Doing It Constellation Style

[SiriusRocketry]

I might take a crack at this... @septemberWaves please PM me for any extra details and/or tips.

[Death Engineering]

The Konstellation Space Program

This challenge entry is played in KSP 1.4.3. Along with the visually stunning Astronomer's Visual Pack, it includes TAC Life Support and a few others (all listed below) but notably the Unrapid Planned Assembly mod Kerbal Construction Time. This is made relevant by not allowing for quicksaving/reverting when a mission goes awry. If a crew is in trouble, there better be a ready-to-launch rescue craft or some of those nasty (-50) points will be tracked! This also means planning the Altair/Orion construction order so that the probes are ready for the upcoming Duna transfer window.

Other than the life support mod, there are no extra parts. This means no delta-v calculators, although there is a HUD mod to make flying from the flight screen more intuitive. Stage Recovery is making sure the SRB's are recovered and Kerbal Alarm Clock helps with the time warping. In-game settings include g-force limits for parts and Kerbals, non-respawning Kerbals, plasma blackout, commnet enabled with signal required for control. 

Prior to the Munar Sortie mission, two satellites were launched around the Mun. Flown off-screen prior to the first Altair launch was an uncrewed Munar flyby with recovery of the 4-crew Orion spacecraft. Thanks to Scrapyard, the capsule will be flown again on the upcoming Munar Base mission. For those familiar with the Kerbal Construction Time mod, I've only allowed a total of 15 points which are spread on two construction tracks (10/5). For comparison, with those rates it would take 35 days to build the stock Kerbal-X and 50 days to build the stock Dynawing. 

Mission debrief:

After docking with the pre-launched Altair/EDS and performing the TMI burn, the EDS performed one small flight correction before it was discarded. The landing site was chosen for its easy equatorial location and scenic beauty (near an arch). The crew spent 7 days and 2 hours on the Munar surface proving it can run for a full Munar day on the fuel cells. Two single-driver rovers were deployed and driven 1.7 km to mark a potential location for the upcoming Munar Base. 

General Score: 73

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• Launch Vehicles: Only use replicas of the Constellation-specific launch vehicles (Ares I, Ares IV, and Ares V) for all launches from Kerbin (not including satellite launches). (+10)
• Ares I: Your Ares I analogue has one solid rocket motor on the first stage* and one liquid rocket engine on the second stage. *For stock entries you are allowed to use multiple first-stage solid rocket motors, so long as they all ignite at the same time and have the same burn time. (+5)
• Ares V: Your Ares V analogue has 5 liquid rocket engines and two solid rocket boosters on the first stage, and one liquid rocket engine on the second stage. (+5)
• Stage Recovery 1: The solid first stage of the Ares I can land safely in the ocean with parachutes. (+3)
• Stage Recovery 2: The SRBs on the Ares IV and V can land safely in the ocean with parachutes. (+4)
• Orion: Orion is launched on the Ares I rocket and has space for at least three kerbals for stock entries, or four kerbals for modded entries. (+6)
• Crew Safety: Orion includes a solid-fueled launch escape tower. (+4)
• Crew Mobility: All surface modules have functional ladders. (+1)
• Life Support: Use a life support mod (+25)
• Commnet: Do everything with commnet enabled at the default (normal mode) settings or more difficult. (+10)

Munar Sortie Score: 50

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• Objective: Using the Orion spacecraft and the Altair lander, send four kerbals (three for stock entries) to the surface of the Mun and return them safely to Kerbin. (+20)
• Kerbin Orbit Rendezvous: The Orion spacecraft and the Altair lander are launched separately and dock in Kerbin orbit before transferring to the Mun. (+8)
• Accurate Altair: The Altair Munar Lander includes a descent module and an ascent module, and has space for all four kerbals (three for stock entries). (+7)
• Fuel Cells: The Altair lander is powered by a fuel cell. (+2)
• Descent Module: The Altair descent module is left on the surface of the Mun, and includes: airlock, fuel and engines for landing, landing legs, power storage (at least 1000 electric charge). (+4)
• Kerbin Departure Stage: The Mun transfer burn is done using the upper stage of the rocket that launched the Altair lander. (+3)
• Altair Orbital Insertion: The orbital insertion burn at the Mun is done using the engines and fuel system of the Altair lander. You should design the lander to include enough additional fuel in the descent module to accomplish this task. (+3)
• Mun Rover: Bring along a rover with seats for at least half the crew. (+3)

Mod list:

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• Astronomers Visual Pack (which includes many visual mods)
• Kerbal Construction Time
• Kerbal Flight Data
• RealPlume
• Scrapyard
• Stage Recovery
• Stock Visual Terrain (4k)
• TAC Life Support

 

Edited June 5, 2018 by Death Engineering

[Death Engineering]

Konstellation Space Program: Asteroid Rendezvous / Munar Base

Mun Base: Taking steps toward Duna and beyond, proving deep space missions to other bodies successfully accomplished using Altair ARM and Orion. Long term surface exploration on the Mun completed using advanced Altair landers to build a Munar base located near a Monolith on the northern side of the Northern Basin biome. Munar hardware included: Altair based Habitation module, Science Lab and Cargo Variant which delivered a pressurized rover to ferry the crew from the Altair Outpost variant and the Munar Base. The rover and crewed Altair Outpost variant were landed 2.8 km from the Munar Base where it waited for the crew while they did what kerbals do at the Munar Base. The crew were on the surface for 29 days and 2 hours and were back on Kerbin after over 32 days in space.

