Space Exploration Initiative

[Sorabh]

SPACE EXPLORATION INITIATIVE

I was going through the 90 day study that NASA did back when George Bush senior asked them to draft a mission to Moon and Mars. That report looks quite superfluous and overblown at some places, but the report had several good points, and a clear roadmap to Mars. Somehow I felt compelled to think about the consequences, had the report been agreed upon by the US government.

And thus I started writing this story; I hope you enjoy it!

"Why Duna? Because it is Kermanity's destiny to strive, to seek, to find!"

- President George Kush

 

On the fifth anniversary of the first Mun landings, a massive ceremony was held at the KSC, honoring the brave Kerbonauts who walked on the surface of another world for the first time. The President himself graced the occasion with his presence. He also presented his vision for space exploration.

And it did not lack in ambition.

The President called for a return to the Mun, this time to stay. His vision culminated in permanent self sufficient bases on Duna and Laythe.  It was an ambitious project, but certainly achievable. The mun and minmus missions looked daunting when they were conceived. But that did not stop KSC from making history.

The plan is in several phases. The first phase outlines the colonisation of Kerbin's Sphere of Influence, and the subsequent phases describe colonisation of Duna and exploration of the outer planets. Following are the important steps in phase one of the Space Exploration Initiative.

1. Space Station Liberty:

Space Station Liberty, the first step on the pathway, will provide the essential scientific and technological foundation for later kerbal missions to the planets.For example, a particularly critical factor in planning kerbal exploration is the determination of the physiological and psychological effects of low gravity and long-term habitation of the space environment, which will be studied on Liberty.

Initially, crew members will remain on Space Station Liberty for 2 months; research will focus on understanding the various mechanisms responsible for adaptation to weightlessness and the physiological problems encountered upon return to Kerbin. Later, an extended-duration crew certification program will prolong visits to 180 days or more and will include enhanced countermeasures for low gravity and radiation effects.

Systems developed for use on Space Station Liberty will enhance and strengthen the technological base for kerbal planetary exploration. Liberty will serve as a controlled test-bed for developing and validating systems and elements, such as habitation and laboratory modules and life support systems, to be used later on the Mun, Minmus and Duna. In addition, Liberty will support technology experiments and advanced development in mission-critical areas, such as spacecraft assembly, servicing, and system development.

2. Munar Outpost:

The next step in the strategy is the development of a permanent munar outpost which will begin as a small, 2 kerbal base. This base would be a proof of concept with arrangements made for further expansion. A science and an agricultural module is planned for the MunBase.

Missions to the MunBase will be of two types: Crew and Cargo. In the initial stages a piloted mission will feliver a crew of 3 and some cargo to the surface of the Mun and return with 3 crew and some cargo to Liberty; a cargo mission will deliver only cargo, and the vessel is either expended or returned empty.

Power capacity at MunBase will be expanded to support increased demands. The increased power capacity at the outpost will be used to begin operational processing of the Mun's resources and to help reduce the outpost's dependence on Kerbin. For example, water extracted from the munar soil can help make up losses from the outpost's life support system and on further processing, the by products could be used as propellants for the excursion vehicles.

3. Minmus Outpost:

The MinMax industrial outpost will be the final step in the development of a robust infrastructure, one which would allow fast and continuous off world development of interplanetary vehicles.This outpost will have a mining rig to mine ore and water. Conversion units will manufacture propellant, metal and in an optimistic vision, even uranium in significant quantity.

Unlike the MunBase, MinMax will be assembled in Low Minmus orbit and dropped on the surface as a single structure. The low gravity of Minmus will allow the use of relatively small and disposable skycranes. The Minmus base will house at most 2 kerbals. It will be supplied almost entirely by KSC. At the moment, no plan for a 100% self sustained base is being discussed.

This concludes the Phase 1 of the space exploration initiative.

