SLS Kexploration Mission 1 (Doing It Orion Style)

[sevenperforce]

This mission completed for submission to the EM1 Mission of the Doing It Orion Style challenge.

Only mod was TweakScale. I went a little overboard trying to match all the elements of the real SLS + Orion, down to the count and placement of the RCS thruster blocks. Definitely pleased with the final product, though!

View from the VAB.

Standing tall on the pad. 

Igniting the SSMEs first.

Booster ignition and clamp release!

I always love these kinds of shots. I don't much like the SLS myself but it is a nice-looking rocket to be sure.

Look familiar?

Halfway through the SRBs and just now supersonic. Not going to get rid of the launch tower until after the solids are jettisoned.

Really starting to get some heating now, right at burnout. Gees will drop soon, though.

Booster staging aided by some sepratrons clipped into the nosecones.

Boosters receding; about half my launch fuel and pulling two gees.

Throttling down to fine-tune my ascent.

Fairing and LES jettison!

Now I just need to go a little bit further...

MECO in a disposal orbit.

Separating the core. Nice shot of the ICPS here, compare to this.

Extending solar panels as the core recedes.

Circularizing. As you can see, I have 13 cubesats mounted around the ICPS decoupler.

Orbit circularized. 

Testing out my RCS blocks. Note the placement is identical to here.

Really good view of the ICPS.

Went ahead and threw an antenna on here since it is unmanned.

Extending the antennae on the KubeSats.

KubeSat 1 away! These each consist of a probe core, an antenna, and an instrument of some kind. I plan to deploy them in low Kerbin orbit, kerbostationary transfer orbit, Munar free-return, and Munar orbit. I only brought 13 KubeSats because that's the number of adapters on Orion's Stage Adapter.

Deploying a few more KubeSats:

Spoiler

Let's see, where were we?

Planning Munar Free Return.

ICPS reignition! TweakScale is almost perfect, but it didn't adjust exhaust plume length. So it looks a little weird.

Deploying another KubeSat with a slightly higher apoapse.

Yet another.

You can see the orbits of the individual KubeSats.

Deploying KubeSat in Kerbostationary Transfer Orbit.

There it is in KTO!

Throttling down to finely adjust the free-return.

And there's my free-return!

Got a pretty good Munar Periapsis for a free-return.

Releasing more KubeSats now that I'm in a free-return trajectory. Nice shot of the service module here too, along with the large battery to show I have backup in case the solar panels fail.

Approaching cismunar space. Nice shot of the loop around the Mun; you can see that the KubeSats I released have spread out nicely.

One of the KubeSats is on an impact trajectory, the others are not.

I went ahead and used the ICPS for this burn so I could save some KubeSats for deployment in Munar Orbit.

Deploying!

Finally separating the ICPS and Orion is flying free!

Nice swarm of KubeSats here along with me. Let's head a bit closer to the Mun.

Tightening up that orbit...

Much better!

Did a few orbits until I was lined up to head back to Kerbin.

Getting ready for the return burn. This is the first really good shot of Orion by itself.

Starting the burn.

And now my periapse is below the surface! This will be hot.

Farewell, Mun!

Earth approach.

Separation from the Service Module.

Hope I don't overshoot and come down on land.

Very warm.

Hitting the drogues immediately to try and get a splashdown.

Popping the mains. This is gonna be close!

Dropping the heat shield.

Cut the drogues.

Aaaaand...

Splashdown!

[Bottle Rocketeer 500]

@sevenperforce How did you attach the KubeSats to the adapter?

[sevenperforce]

17 minutes ago, Bottle Rocketeer 500 said:

@sevenperforce How did you attach the KubeSats to the adapter?

Radial decouplers, tweakscaled down to 60% or so. Each KubeSat is a decoupler, a probe core, a cubic strut, a science instrument, and an antenna.

[GehringGame]

Great mission! I love the attention to detail in recreating the Orion spacecraft with KSP parts. Even that little strut lattice down by the engine bell... don't think I didn't notice it