Asteroid Rendezvous: The asteroid rendezvous was technically a success but was compromised by an attempt to return the crew home as quickly as possible. Without enough delta-v to de-orbit, the crew was stuck in a high elliptical orbit around Kerbin until a rescue ship could be constructed. In order to save time, an Ares V destined for the Munar base was modified to support an Orion Block II. An ore sample was returned separately from the crew and the asteroid was poked, but the mission was far longer than intended at over 20 days. However, there was sufficient life support to allow the safe return of the crew, thanks to the rescue mission. The use of the Ares V intended for the Munar base puts rocket production behind schedule,  putting the Duna mission in jeopardy of meeting the next launch window. 

 

Munar Base Score: 141

Album a/yWL5G6d will appear when post is submitted

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• Objective: Land modules of a Mun base on the Mun using Altair descent stages, and then send 4 kerbals to the base for an extended duration mission. (+30)
• Base Size: Score for the number of modules you add to the base. Habitation module, Science lab and Rover/Cargo (+15)
• Crew Quarters: Include plenty of habitation space (at least 2 seats per kerbal, not counting labs or airlocks). (+8)
• Science Module: Include a science lab and science equipment. (+8)
• Total Mobility: Include a pressurized rover with space for all four kerbals. The lander used for the rover may count as a base module. (+8)
• Pressure Preservation: All modules containing kerbals (except the rover) have a dedicated airlock. (+3)
• Phone Home: Make sure your Mun base has a constant commnet connection to Kerbin (either by being on the Kerbin-facing side of the Mun or by launching relay satellites). (+3)
• Power Systems: Mun base modules are powered by solar panels and have enough power storage to maintain functionality when the base is in darkness. (+9)
• Anomaly Survey: Choose a base location within visual range of any Munar anomaly, and plant a flag near it. (+3)
• Long-term Stay: The crew stay at the Mun base for at least two Munar orbits 29 days on the surface. (+4)
• Crewed Mission: 50 if I understand this rule correctly.

 

Asteroid Rendezvous Score: 45

Album a/6sP5iru will appear when post is submitted

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• Objective: Send a fully crewed Orion spacecraft and an Asteroid Research Module to rendezvous with a Near Kerbin Asteroid (NKA) - this is defined as any asteroid which passes through Kerbin's SOI - and then return the crew safely to Kerbin. (+20)
• Kerbin Orbit Rendezvous: The Orion spacecraft and the ARM are launched separately and dock in Kerbin orbit before transferring to the asteroid. (+5)
• Asteroid Research Module: The ARM is derived in some way from the Altair lander (it should be visually similar), and includes a grabbing unit to attach to the asteroid. It should be able to undock from the Orion spacecraft when near the asteroid, and land on the asteroid using its own propulsion systems. (+8)
• Asteroid Science: The ARM includes a functional drill, ore tanks, and some sort of science equipment for surveying the asteroid. (+5)
• Crew Comfort: The ARM includes habitation space for all of the kerbals on the mission. (+5)
• Taking Things Literally: As per the quote used to introduce this challenge, poke the asteroid with a stick. (+2)

 

Edited June 11, 2018 by Death Engineering

[The Minmus Derp]

Me wanna do SARNUS’ moons!

[Death Engineering]

  On 6/15/2018 at 1:09 PM, The Minmus Derp said:

Me wanna do SARNUS’ moons!

Expand  

What is the delta vee to get out there?

[The Minmus Derp]

Only as much as Jool, if you use grav assists

[Death Engineering]

Konstellation Space Program: Crewed Duna Landing

Meeting the goals of landing 6 Kerbals on Duna utilized the Kopernicus module/ Habitation module/ Duna Ascent module seven-launch approach:

• Kopernicus crew transfer module: Reusuable crew module (max seating: 12) with docked Kerbin entry module
• Crew landing/Habitation module: Extended Duna research lab and habitation lander with 2 small rovers (max seating: 6 + 2 lab)
• Duna ascent module: Duna orbital return craft and pressurized rover (max seating 4). ISRU for ascent craft refueling.
• 3 Nuclear propulsion stages for Duna modules
• Orion EXT (max seating 6) on Ares I

Mission debrief:

All Duna modules and their nuclear propulsion stages launched on Ares V followed by Orion EXT (6 crew) on Ares I delivering the crew to the Kopernicus transfer module. Arrival at Duna was timed that the crew was last into Duna's SOI providing mission contingency for failures in either the Duna ascent landing or Habitation Module capture into Duna's orbit. No aerobraking was used to enter Duna's orbit, relying instead on the nuclear engines for propulsive orbital insertion. 

 

After landing the Ascent module/pressuring rover, the crew moved from the transfer module to the landing module in the Orion EXT (which will be used to land on Kerbin after the Duna surface excursion). As the crew module descended thru Duna's thin atmosphere, the aeroshell was jettisoned and drogue chutes deployed to assist in separating lander from the payload bay. Using propulsive landing, the habitation module set down less than 2 km from the ascent module landing site.

While the science lab was setting up, a crew member took one of two small single-seat rovers which was brought along with the habitation lander over to the ascent module for inspection and deployment of the pressurized rover. The rover was brought back to the habitation module for use in exploring the Duna surface and carrying the crew to the ascent module until the Kerbin return windows approached.  After an extended stay on Duna's surface, the crew traveled to the Ascent module and returned to the orbiting crew transfer spacecraft before the single long burn to return to Kerbin.

Summary:

• Separate transfer, habitation/lab and ascent modules on Ares V. 3x Nuclear propulsion on Ares V. Six crew on Orion EXT/ Ares I
• All spacecraft depart Kerbin SOI on same transfer window. Crew surface stay: 1 year 7 days. Today crew mission time: 4 years, 252 days
• Ascent stage refueling with ISRU using common Duna parachute assisted propulsive landing platform.
• Return to Kerbin profile: Duna Orbit Rendezvous with return craft and transported Orion EXT. Crew transfer module docked to Deep Space Gateway for refit.