Edited December 10, 2017 by Sorabh

[Sorabh]

Act 1: The tales of Liberty

Episode 1:

The first module of the Liberty Station lifted off from KSC on the ‘Rise’ booster. This core module has all facilities required to sustain a crew of 3 for over 2 months.

 

The Rise booster consists of 4 SRBs and a cluster of five LV-T45 "Swivel" Engines. Why 5 smaller engines instead of a single big one, you ask? Thats because Gene spilled his coffee over the CEO of Rockomax Industries, so we are a little low on Skipper engines.

 

Booster separation, and the signal for those guys from the TV show "Booster Chasers" to start chasing the falling SRBS...

 

At T+187s, First stage burns out and separates. The Poodle engine fires up and boosts the payload even further.

 

Fairings away, solar panels extended and burning the last few meters per second of delta vee. for circularisation Why does it seem to be missing something?

 

Liberty Station core now in stable 100 km x 100 km Low Kerbin Orbit.

This is the first step of Kerbals towards a future of.. wait a minute! Where are the containers for Life Support? 

Well, there is nothing that can be done now. We just have to change the next mission parameters.

[Mikki]

Grabs popcorn... Kerbalism for the win giggles!  Can you leave the GUI on some pics? Prepare yourself for madness... Cheers!

EDIT: excellent launchvehicle!

Edited December 9, 2017 by Mikki

[Sorabh]

Thanks! And OK, I will let some pics have GUI..

[Sorabh]

The second chapter for your reading pleasure! (Now with 453% more dialogue!)

Act 1: The tales of Liberty

Episode 2:

The Mission: Liberty Exploration 1: Officially known as ‘Drifter’, this mission will commission the space station Liberty and provide it with much needed supplies. The mission was initially supposed to be launched atop a modified ‘Rise’ booster and supply only crew to the station. However changes in the mission requirements led to the use of a brand new booster.

The Valor!

Initially, the valor was designed for heavy lift capacities upto 140 tons. However it was deemed too costly, especially when SSTOs were all the craze. However they will be making a return for this mission, sans the four massive liquid fuelled boosters.

The mission will begin in a few short moments. Crew has already boarded the cabin and is ready for departure.

Until then, lets meet the crew:

1. Valentina Kerman, Pilot: No words need to be said about Valentina, one of the legendary four. Believed by many as a more versatile pilot thatn Jeb, she has proven her mettle, time and again. She has piloted SSTOs, capsules, planes and even a Shuttle! Before her, no one managed to land the Shuttle intact, not even Jeb. Her leadership and experience will play a great role in the coming Exploration Missions.

2. Kerlorf Kerman, Engineer: She is a recent transfer from the Orbital Debris Mitigation Section. She has extensive EVA experience and has repaired and recovered defective satellites in all sorts of orbits (Yes, even Molniyas!). Perhaps the most memorable was the repair of a scientific satellite in a highly eccentric orbit over Mun. Her expertise with machines and the ability to jury rig almost anything will be in no doubt of great interest to the mission planners.

3. Sheiling Kerman, Scientist: He is a recent  astrobiology graduate from a bad, really bad university. The youngest in the team, he was whacked by the aforementioned crew members for stating the fact that he was the youngest in the team. His enthusiasm and eagerness is duly noted by the mission planners, and silent prayers have been chanted for his safety.

____________

“Drifter to Ground control, do you copy?”

“Ground control copies. How is your crew holding up?”

“Its alright. I had Sheiling sit beside me instead of at the bottom seat.Its his first spaceflight and he could use a little help.”

“Thats alright, flight. We will make the required changes in the registry too.”

“Its not alright! Sheiling is practically gushing like a lovestruck loon! And now he is swooning because “the Great and Beautiful Valentina Kerman was calling him a lovestruck loon!”

“Haha thats nothing to worry about, Valentina. As long as he does not compromise the missions. But I have an idea to shake him up.”

“Oh please, do tell!”

“I will be sending new return trajectories as soon as you board Space Station Liberty. You will still land near KSC but the landing will be harsher. You and Kerlorf are experienced Kerbonauts. But Sheiling will have a good scare.Thats how I sorted out Jeb. 20g can crush all immaturity.”

