THIS IS PEGASUS: VOYAGE TO THE PLANETS(Chapter 4: Laythe)

[DAL59]

Based on a 13 year old BBC docudrama:

Wherner Kerman inspects the heatshield:

The massive craft was assembled in LKO via the Altftwelve Space Elevator.

This is Kegasus.

67 meters of nuclear space craft, an oasis of life in the vacumn of space all alone in the night.  Its a dangrous place, but its our last, best hope for peaace and 5 kerbals' homes for the next 610 days.  Because that's when the snacks run out.  

 Kegasus, you are go for trans-Eve injection.

4 periapsis kicks later, the ship escaped kerbin, though the navigation started glitching out.

What does that even mean???  We were on an escape trajectory a second ago!

Pegasus has lowered its orbit to intercept Eve, with plenty of fuel left.  

 

Technical stuff:

17,960 m/s of delta vee remain.  

Flightpath(subject to change):

Kerbin - Eve(probe) - Duna(manned)(Refuel at depot) - Jool - Tylo(Manned) -Vall (Manned) - Laythe(Probe)(Refuel at depot) - Eeloo(Manned) - Asteroid? - Kerbin

Mostly stock.  Only mods was near future construction(trusses)(should be stock), and of course, Near future propulsion, electric, and USI for the lithium tanks.  Landers are completely stock.

 

 

 

Edited February 4, 2018 by DAL59

[Alpha 360]

Impressive interplanetary transfer vehicle. Lets see how far the rocket can go go go!

[DAL59]

Hastily made Diagram:

[Angelo Kerman]

I have Voyage To the Planets on DVD, it's a classic. I've thought about making a huge 42m expandable heat shield for DSEV, inspired by ships like the Pegasus and of course Kronus 1...

Spoiler

Looking forward to seeing how this plays out.

[Kosmonaut]

One of my favourite films ever- the Saturn Rings Spacewalk was fantastic and I felt genuine emotion at the emotional parts. I've been looking for this for forever so thank you. 

[DAL59]

17 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

making a huge 42m expandable heat shield for DSEV

Yes, that would be very helpful.  There's no way I can aerobrake with just the inflatable shield, which I've tried in a simulation.  I'm going to have to use some cheats for the Jool Aerobrake.  

[DAL59]

DAY 280- Eve arrival

A few weeks earlier,l they had their solar periapsis.

Kerbol was bright, but not nearly as much as it would be once they slingshotted around it to go to Jool.

Eve, the most hostile planet, shrouded in thick clouds.  The surface would have to wait for the next mission...for Kerbals.  A probe, on the other hand,  might just work.  They had one in a cargo bay along with the laythe drone.   

Orbit insertion has to be started quite far out.

T

Thanks @PeteTimesSix @RealTimeShepherd @linuxgurugamer for the vessel viewer mod!

Sunset on Eve.

Stable orbit!

Its apoapsis, time to release the probe.  It has no propulsion, the plan is to have a kerbal push it retrograde and then return to the Kegasus.  

The crew are shocked.  The seperation is too intense and the probe immediately explodes. 

They will stay for a week and then head out to Duna.  

But there is another option.  They also have a second probe, the Laythe drone.  Now, Eve has no oxygen, so it won't get very far.  So I'm going to ask you guys to decide- sacrifice the Laythe drone to briefly explore Eve, or save the drone for laythe?     

[Geschosskopf]

Bummer on the probe separation malfunction    But OTOH, this doesn't detract from the sheer audacity of this project.  As we said in the Marine Corps, FIDO!  (**** It, Drive On!)

[Angelo Kerman]

1 hour ago, Geschosskopf said:

Bummer on the probe separation malfunction    But OTOH, this doesn't detract from the sheer audacity of this project.  As we said in the Marine Corps, FIDO!  (**** It, Drive On!)

I didn't know they said that, heh! The rover in my K.E.E.P. story is named Fido...

I think It's just say, "Robots..." like they did in the series, and save the probe for Laythe.

[Geschosskopf]

10 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

I didn't know they said that, heh! The rover in my K.E.E.P. story is named Fido...

I know, and it's always given me a chuckle  

[DAL59]

Currently performing the very long TDI burn.

[DAL59]

Nooooo it crashed.  I'll have to start the burn to Mars again.  

[DAL59]

Chapter 3 coming SoonTm

[DAL59]

YEAR ONE, DAY 24: DUNA ARRIVAL

The Duna lander is revealed.  Undocking is more violent than expected. Erite(geologist), Matt(Medic), and Newfrod(Mechanic) will land.

Deorbit

Ladders out

New Frod will be the third to set foot on Duna(an earlier zubrin-style mission took place, but left immediately after landing). 

  

They don't have much in way of transportation.

The pegasus crew checks for bad weather.

Night geology mission

These rocks have colliders.  And there's water!

Sunset

This mission stayed for 1 month.  