Additional notes:

• Altair derived Deep Space Gateway built and launched while Duna mission underway.
• Dres transfer window in 289 days. Mission spacecraft construction underway.
• Some graphic mods removed from installation prior to Duna landing due to severe lag issues.

Crewed Duna Landing Score: 121

Mission details and images:

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• Objective: Land 6 kerbals (5 for stock entries) on Duna and return them safely to Kerbin. (+30)
• Extended Orion: Use an upgraded version of your Orion spacecraft that contains two extra kerbals. (+8)
• Scheduled Transfers: Launch the uncrewed payloads to Duna in the first transfer window, and send the crew to Duna in the second transfer window. (+6) Points not scored; rescue mission during Asteroid Rendezvous forced Ares V launch vehicle delivery delay.
• Careful Planning: Send a satellite to orbit Duna and choose a landing location with a high ore concentration. (+5)
• Constellation Constellation: Send at least three relay satellites to orbit Duna, and one to orbit the Sun, to ensure that the crew have a connection to Kerbin at all times. (+4)
• Cargo Lander: Use a standardized lander for both the Duna habitat and the Duna ascent vehicle. The lander should be able to make a parachute-assisted propulsive landing on Duna. (+8)
• Transfer Stages: Use separately-launched chemical or nuclear transfer stages for the uncrewed payloads (habitat and ascent vehicle) (does not include support satellites). (+5)
• Heat Shielding: Cargoes landed on Duna are protected by a fairing during re-entry. (+3)
• Surface Habitat: Send a habitation module to Duna which has space for all of the crew and an airlock (airlock does not count as part of living space). The habitation module should await the crew in Duna orbit and be used to land them on the surface. (+10)
• Hab Lab: Habitation module includes a science lab (lab space does not count as part of living space). (+4)
• Duna Ascent Vehicle: A single DAV is used with space for all of the crew. It must have sufficient power systems and must be able to rendezvous and dock with the Duna Transfer Vehicle. (+9)
• ISRU: The fuel tanks for the DAV are filled using ore mined and refined on Duna. (+7)
• Surface Mobility: Include a rover with space for at least three kerbals. (+3)
• Surface Mobility 2: The rover fulfills the previous requirement and is pressurized. (+2)
• Duna Transfer Vehicle: Your crewed DTV is solar powered and has sufficient habitation space (at least 2 seats per kerbal). (+5)
• Nuclear DTV: Your DTV is propelled by 3 nuclear thermal rockets, and includes one drop tank that is jettisoned after the trans-Duna injection burn. (+5; does not stack with Chemical DTV or Ion DTV)
• Spacecraft Shipment: Your Orion spacecraft is transported to Duna and back whilst docked to the DTV, and is used to re-enter and land back at Kerbin. (+2)
• Mission Time: Your crew spend at least 1 Kerbin year on the surface of Duna, and are back on Kerbin in no more than 5 Kerbin years since they were launched. (+6)

Album a/Y3K8BMQ will appear when post is submitted

 

Edited June 17, 2018 by Death Engineering

[septemberWaves]

I've been completely away from KSP for a while due to my exam season and a few other factors. I'm glad to see people are still interested in this challenge; I have only a few exams remaining and following those I'll take a proper look at the new challenge entries and update this thread.

[Kerbolitto]

Hello there !

 

Here is my entry to this Challenge, I usually don't look much on Saturn V recreations and historic stuff like that, but reading about the Constellation program and the way that missions would have been flown was very interesting ! I used a custom career mod for this, starting with 5000 science, getting rid of the money stuff, because I wanted to gather science points if needed. Also, Im not using any mod but the DLC.

This being my first post on this thread, it's quite a large photobomb because I get to show you every step of Ares 5, EDS + Altair, Ares 1, Orion, and all the Mün stuff.

Almost all pics in spoilers are staging screenshots, technical datas, encounters and boring stuff

 

Part 1 : ARES 5

 

 

 

 

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Launching  : this rocket is very large, with a 5m. fairing and fuel tanks being mostly empty because the payload was 55t. only, but I wanted it to look the part and be as streamlined as possible.

SRB separation :

Kickback coming down : you can see its twin just left of the cargo bay.

Kickback splashdown :

Ares 5 ascent :

Decoupling liquid engines :

Circularisation 73k, parking orbit 110k :

 

 

 

Part 2 : Altair + EDS

 

 

Part 3 : ARES 1

 

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Decoupling SRBs :

SRBs coming down, then splashed :

Stage 2 burning, stage 2 in orbit (shot almost straight up while making some screenshots, the ascent was very inefficient !) :

 

Part 4 : Orion

 

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Meeting EDS : because of the inefficient ascent I had to wait more than a day to set up an encounter with EDS + Altair

Docking :

 

Part 5 : Orion, Altair, EDS

 

I started departure with a single burn, which later required a correction maneuver (with Altair) before entering Mun SOI, because I was using only Jeb's (limited) capacity to aim at the maneuver node.

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Burning to the Mun :

Spot on ! Polar orbit required a longer burn than expected (I set my dV datas based on my experience, which is always aim at the ecliptic !!!)

52 m/s correction : EDS is ditched on the Mun, Altair performing this little burn.

Retro burn : around 270 m/s at 8000m. altitude

 

Part 6 : Altair landing

 

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Landing, with assistance of RCS thrusters because I did not noticed immediatly that I was not using some Baguettes reservoirs !

 

Part 7 : Deploying stuff !

 

Cargo bay had a tiny rover inside, 2 seats + optionnal probe control !

Bill marking his territory studying samples.