“Thanks, Gene ! I don’t owe you one!”

“Sure, Val. T -35 and counting!”

 

At exactly T -5, the “Mammoth” Engines ignited. And when the clock hit zero, the crew of Liberty Exploration 1 (LE-1) launched into orbit.

 

“Uh, commencing roll program. Ah whoops!”

“What did you do this time, Sheiling!” Kerlorf groaned from the bottom seat as she heard the youngster fumbling around.

“Drifter, do you copy! We detected LES ignition! Situation Report!”

“Drifter to Ground! We are ok. Sheiling ejected LES instead of engaging Verniers.”

“Ah, copy that Drifter. Proceed on your usual course.”

Valentina turned to look at the guilty scientist. He was very ashamed of his blunder and was mumbling a quiet apology.

“Save it for later, Kid! Keep the moping for after we return to the surface.”

“I say, we duct tape him. Its standard procedure for dealing with deranged crewmates, you know!” Kerlorf grunted from her seat. Sheiling sunk further into his chair.

“Later, Kerlie. All in due time!”

 

“First stage burnout and Separation! Second stage ignition.” Sheiling heaved a sigh of relief as the excessive acceleration of Mammoth faded away, replaced by a softer acceleration of the Skipper engine.

 

The second stage did a tremendous job, burning continuously till LE-1 reached a 100 x 64km orbit. A small puff of 30 m/s was needed to circularise.

 

Soon after a rendezvous burn, the crew reached Station Liberty. Sheiling was the first to react.

“That’s Liberty? It looks a bit…”

“Underwhelming? Yeah it does! But in a few more launches it will look great! Bet you looked like a Kabbage when you were born.” Kerlorff shot back.

“Madam Kerlorff, are you saying I look ravishingly handsome now?”

“Wha? What do you-”

“I am sorry Madam! For I cannot return you all the love you shower me with! My heart has already been claimed by another!” Sheiling replied in a overdramatic manner, more fitting a stage actor than a scientist.

“Why, YOU??” Kerlorff retorted angrily.

“Drop it Kerlie! And Sheiling, behave! Prepare for turnaround maneuver. Kerlorff, separate the ship from the cargo.”

 

“Aye Aye, Madam!” Kerlorff flicked a switch and with a light jerk, the Drifter was pushed a bit forward.

Valentina thrusted the RCS to take her ship a few metres ahead and then turned 180 degrees. Then she slowly thrusted forward, maintaining relative velocity at 0.6 m/s.

 

“Hard Dock confirmed! I am reading a green on all sensors!” Kerlorff called out.”Now decoupling Docking port #2”

 

The cargo and Drifter separated from the spent Second stage and then RCSed their way to the space station, where after a few glitches, they manged to dock.

 

“Ground control, this is Drifter. We have docked to the Liberty Space Station.” Valentina radioed back to Kerbin amidst the cheering of her crewmates.

“Acknowledged, Drifter. Good job. Now catch a break until sunrise.”

 

[Sorabh]

Well ,it seems the game does not want me to update the next part... sometimes I forget to record.. Well dont worry, the next installment of the Space Exploration Initiative: The Tales of Liberty will be online day after tomorrow!

[Geschosskopf]

A good story with interesting characters!  Please do continue  

[Sorabh]

Here's the next update. This was an easy mission, I did it ages ago. But an irritating mission held me back.I will be posting the next chapter tomorrow or maybe day after tomorrow.

Act 1: The tales of Liberty

Episode 3:

At the Liberty Station, the daily operations continued as usual. To be frank there was not much to be done. While Val would occasionally do course correction and Kerlorff would run maintenance on all mission critical elements, it was Sheiling who was bored the most. All he had done was float around  get some EVA reports, and even they were not worth much!

