Row, row, row your rover, gently under heat (project "Lemon" - heaviest rover on Ablate)

[lajoswinkler]

This will be the most ambitious payload "Ministry of no better things to do" (MONBTTD, for short) has ever sent to the blast furnace world of Ablate, the sungrazing dwarf planet.

Here's Bill Kerman working on thermal insulation of the prototype in the engineering laboratory. Rover was named Lemon because of the initial yellow color which later got replaced with silver. The name stuck, just like the new insulation glue on Bill's fingers.

 

As Kerbol's rays will be hitting the thing mainly from above, top was made white and sides dark, to manage heat away more efficiently. New, metallic wheel tires were used. Most instruments are inside, except the ones that inspect the soil or influence of Kerbol.

Rover will be delivered by an ion engine relay probe, but will land on its own, using four monopropellant engines.

 

Launcher is nearly completely made out of stock parts. 5 m first and second stage with four bipropellant 3.75 m boosters. Third stage is 3.75 m and on top is a fourth stage, a 3.75 m liquid fuel tank and a LV-NB nuclear engine. Fifth stage is xenon ion engine powered on the relay probe.

[lajoswinkler]

Launch was successful.

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Korolev cross formed nicely.

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[OrbitalBuzzsaw]

Nice! What are those wheels, I don't recognize them

 

oh yeah i'm back who remembers me

[lajoswinkler]

You can get them in "Making history" DLC and you get to choose from gray and orange rims.

I hardly ever remember anyone, so NHF.

Edited August 18, 2018 by lajoswinkler

[lajoswinkler]

Correcting the inclination took 813 m/s and that was done by the bipropellant. Lowering the periapsis 100,000 km above Ablate requires 5522 m/s, and lowering the apoapsis takes 12433 m/s. Part of that job will be done by the LV-NB engine "Sisyphus" (KSPX) which is a 2.5 m engine which is basically two LV-N "Nerv" engines mashed together.

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Edited August 18, 2018 by lajoswinkler

[lajoswinkler]

"Sisyphus" performed well right before total overheating. I should've packed bigger radiators.

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One of the RCS thrusters on its tank got damaged beyond repair, but at this point the whole stage, tank, engine and the heat they accumulated, was dumped, and "Hayabusa" ion engine (KSPX, basically double "Dawn") took over.

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It took day to chase Ablate down. I do not recommend parking 50,000 km higher than it is or you'll end up being so fast in its tiny sphere of influence there won't be any time to brake.

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Lemon is in orbit now, awaiting for instructions.

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[lajoswinkler]

Surface taken through wide angle lens before rover deployment.

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Landing was somewhat tense, but manageable.

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While the outside was baking at nearly 1200 K, insides were kept at 300 K by 12 radiators and two tiny solar panels producing >36 kW each.

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Lemon reached the mohole, final resting place of Ikar 4.

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After passing through a rubble pile crater, Lemon will head to the edge of sunblasted surface.

[Ho Lam Kerman]

Holy. You got something to work on Ablate?! That's crazy! 

[HansonKerman]

Awesome.

 

now i want lemonade lol  

[lajoswinkler]

The rover is still working, but it's a long way to go. It's not very fast. All those protective panels are weighing it down even if it's only exposed to 3.47 ms^-2.