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Kerbin in a box, also full-cell powered

 

Part 8 : Meeting with Orion

 

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Altair ascent vehicle :

 

Part 9 : Coming back home

 

Landing at KSC, absolutely not part of the planning

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Kerbin maneuver, I originally wanted to perform a retroburn at AP but felt short on fuel because I did not antiticaped how much the polar orbit would alter my planning !

This one looked very beautifull with all those colored lines ! I went up and down the Mun a few times, great success !

Last burn of the mission :

This was quite a big surprise surprise, because I was coming at a 10° angle almost exactly above the KSC ! Some (read, 30/40) quickloadings later and after tweaking a bit my re-entry altitude, and thanks to the amazing flight characteristics of the MK3 Pod xD :

 

Spacecrafts used :

Ares 5 with Altair + EDS weight 390 t., 2 Kickbacks 4 Skippers 1 Vector then 1 Mainsail.

Ares 1 with Orion weight 73t., 2 kickbacks then 1 Skiff

Orion is 6.6t. only above 1 Cheetah

Altair with rover + ascent module weights just shy of 20t. powered by 1 Skiff then 1 Terrier

EDS with Altair weight 54.5t. powered by a Skipper

 

Things I should have done :

_Put more lights on Altair, for beauty.

_Take less than 26 days to complete the mission !

_Anticipate how much the polar insertion and departure would change my dV calculations

_Put probes and reaction wheels on stuff, so I can de-orbit them

_Take less screenschots xD Again, sorry for the huge photobomb !

 

Thanks for reading

 

Edit : Typo and stuff I forgot !

 

General score objectives :

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• Launch Vehicles: Only use replicas of the Constellation-specific launch vehicles (Ares I, Ares IV, and Ares V) for all launches from Kerbin (not including satellite launches). (+10) DONE (I think ?)
• Ares I: Your Ares I analogue has one solid rocket motor on the first stage* and one liquid rocket engine on the second stage. *For stock entries you are allowed to use multiple first-stage solid rocket motors, so long as they all ignite at the same time and have the same burn time. (+5) DONE
• Ares V: Your Ares V analogue has 5 liquid rocket engines and two solid rocket boosters on the first stage, and one liquid rocket engine on the second stage. (+5) DONE
• Stage Recovery 1: The solid first stage of the Ares I can land safely in the ocean with parachutes. (+3) DONE
• Stage Recovery 2: The SRBs on the Ares IV and V can land safely in the ocean with parachutes. (+4) DONE
• Asparagus Staging: Use asparagus staging on any vehicle. (-50) No Asparagus here !
• Orion: Orion is launched on the Ares I rocket and has space for at least three kerbals for stock entries, or four kerbals for modded entries. (+6) DONE
• Crew Safety: Orion includes a solid-fueled launch escape tower. (+4) DONE
• Crew Mobility: All surface modules have functional ladders. (+1) DONE
• Crew Survivability: Any kerbal dies (or runs out of life support supplies if you're using a life support mod). (-50 per kerbal) Nobody died today !
• Life Support: Use a life support mod (+25) NOT DONE
• Larger Than Life: Use a scaled-up version of the Kerbol system with a scale factor of at least 2. (+(5+scale factor)) NOT DONE
• Commnet: Do everything with commnet enabled at the default (normal mode) settings or more difficult. (+10) DONE
• Surface Science Bonus: If you're in career or science mode, gather as many science points as you can with only one landing. This is a separate score - not related to the main points system - for each celestial body that you visit, and it only includes stock science experiments (non-stock parts which do stock experiments are okay to use). You may not use a science lab to increase science yield. In order to do the challenge in career mode, you may use save file editing to provide yourself with funds and science points. For missions involving landings on multiple celestial bodies, your score will be split by each celestial body landed on (you must keep track of which science is from where). DONE MAYBE, as I did not focus on science but brought back some after the mission !

48 points.

 

Munar Sortie objectives :

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• Objective: Using the Orion spacecraft and the Altair lander, send four kerbals (three for stock entries) to the surface of the Mun and return them safely to Kerbin. (+20) DONE
• Kerbin Orbit Rendezvous: The Orion spacecraft and the Altair lander are launched separately and dock in Kerbin orbit before transferring to the Mun. (+8) DONE
• Accurate Altair: The Altair Munar Lander includes a descent module and an ascent module, and has space for all four kerbals (three for stock entries). (+7) DONE
• Fuel Cells: The Altair lander is powered by a fuel cell. (+2) DONE
• Descent Module: The Altair descent module is left on the surface of the Mun, and includes: airlock, fuel and engines for landing, landing legs, power storage (at least 1000 electric charge). (+4) DONE
• Kerbin Departure Stage: The Mun transfer burn is done using the upper stage of the rocket that launched the Altair lander. (+3) DONE
• Altair Orbital Insertion: The orbital insertion burn at the Mun is done using the engines and fuel system of the Altair lander. You should design the lander to include enough additional fuel in the descent module to accomplish this task. (+3) DONE
• Mun Rover: Bring along a rover with seats for at least half the crew. (+3) DONE

50 points, + 48, should be around 98 !

 

Edited July 9, 2018 by Kerbolitto

[Kerbolitto]

I don't know if this thread is still alive or if the OP is on holidays, so this is my entry to the second challenge ! : D

 

All crafts were launched on a polar orbit, the asteroid was coming from very high, shooting down between Kerbin and the Mun.

 

Part 1 : Ares 5 with ARM on the launchpad

 

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ARM circularizing with Ares 5 second stage

 

Part 2 : Launching Orion on Ares 1

 

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Rdv-ing with ARM

Part 3 : Orion + ARM burning to the asteroid

 

 

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Departure burn 880m/s, catching up with the asteroid 475m/s + 2/3 very tiny corrections maneuvers, with RCS mostly.

Retroburn on PQB-804

 

Part 4 : Asteroid stuff !

