Sugee and Isaselle had no problem landing on Pol, which in many regards is similar to Minmus back home. They do their thing and pose for a picture. 


With the crew back safe and sound, the engineers decided to get rid of the lander as it's mission was done and there was no need to bring it back home.


Ready for the trip back home,  the crew takes one last family shot of the Joolian system. Bop is there but very faint between Laythe and Vall.

 

[ There and Back Again ]

It has been a few years since our crew left home for the famed "Jool-5" challenge (or mission as KSC calls it).  Having discarded every once of weight possible, the flight computer reads a tad over 6'000 m/s of Delta-V.  According to Bill and Mission Control, it's less than was planned, but more than enough to return.  And so they did.  A 3'000 m/s maneuver will bring the ship 250km over the north pole of Kerbin, and another 2'000 m/s one will settle the orbit in a nice 250x250km circular pattern.

Spoiler

The ship's engines feel stronger than ever... Back at Jool they capped at 66% else the power ran out.  But here at Kerbin, the sun provides more than enough.

Roughly circular 232x268km orbit achieved with only 843 m/s left in the tank... A tanker will be needed for future missions. A rescue craft was dispatched by the KSC to bring the crew home.

Simple but effective, this 2'000 dV craft (once in orbit) carries 7 kerbals from space to the ground. It was fittingly dubbed the 'Falling Star'.

The last one to leave the 'Explorer II' is Jebediah. « It was a privilege to fly with you old girl » he sais just before joining the others on the 'Falling Star' .

Not knowing the next time he will head on an 'epic mission' again, Jebediah takes in the view taking his time to board the return craft.

 
Mission commander Sugee having already taken the commander's pod on top, Jeb heads inside the 6-man - 5 tons Korion Capsule. 

The crew brace themselves for the 3G deceleration provided by the new inflatable heatshield.  How Jeb & Val find the strength to keep cracking jokes and laugh, nobody knows. 

The sun reflecting on the South Pole's snow is making the crew thirsty. Bob had to mention it looked like a huge bucket of fresh cow milk. 

Touchdown.  Wow that inflatable heatshield thing is indestructible, it survived a 5 km fall ! Auroras welcome the crew home.

 
Left-to-Right: Sugee, Bob, Kertris, Jebediah, Valentina, Bill, and Isaselle. Well done crew !  You completed the Jool-5 challenge.

 

It was my FIRST Jool-5 completion, and I started in 0.22. I had previously started another one back in Nov-Dec 2014 (same mothership but different landers), but abandoned it for some reason.   I kept the landers 100% stock (except for some radial fuel tanks, better landing gears on the "Laythe Ascender" and more lightsssssss) for retaining legitimacy in the difficulty, but my Mothership was end-game future propulsion tech (which I legitimize by the fact that I could've carried 10x fuel weight, and only used stock nukes... In the end, the real challenge is landing, planting the fag and getting in orbit with the lander... IMHO.  If it still qualifies as worthy of the Jool-5 badge, let me know, but I had fun regardless... and in time before version 1.2 WOO !

Thank you all for your attention, and fly safe !

[DerekL1963]

Nice!  Am in the process of running a Jool-5 myself (see my sig), and it's not easy.  Congrats!

[ZinkBot]

Cool!

[Wizard Kerbal]

30 minutes ago, ZinkBot said:

Cool!

Have you checked the date his was posted my friend?

[ZinkBot]

Yes