However, his boredom would soon be alleviated. KSC had been instructed to launch a Science module to milk out all available science. A big tank of monopropellant will also be included because apparently, the new suit designs demanded monoprop for propulsion instead of the much more convinient "EVA Fuel"

On a bright morning, the payload,Liberty Modue -2 had been integrated with the launch vehicle and was ready to be launched. The payload will rendezvous with the space station and then authority will be relinquished to the crew aboard liberty.

 

The powerful thrust of the Mainsail engine on the launch vehicle led to it achieving achieving apoapsis very quickly, thus resulting in a long coast time and gravity losses

 

The payload rendezvoused with the Liberty Station without any incident, however.

 

 Researchers at KSC still had some work to do before automated docking became a thing, so this time, Val will be controlling the payload once it gets within the range of their antennas.

“Ground control, this is Liberty. Taking over the controls of the package now.”

“You are a GO, Liberty”

Soon, Val slowly nudged the Science Module and docked it to the Station.

 

"Do you see all of this??" Sheiling floated around the Mobile processing Lab like a kid in a Minmus Icecream store."They even have a paper AND a pencil!"

Indeed, the Mobile Processing Lab was equipped with State of Art research facilities. Because no matter how much computers advance, they can never truly replace the might of paper AND pencil!

Soon Shieling was having the time of his life! The only thing which bummed him out was that the experiments were attached OUTSIDE the module. It was a little extra work(Ugh!) but at least he might clock the necessary EVA hours needed for being eligible for the Duna mission.

However, despite the happy atmosphere, Kerlorff was having some trouble with the HG-5 high gain antenna on the core module. While it was not necessary in LKO, the failure of such an important component within a few weeks raised some red flags for the manufacturer, Ionic Symphonic Protonic Electronics.

Thankfully, Kerlorff had informed the Ground control of a potential failure of the antenna and a spare also sent up with the Science module.

Thus, an issue was avoided, at least until the next part failure.

 

Edited December 21, 2017 by Sorabh

[Sorabh]

19 hours ago, Geschosskopf said:

A good story with interesting characters!  Please do continue  

Thank you for your consideration and compliments!

However, be warned! This is not going to be a literary masterpiece 

[Sorabh]

Hello every one and Merry Christmas! Here's a Christmas Special for all of you!

Act 1: The tales of Liberty

Christmas Special: Gaseous Gifts!

While on Liberty, Kerlorff noticed that the oxygens tanks were low all of a sudden. By generous estimates, this would most probably last 30 days more.

Thus, a resupply mission was planned. While KSC had other projects to consider, this mission was of paramount importance. It would also give them an opportunity to check a new vacuum engine.

 

Unusual? What do you mean? This color scheme is completely normal! KSC is totally not banking on Kristmas to boost its popularity!

 

A few minutes after ignition, the CRB(Candy Rocket Booster) ran out of fuel and was jettisoned, and the second stage engaged. This was a new, yet unnamed Vacuum engine. It performed beautifully and burnt till an orbit of 100X 30 km was reached. After a small burn, the second stage circularised.

 

After a couple of burns, the cargo finally rendezvoused with the station. Come to think of it, we really need to invest in some lights...

 

As with other modules, this was also remote controlled by Val and docked to the station.

 

And thus, Liberty had more than enough oxygen for an year worth of operations, and enough nitrogen for five years!

 

[Geschosskopf]

On 12/24/2017 at 10:03 PM, Sorabh said:

CRB(Candy Rocket Booster)

They say that sugar makes good rocket fuel  

 

On 12/24/2017 at 10:03 PM, Sorabh said:

we really need to invest in some lights...

That's a good idea.  Can't have too many lights on space stations or anything else that you might have to right-click on someday.

[Sorabh]

On 12/26/2017 at 9:54 PM, Geschosskopf said:

They say that sugar makes good rocket fuel  

Gives the term 'Sugar high' a completely new meaning!

 

[Sorabh]

Here's the fourth chapter for your reading pleaure! This is a mission which was very irritating! However a bit of '.cfg-fu' with the KIS parameters eased up everything.   