 

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Beauty shots mostly !

ARM grabbing the asteroid :

Cargo bay was holding a little probe with a -stick- also you can see one of the two drills doing their job :

Poking with a probe :

Bob taking samples :

The crew preparing to leave :

 

Part 5 : Coming back to Kerbin

 

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Dive on Kerbin :

Taking some heat above the crater :

Splashed at sunset :

 

This mission was a bit easier, because I already designed Orion, Ares 1 and 5 (the ARM was mostly an Altair with more fuel, a Wolfhound and no ascent stage). and the asteroid's encounter was quite easy. I went on with all fuel tanks topped up as I was not sure on what I would need exactly to catch the asteroid, and how much I'd have to burn to get Orion back on the ground but in the end I carried far too much fuel, and could have done the mission without the Wolfhound which is a bit overpefficient.

 

 

Asteroid Rendez-vous objectives :

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Objective: Send a fully crewed Orion spacecraft and an Asteroid Research Module to rendezvous with a Near Kerbin Asteroid (NKA) - this is defined as any asteroid which passes through Kerbin's SOI - and then return the crew safely to Kerbin. (+20) DONE

Kerbin Orbit Rendezvous: The Orion spacecraft and the ARM are launched separately and dock in Kerbin orbit before transferring to the asteroid. (+5) DONE

Asteroid Research Module: The ARM is derived in some way from the Altair lander (it should be visually similar), and includes a grabbing unit to attach to the asteroid. It should be able to undock from the Orion spacecraft when near the asteroid, and land on the asteroid using its own propulsion systems. (+8) DONE

Asteroid Science: The ARM includes a functional drill, ore tanks, and some sort of science equipment for surveying the asteroid. (+5) DONE

Crew Comfort: The ARM includes habitation space for all of the kerbals on the mission. (+5) DONE

Moderate Duration: The total time the crew spend in space is less than 20 Kerbin days. (+6) DONE

Taking Things Literally: As per the quote used to introduce this challenge, poke the asteroid with a stick. (+2) DONE

Might be around 51 points !

 

Edited July 9, 2018 by Kerbolitto

[Kerbolitto]

Hey there,

I've just finished the 3rd challenge to Duna, this was a huge achievement to me because I've never done something on this scale in term of mission planification / architecture, and overall design restrictions.

 

I'm sorry for those like me who got a poor connection, because there's a lot of pics even after keeping only the most interrestings.

 

Starring : Jebediah, Valentina, Bill, Bob, and Margaret, with the help of Ares 1, Ares 5, Orion EXT, Vector Red and Blue, Le Jadis-Naguère, multiple com-sat, Omicron Lyrae and  Freedom's Reach  land-bases, 3 nukes pods as secondary roles and too much French flags xD

 

Part 1 : Unmanned payloads

 

Everything was -very- quickly set-up because the transfer window to Duna was closing, or so I thought. All those ships were launched at night, docked and assembled in orbit, and burning to Duna in less than 3 hours.

 

Com-sat :

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Launchpad :

Sats on their way to Duna : 3 Com-Relays, 1 Spiky M700 on top, also not seen on this screen is a big Solar-Relay which would trail behind Duna's orbit.

I forgot to take a screenshot once everywhing was ready, so here is one after the end of the mission, you can perceive the Kerbin-Duna big Relay dish following Duna closely (8-10 Ike's orbit) :

Vector's DTV :

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Red Vector

Launchpad :

Stage 2 of Ares 5 performing the encounter with Nuke Pod 1

Nuke Pod 1 docking :

Red performing burn to Duna :

Empty fuselage jettisonned after injection :

Blue Vector

Launchpad :

Encounter with Nuke Pod 2 :

Burn to Duna :

Empty fuselage thrown away :

Nuke Pods 1 and 2

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Launching :

Stage 2 of Ares 5 :

 

Arrival in Duna SOI

Both Vectors captured after burning 2 times, the first (330-350m/s) on an eliptical orbit (around 50 days) and the second to circularize (340-350m/s)

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Red orbiting Duna :

Blue intersecting with Red :

 

Part 2 : Le Jadis-Naguère

 

This ship is inspired of Copernicus, which would have been use to transit Kerbals to Mars, on Humans on Duna, can't remember.

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Launchpad :

Habitat orbiting :

Nuke Pod on launchpad :

Nukes approaching :

Everything is online, waiting for crew :

 

Part 2 : Orion-EXT

 

This is a modified version of Orion with 2 more seats, 2 baguettes (for les tartines) and an heavier thermal shield

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Stage 2 of Ares 1, a little design modification to carry this heavier version of Orion :

Orion EXT approaching Jadis-Naguère :

 

Part 3 : Transit to Duna

 

Duna's injection was performed 16 minutes after Orion docked to J-N, no time to unpack !

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Detaching spent fuselage :

Second retroburn around Duna, same technic as with Vectors DTV :

 

Part 4 : Setting things up around Duna, crew transfer to Blue Vector, simultaneous landing

 

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Deorbiting with Cheetah's engines in front of both Vectors, it took many tries to get an identical speed :

Just above the atmosphere :

Things are getting hotter by the second :

I thought that flight control surface were a bit overkill but they were very helpfull to catch up, Red was heavier by ~8t. than Blue so their descent profile were different by some margin :

Blue below Red :

Red landing : I had adjust thrust below center of mass in the SPH but 10 parachutes messed up with that, so I had to tune on the fly to maintain a flat plane

 

Part 5 : Unpacking land-bases !

 

Blue carried Omicron Lyrae, an habitat base with science module, crew cabin, and science stuff

Red hold Freedom's Reach, which consisted of a mining base, a Duna Ascent Vehicle and Spiderette, a 3 seats rover. It also has 2 vertical docking ports to re-dock the DAV after it has return the crew on orbit, or that was the plan before someone forgot to install a probe in it ...