(Sorry ISS.  We spent all our funds on Kegasus, so we can't give you snack resupplies).

Liftoff!

Orbit insertion

Meanwhile...

A tanker will refuel the ship. Another tanker is in Laythe orbit.

Rendevous plotted

Kegasus

Docking proved impossible, so EVA was needed.

Next, the Kegasus will use a technique called the oberth effect.  It will do an extremely low slingshot around Kerbol, then head out to Jool.  But that iss only the second most dangerous part of the mission...

Spoiler

Note: I used the cheat menu to get to Duna.  I had enough fuel and planned the maneuver, but my computer kept crashing during the hour long burns.  

 

[theJesuit]

10 hours ago, DAL59 said:

 

  Hide contents

Note: I used the cheat menu to get to Duna.  I had enough fuel and planned the maneuver, but my computer kept crashing during the hour long burns.  

 

It sounds like you'll have issues every step of the way with your ion engine burns.  Have you tried https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/154935-131-bettertimewarpcontinued-customizable-time-warp-and-lossless-physics-warp/

as a mod to assit this these?  It may be a game changer.

I really enjoyed the BBC series and look forward to this one from you!

Peace.

[DAL59]

8 hours ago, theJesuit said:

It sounds like you'll have issues every step of the way with your ion engine burns.  Have you tried https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/154935-131-bettertimewarpcontinued-customizable-time-warp-and-lossless-physics-warp/

as a mod to assit this these?  It may be a game changer.

I really enjoyed the BBC series and look forward to this one from you!

Peace.

With the amount of parts I have, physic warp makes the game run slower, and glitch out.  I might edit the config files to increase thrust.

[DAL59]

Course to Jool plotted!

Trans Jool Injection:

This far from the sun, the solar panels are useless, and so we jettison them.  One solar panel got stuck and will be removed via eva.

"Why am I going out alone?"

"Psych eval"

"Okay, removing now.  Just like plucking the wings from a butterfly."

"Test results: your a terrible person.  Thats not even what we were testing for." https://youtu.be/Yy3dIicSI_0

JOOL ARRIVAL

Jool.

Closer

Reactors shut down, radiators retracted, heatshield inflated.

8-10-13 gees!

Welcome to Laythe!

The Kegasus is in an elliptical orbit of Laythe.  It will lower its periapsis, release its probe, and then get back into orbit.

The probe is practically uncontrollable.  The wings make no effect on its nosedive towards the ground at 100 m/s.  Splash.

Refueling in Laythe orbit:

We should go back there someday.  Next stop: Vall!  The manned Vall lander will be reused at Eeloo.  However, there is the risk of docking failure, like what happened at Duna.  So, should I land at Vall or save the lander for Eeloo only in case I can't redock?  I also have a tylo lander.  

[Geschosskopf]

On 12/15/2017 at 4:30 PM, DAL59 said:

Note: I used the cheat menu to get to Duna.  I had enough fuel and planned the maneuver, but my computer kept crashing during the hour long burns.  

The way I see it, if the Kraken starts gouging eyes and biting, you're free to match Its behavior.

 

On 2/3/2018 at 6:01 PM, DAL59 said:

Course to Jool plotted!

Out of curiosity, how long did it take to get from Duna to Jool?   Was it about the same as going to Jool from Kerbin?

 

On 2/3/2018 at 6:01 PM, DAL59 said:

Test results: your a terrible person.  Thats not even what we were testing for.

LOL!   But on the pragmatic side, (most) butterflies can be considered as the final, gimpy, not-long-for-this-world, dying stage in the life of caterpillars.  The caterpillar stage is where these bugs spend the prime and majority of their days.  And (most) caterpillars are horrible pests.  So, pulling the wings off a butterfly can be considered both a fitting end to that individual caterpillar and also making the world a better place for everything else by aborting another spawn of caterpillars.  I don't think I'm a terrible person for thinking so, but that's mostly because I'm a terrible person for other reasons

 

On 2/3/2018 at 6:01 PM, DAL59 said:

The probe is practically uncontrollable.  The wings make no effect on its nosedive towards the ground at 100 m/s.  Splash.

Damn, that sucks.  That should have worked.

 

On 2/3/2018 at 6:01 PM, DAL59 said:

We should go back there someday.  Next stop: Vall!  The manned Vall lander will be reused at Eeloo.  However, there is the risk of docking failure, like what happened at Duna.  So, should I land at Vall or save the lander for Eeloo only in case I can't redock?  I also have a tylo lander.  

Hmmm, good question.  Why couldn't the Duna lander dock?

You seem to have KIS/KAS going on so if all else fails, you can probably snag the Vall lander that way and take it to Eeloo.

[DAL59]

24 minutes ago, Geschosskopf said:

ou seem to have KIS/KAS going on so if all else fai

No, I don't have KAS.  Just some random mod that lets me delete parts, though I can't place new ones.  I don't know what it it called.

I will put up a poll for the next target.