Jupiter Direct Ascent

[DAL59]

The original four(Jeb, Bill, Bob, Val) went on a no docking mission to the mun in the newly developed jupiter capsule.

 

T+1 Nova liftoff confirmed.  11 vector engines provide 10.3 meganewtons of thrust.  

T+ 1:14 Stage separation and gravity turn.  

Jupiter with TMI stage in munar orbit.

TMI!  A free return trajectory was maintained at all times.

After 1 course correction, the third stage was jettisoned before orbital insertion.

Landing site: the farside crater.

Approaching:

Looking for a crater to land in:

The fuel was well measured, so the flight computer's suicide burn times had to be followed.

Only a few seconds of fuel left

 

  Landed!

 

 

Now for a group surface photo(Val stayed in case a quick abort was needed)

It was time to go.  The next mission would be two person, so they would have more resources and could stay longer.

Pull up!

Departing the Mun:

Jettison of return stage:

Safe:

Safe...

Jeb could get in touch with the KSC, but then the usual helicopter drone showed up and took them back home. 

The KSC had been invaded by the Koviet Union.  Jeb was told he could be a pilot for them in exchange for his release.  He agreed, and was told to come the the VAB roof to watch some RUD.  He assumed a minor building would be destroyed and replaced.  But it didn't mean rapid unscheduled disassembly.  It meant rapid unscheduled defenestration.  

[MatterBeam]

For some reason, I thought it would be heading to Jupiter .

Am I correct in understanding that you only needed 2.5km/s of deltaV to land on the Mun?

[DAL59]

@MatterBeamThe name came from Buzz Aldrin's Race Into Space, a 1993 free game that also inspired the @Angel-125 BARIS mod.  It was a real concept though.  

16 hours ago, MatterBeam said:

Am I correct in understanding that you only needed 2.5km/s of deltaV to land on the Mun?

Yes.  The only stage that was really overpowered was the return stage.  

[DAL59]

Part 2:Skylab

Then the Skylab mission was launched, on a Saturn 5 instead of a Nova.