  Reveal hidden contents

Cleaning stuff up :

Omicron Lyear is online :

Freedom's Reach too :

Ore's concentration is quite high in this crater :

 

Part 6 : Going back to Kerbin

 

  Reveal hidden contents

DAV is now fuelled up :

DAV in orbit :

I also forgot to put a probe in Orion (it was left next to Blue's orbit) so in order to return home I had to set an encounter with it (with the DAV) and let Jebediah bring it back on the Jadis-Naguère :

Transfering crew, Orion docked :

Transfer to Kerbin : I has to use Ike because Jadis-Naguère was lacking ... 2m/s of LF on a direct trajectory, and I did not want to use RCS on this one.

Correction maneuver : I did not want to bring J-N too close to Kerbin because I may use it in the future, so it is now on an ellipse with Kerbin's orbit at Pe and Duna at Ap

Orion is performing a huge radial burn, approx. 4h before hitting the atmosphere, while J-N continues on its way :

Ablator put at use :

Everybody's safe, enjoying a brighter sun !

930 Science only, I did not visit any other biome (I got no patience with rover xD) and ... forgot to do experiments above Ike ...

Jadis-Naguère orbiting between Kerbin and Duna, with little less than 20Lf units left !

 

Crewed Duna Mission objectives :

  Reveal hidden contents

Objective: Land 6 kerbals (5 for stock entries) on Duna and return them safely to Kerbin. (+30) DONE

Extended Orion: Use an upgraded version of your Orion spacecraft that contains two extra kerbals. (+8) DONE

Scheduled Transfers: Launch the uncrewed payloads to Duna in the first transfer window, and send the crew to Duna in the second transfer window. (+6) DONE

Careful Planning: Send a satellite to orbit Duna and choose a landing location with a high ore concentration. (+5) DONE

Constellation Constellation: Send at least three relay satellites to orbit Duna, and one to orbit the Sun, to ensure that the crew have a connection to Kerbin at all times. (+4) DONE

Cargo Lander: Use a standardized lander for both the Duna habitat and the Duna ascent vehicle. The lander should be able to make a parachute-assisted propulsive landing on Duna. (+8) DONE

Transfer Stages: Use separately-launched chemical or nuclear transfer stages for the uncrewed payloads (habitat and ascent vehicle) (does not include support satellites). (+5) DONE

Heat Shielding: Cargoes landed on Duna are protected by a fairing during re-entry. (+3) DONE

Surface Habitat: Send a habitation module to Duna which has space for all of the crew and an airlock (airlock does not count as part of living space). The habitation module should await the crew in Duna orbit and be used to land them on the surface. (+10) DONE

Hab Lab: Habitation module includes a science lab (lab space does not count as part of living space). (+4) DONE

Duna Ascent Vehicle: A single DAV is used with space for all of the crew. It must have sufficient power systems and must be able to rendezvous and dock with the Duna Transfer Vehicle. (+9) DONE

ISRU: The fuel tanks for the DAV are filled using ore mined and refined on Duna. (+7) DONE

Surface Mobility: Include a rover with space for at least three kerbals. (+3) DONE

Surface Mobility 2: The rover fulfills the previous requirement and is pressurized. (+2) DONE

Duna Transfer Vehicle: Your crewed DTV is solar powered and has sufficient habitation space (at least 2 seats per kerbal). (+5) DONE

Nuclear DTV: Your DTV is propelled by 3 nuclear thermal rockets, and includes one drop tank that is jettisoned after the trans-Duna injection burn. (+5; does not stack with Chemical DTV or Ion DTV) DONE

Chemical DTV: Your DTV is propelled by several (3 to 5 ideally) chemical rocket stages that are jettisoned when out of fuel. (+5; does not stack with Nuclear DTV or Ion DTV)

Ion DTV: Your DTV is propelled by an ion drive which does not jettison fuel tanks or engines. (+5; does not stack with Nuclear DTV or Chemical DTV)

Spacecraft Shipment: Your Orion spacecraft is transported to Duna and back whilst docked to the DTV, and is used to re-enter and land back at Kerbin. (+2) DONE

Mission Time: Your crew spend at least 1 Kerbin year on the surface of Duna, and are back on Kerbin in no more than 5 Kerbin years since they were launched. (+6) DONE

Should be 122 points.

 

Complete timeline : (sorted by ships)

  Reveal hidden contents

Very first launch : Y1 D210 1h

___Com'Sat
    Y1     D210     1h     Launching
              D210     3h     Burn Duna
                Satcom arriving before Vectors
    Y2     D38                 Relays set up on Duna
    Y3     D320    1h      Relays en place, Solar trailing behind Duna

___Cargo DTV Nuke-Pods 1 et 2
    Y1     D210     2h     Night launch, sadly

___DTV Red Vector
    Y1     D210     3h30     Launch
                            4h10     Docked to Nuke Pod 1
                            4h17     Burn Duna
                            4h28     Jettison mk3 fuselage after Duna's injection
    Y1     D324     3h23     8m/s correction
    Y2     D71       1h13     Duna SOI arrival
              D73       5h36     Burn Retrograde to capture orbit Duna +/- 330m/s
              D124     4h45     Orbite Rétroburn 350m/s 94x94

___DTV Blue Vector
    Y1     D210     3h40     Launch
                            4h06     Docked to Nuke Pod 2
                            5h06    Burn Duna
                            5h14    Jettison mk3 fuselage after Duna's injection
    Y1     D326     0h33     16m/s correction
    Y2     D66       5h45     DUNA SOI arrival
             D69        0h16     Burn Retrograde to capture orbit Duna +/- 350m/s
             D127      3h03     Orbite Rétroburn 340m/s 106x106