Act 1: The tales of Liberty

Episode 4:

Major Engineering Upgrade!

While tinkering with the Mobile Processing Lab, Sheiling found the most interesting information. Turns out that the latest science module was not only for crunching numbers, it was also a workshop for building rocket parts!

Kerlorff was the most excited! She was only ticked off that they did not tell her beforehand. However, even if they knew about the workshop it would be of no use without the raw materials.

So, KSC will today be sending up a rocket stuffed with rocket parts! And also, loads of trusses!

*********

“I still don’t get it! Why are we redesigning the space station? No one told us about this beforehand” Kerlorff harrumphed.

“Oh, that would be because this decision was made just recently. Initially, we had planned on joining all the remaining modules by docking. But Linus pointed out that having the crew quarters next to a tank of rocket fuel does not make any sense. Hence, the trusses.”

“Oh I get it! You don’t want the precious rocket fuel boiling off because of the heat from the crew compartments, right?” Sheiling added his 2 cents quite enthusiastically.

“Ummm… no? Its just the opposite. We don’t want you dead in case any of those tanks start leaking into the life support, or worse, explode.”

“Oh… OOOOOOHHHHHHHH!” Sheiling exclaimed, perhaps a bit surprised at how he reached the conclusion that he did!

“Anyways! The trusses and the radiators, along with the rocket parts will be sent up to the station by a KIS resupply module. The rest depends on you.”

*********

At sharp noon. The resupply mission took off. KSC was so impressed with the SRBs and the new Merlin engine used in the Kristmas resupply mission that they decided to use them in all resupply missions from now on. (With those 3.75m, 77 ton heavy SRBs, its a wonder no one is dead yet!)

 

The SRB fired when the countdown hit zero and lifted the rocket.Since this SRB had gimballing nozzles, it was a lot easier to control than the earlier models.

 

At SRB burnout, the second stage ignited and the cluster of three Merlin engines fired.

 

After a near perfect ascent, the Cargo rendezvoused with Liberty. As usual, Val controlled the resupply pod and docked it to the station

Hmm.. those spent boosters are going to be a problem. The Debris mitigation team has some work on its hand, it would seem.

After the Cargo had docked, it was time for Kerlorff to get to work. She grabbed her trusty electric screw driver and got to work.First, the docking port was removed and replaced by a truss adapter. Kerlorff then attached a number of trusses to make a long boom.

 

 

It was time to fix the hub. But it was too heavy for Kerlorff to lift on her own. So she called Sheiling to assist her.

 

After fitting the hub and the docking ports, Sheiling work there was done. But he still hanged around to watch Kerlorff work.

 

It was then time to install the new radiators and solar panels. After a bit of struggling, she finally got it right.

This was Kerlorff’s toughest mission to date. And it was not over yet. She had yet to install a few more panels and radiators. And the new lights had to be installed too. But that was for another time. All Kerlorff wanted at that moment was a nice 3 hour nap in the sleeping bag and then exercising at the tread mill.

The next day, the crew will start manufacturing a 'Test Rocket' to validate Liberty's rocket building capabilities. KSC will be sending up massive fuel tanks and rocket parts containers. The Munar bases and associated hardware will be developed at the space station.

[Geschosskopf]

41 minutes ago, Sorabh said:

Hmm.. those spent boosters are going to be a problem. The Debris mitigation team has some work on its hand, it would seem.

I highly recommend not creating debris to begin with.  TAC-Self Destruct is your friend!  Plus, it makes nice gratuitous explosions  

 

42 minutes ago, Sorabh said:

This was Kerlorff’s toughest mission to date. And it was not over yet

Quite an accomplishment.  Bravo!

 

 

[Sorabh]

5 minutes ago, Geschosskopf said:

I highly recommend not creating debris to begin with.

Oh, I have got plans for them Debris~ Its a plot bunny!

And thanks!

Edited December 30, 2017 by Sorabh