___Jadis-Naguère
    Y3     D57      4h28     Launch
                           5h     Orbit 110x110
                           5h41    Online
    Y4     D158    3h    Waiting around Duna, crew going to Blue

___J-N Nuke Pod
    Y3     D57    5h02     Launch
                         5h34     Orbite 80x80
                         5h41     Docked to J-N

___Orion EXT
    Y3     D297    4h    Lannch
                           4h38    Encounter with J-N
                           5h07    Docked, transferring crew
    Y6    D199     2h15    Undock Orion
                           2h16    600m/s radial in burn
             D200    0h47    Landing by night

___J-N + Orion EXT
                Arrival around Duna +/- 280 days later
    Y3     D297    5h23     5min40s burn to Duna, 1050m/s 15 minutes après docking Orion
              D405    5h50     Correction burn 11.5m/s
    Y4     D150    5h40     Duna SOI arrival
              D153    4h17     250m/s burn, captured on a 2 days elips orbit
              D155    05h58   Final orbit 115x115
              D158     4h55    Orion docked to Blue / Crew transferred
    Y5     D295    1h10     Burn to Kerbin
                           1h59     Low Pass 30m.above Ike
             D398     4h30     Correction maneuver 4.3m/s
    Y6    D200     0h10     4m/s burn on J-N to altitude with Kerbin

___Vectors combined    (before de-orbiting Duna)
    Y4    D160    0h43    Blue and Red together
                          1h10    Deorbiting both landers side by side
                          1h35    Landing
                          1h38    Unpacking
                          1h50    All modules online

___DAV
    Y5    D293    1h50    Launching from Duna
                          2h20    Orbit
                          2h45    Meeting Orion EXT
             D294    0h27    Orion EXT & DAV approaching J-N
                          0h36    Orion EXT docked to J-N
                          0h39    DAV docked to J-N
                          0h41    Crew transferred to J-N, undocking DAV

 

I hope you enjoyed this ---long---post, I certainly did while flying this awesome challenge !

 

Edited July 9, 2018 by Kerbolitto

[Death Engineering]

The Konstellation Space Program - Crewed Dres Mission

Well, I admit now that it was well into this challenge before I realized the OP has marked this challenge 'not currently active'. Sorry. 

This is the last entry I'll be doing on this challenge and only dropping it here because it evolved into a kind of cross-challenge mission with the Elkano Challenge. The crew boarding the Konstellation vessel:

Six crew on Dres with the Science Rover and Altair Outpost:

Large crater near Dres' lowest point ASL:

 

Crewed Dres Landing Score: 122

  Reveal hidden contents

• Objective: Land 6 kerbals on Dres and return them safely to Kerbin. (+30)
• Extended Orion: Use an upgraded version of your Orion spacecraft that contains two extra kerbals. (+8)
• Scheduled Transfers: Launch the uncrewed payloads (satellites and landing vehicles) to Dres in the first transfer window, and send the crew to Dres in the second transfer window. (+6)
• Careful Planning: Send a satellite to orbit Dres and choose a landing location with a high ore concentration. (+5)
• Constellation Constellation: Send at least three relay satellites to orbit Dres to ensure that the crew have a connection to Kerbin at all times. (+4)
• Lander Coherence: Use Altair-based landing vehicles. Dres is similar to the Mun in terms of delta-v requirements, so you should require few modifications from the original Altair design. (+8)
• Transfer Stages: Use separately-launched chemical transfer stages for the uncrewed payloads (not including satellites). (+5)
• Surface Operations: Include two uncrewed cargo landers for surface modules. (+5)
• Surface Habitation: Include plenty of habitation space (at least 2 seats per kerbal, not counting labs or airlocks). (+8)
• Science Module: Include a science lab and science equipment. (+8)
• Surface Mobility: Include a rover with space for at least three kerbals. (+3)
• Surface Mobility 2: The rover fulfills the previous requirement and is pressurized. (+2)
• Pressure Preservation: All modules containing kerbals (except the rover) have a dedicated airlock. (+3)
• Power Systems: Surface modules are powered by solar panels and have enough power storage to maintain functionality when the base is in darkness. (+9)
• Interplanetary Coherence: Use an interplanetary spacecraft based on the same design as the one used for the Duna mission (either identical in design or modified for the higher delta-v requirement). (+10)
• Spacecraft Shipment: Your Orion spacecraft is transported to Dres and back whilst docked to the interplanetary transport, and is used to re-enter and land back at Kerbin. (+2)
• Mission Time: Your crew spend at least 1 Kerbin year on the surface of Dres, and are back on Kerbin in no more than 8 Kerbin years since they were launched. (+6) This rule is subject to change

 

[Kerbolitto]

That's too bad .. It's such an awesome thread !

[SiriusRocketry]

Is this still alive?

[Kerbolitto]

Sadly, it seems that this thread is dead .. Too bad, its probably one of the best challenge out there : /

[septemberWaves]

I am back; apologies for the long wait, I've had a busy year. I will be maintaining this challenge again now that I am getting back into playing KSP. I can't promise amazing consistency as I am a uni student now, but I will update when I can. Currently I am not at uni on account of winter break, so I'm going to take some time going through the challenge entries that I've missed, followed by updating the challenge to suit the latest game version (hopefully this should not be difficult).

[septemberWaves]

@ZXStarFox Congratulations on completing the Munar Sortie and Asteroid Rendezvous missions. I am fairly sure that your point totals appear to be accurate, and they will be added to the leaderboards. Some of your images make it difficult to see exactly what is going on; for future reference I would advise planning missions so that most screenshots will be taken in the light (I am aware that this is not always possible, but sometimes what can help is doing things such as attempting to ensure landing and screenshotted surface activities occur on the day side, and plotting rendezvous maneuvers so that they don't occur behind a planet or moon), and also zooming in closer to the vehicles in question so that they fill most of the screen (though not always practical in some situations). You've earned the badges for Munar Sortie and Asteroid Rendezvous.

 

@Death Engineering I am very much impressed; you've accomplished more aspects of this challenge than anyone else so far. I enjoyed your mission reports and I like that you made a video for the Munar Sortie; it makes a change from everything being done with images. You also gave me an idea for something extra to add to landing/asteroid missions (sample returns). I would've preferred that your Duna Ascent Vehicle be shorter, but only for the sake of fitting in a similar-sized fairing to the habitat lander (though the lander base was standardized so this isn't going to impact your point totals). Since your only part-adding mod is life support, you fall into the "stock" category (I think I may change this when I update the rules though, to have "stock", "stock + life support", and "modded"). Your calculated point totals appear to be accurate and will be added to the leaderboards, and you've earned the badges for all missions you performed. If you do have some interest in continuing with this challenge now that I've returned to maintaining it you can expect an update fairly soon (some rules will be modified and I'll try to put together complete rulesets for the Jool and Komet challenges (though the latter will definitely depend on the Komets mod being updated); Richell rules are also a goal but less of a priority since XPC is still stuck in 1.2).

 

@Kerbolitto I appreciate your thorough mission reports (I'm a little too sleep-deprived right now to read through them fully, but I will do so later because I like this amount of detail), and your vehicle designs are nice considering the limitations of stock parts. I probably should clarify that the satellites don't have to be launched simultaneously, but the fact that you did so is not an issue. Your Duna landings were good; I suppose the fins helped with precision in that regard. As far as I can tell your calculated point totals are accurate, and will be added to the leaderboards. You've earned the relevant badges. And I'm very glad this challenge encouraged you to plan missions with more complexity and difficulty than you were previously used to, that is part of the idea of it.

 

@The Minmus Derp Though I am now updating this challenge I won't be including Sarnus or the other outer planets. Depending on how much time I have, I am strongly considering making a separate challenge to cover Moho, Eve, Eeloo (with stock planetary layout) and the entire Outer Planets mod, but if I do this it will not be part of this challenge thread as I think those locations are too far beyond the possible scope of the Constellation program (even Jool is a stretch). I do think making this separate extended challenge would be interesting, but as I am in university I do not know how much time I will have available to manage it.

Edited December 25, 2018 by septemberWaves

[Death Engineering]

@septemberWaves great to see you back!   Rather coincidentally, I just restored my old KSP where the Konstellation missions lived yesterday, so I might just continue on with this and head out to Jool.   

[septemberWaves]

Jool rules aren't up yet (this may take me a day or two; I will work on it today and tomorrow, and hopefully it'll be done by tomorrow, but since Jool should be the biggest challenge here I want to give players plenty of tasks and it might take me a little while longer than I anticipate). It's probably worth starting to make prototype landers though (I'll be changing the existing Tylo rule though just so you know; I don't know what I was thinking when I thought that players should have to land their whole crew on Tylo, it'll only require a 2-kerbal landing vehicle), and whatever I end up doing to update the main rules shouldn't affect your existing mission infrastructure.

Edited December 25, 2018 by septemberWaves

[Death Engineering]

  On 12/25/2018 at 7:06 PM, septemberWaves said:

I'll be changing the existing Tylo rule

Expand  

<relieved>

[Kerbolitto]

  On 12/25/2018 at 12:50 PM, septemberWaves said:

 

@Kerbolitto I appreciate your thorough mission reports (I'm a little too sleep-deprived right now to read through them fully, but I will do so later because I like this amount of detail), and your vehicle designs are nice considering the limitations of stock parts. I probably should clarify that the satellites don't have to be launched simultaneously, but the fact that you did so is not an issue. Your Duna landings were good; I suppose the fins helped with precision in that regard. As far as I can tell your calculated point totals are accurate, and will be added to the leaderboards. You've earned the relevant badges. And I'm very glad this challenge encouraged you to plan missions with more complexity and difficulty than you were previously used to, that is part of the idea of it.

 

Expand  

Glad to see you back, and thank you .

Back then I used lots of fins because I wanted to land the 2 ships together despite their weight difference so it just helped control even if it was overpowered.

I'll probably take a shot at the following missions

[septemberWaves]

The Jool mission parameters are complete (or at least as complete as they are going to get for now; I will post in this thread if they are updated at any point). With that, the challenge is re-opened properly. Mission parameters for the Komet mission are my next goal (as well as any minor updates I deem necessary for the other missions); Richell is a lower priority since the mod is not up-to-date but I will provide parameters at some point.

I am also going to be doing a new attempt at the challenge myself; I will post links here when that is updated.

[Martian Emigrant]

Hi EJ @septemberWaves good to see you are dropping in. (Not concerned but its nice to see you are around)

 

I am newly returning to the game myself.

Relearning what I used to know and looking at challenges.

 

ME

[Mythical Donuts]

hey, I'm thinking of doing this, but for the asteroid mission, would it be OK if I went to a Kopernicus asteroid (~100 metres across and orbits in a Near Kerbin Object orbit) which has a class E asteroid for a moon? would that be OK or would it be disqualified

[septemberWaves]

@Mythical Donuts what do you mean a Kopernicus asteroid? Is this an object which acts (in terms of things like physics and gravity) like a planet or moon? The intention is to use a stock-style asteroid; the kind which has no gravity (in terms of game mechanics) and which passes through the Kerbin system at a high velocity before moving to a solar orbit. Also; the asteroid mission should not be done before the Mun mission in any case.