From Kerbin To Beyond - A Kerbal Series (Coming Back)

[TheKSPKerbalGuy]

From Kerbin To Beyond is my first mission report multi-part series that is taking place in a lightly modded ksp 1.8 career. As I make progress and launch new missions, I release new parts in a mission report style showing the mission and what happened during it. Some parts also include some dialogue for missions with kerbals onboard, to add to the mission report and make it better. This is my first time making something like this, so if it's not the best, I am still learning how to make it better! I hope you will enjoy this series, and I can't wait to see how far it will go!

List of Parts So Far...

Spoiler

Part 1 - The First Flight (Year 1, Day 1)

Part 2 - Valentina's Orbit (Year 1, Day 2)

Part 3 - To The Mun! (Year 1, Day 3 - Year 1, Day 9)

Part 4 - Tito The Tourist (Year 1, Day 14)

Part 5 - One Small Step... (Year 1, Day 20 - Year 1, Day 22)

Part 6 - Siwell Kerman (Year 1, Day 41 - Year 1, Day 42)

Part 7 - Jeb and Bob's Munar Rescue (Year 1, Day 61)

Part 8 - Jeb and Bob's Rescue Continued (Year 1, Day 66)

Part 9 - The Start Of A Station... (Year 1, Day 97 - Year 1, Day 100)

Part 10 - Kerbin Station Crew Rotation (Year 1, Day 125 - Year 1, Day 126)

Part 11 - Mohon To Moho (Year 1, Day 146 - Year 1, Day 147)

Part 12 - First Steps On A Minty World (Year 1, Day 154 - Year 1, Day 167)

Part 13 - Siwell's Jaunt On Minmus (Around Year 1, Day 175)

Part 14 - The Kerbston Space Telescope (Year 1, Day 179 to Year 1, Day 180)

Part 15 - The Jool Probes (Year 1, Day 181)

Part 16 - Munar Station (Year 1, Day 189 - Year 1, Day 192)

Part 17 - Tourists To Jeb's Station (Year 1, Day 195 - Year 1, Day 197)

Part 18 - Testing A Spaceplane (Year 1, Day 199 - Year 1, Day 200)

Part 19 - Rover To The Mun

Part 20 - Munar Rover Travels: Day 1 (Year 1, Day 206)

Part 21 - Siwell Heads Off To Duna (Year 1, Day 211 - Year 1, Day 212)

Part 22 - Arven 'Round The Mun (Year 1, Day 213 - Year 1, Day 217)

Part 23 - The JKS Crew Returns Home (Year 1, Day 217 - Year 1, Day 218)

Part 24 - Return To The Mun: This Time For Good! (Year 1, Day 246)

Part 25 - Arrival At Moho (Year 1, Day 251 - Year 1, Day 254)

Part 26 - Probes To Eeloo (Year 1, Day 256)

Weird Problems With The Save For This Series (Year 1, Day 258)

From Kerbin To Beyond Career Statistics For November 2019

SCANsat Map Updates (Added as an addition to the parts)

Spoiler

SCANsat Maps Update #1 - Mostly Complete Low Resolution Kerbin Maps (Year 1, Day 107)

SCANsat Maps Update #2 - Complete Kerbin Biome Maps (Year 1, Day 154)

SCANsat Maps Update #3 - Complete Low Resolution Mun Maps (Year 1, Day 188)

Modlist (For those interested)

Spoiler

• [x] Science! Continued
• FTL Drive Continued (Since Part 2)
• Contract Configurator And 3 Contract Packs For It (Tourism Plus, Bases and Stations Reborn, Clever Sats)
• Engine Lighting Re-lit
• Kerbal Alarm Clock (KAC)
• Vostok Continued
• ScienceAlert ReAlerted (Since Part 2)
• Kerbal Joint Reinforcement (Since Part 2)
• Missing History (Since Part 2)
• Procedural Parts (Since Part 2)
• SCANSat (Since Part 10)
• Distant Object Enhancement (Since Part 10)
• HullcamVDS Continued (Since Part 13)

And this is all being done in KSP 1.8.0 (I'll wait until the mods support 1.8.1, Which Might Take Some Time)

Mission Log (From Year 1, Day 1 to Year 1, Day 100)

Mission Name	Mission Took Place During	Mission Type	Destination/Target	Current Status
Kanev 1	Part 1	Suborbital, Crewed	Kerbin	Success, Finished
Kanev 4	Part 2	Orbital, Crewed	Kerbin	Success, Finished
Kanev 5	Part 3	Flyby, Crewed	The Mun	Success, Finished
Tourist Starter	Part 4	Orbital, Crewed	Kerbin	Success, Finished
Korven	Part 5	Landing, Crewed	The Mun	Success, Crew Rescued and Recovered In Part 8
Kerbal Rescuer 2.2	Part 6	Orbital, Uncrewed	Kerbin	Success, Uncrewed Spacecraft Rescued Siwell Kerman
Eliot Green	Part 7	Landing, Uncrewed	The Mun	Success, First Part of Jeb and Bob's Rescue Mission
Egmont	Part 8	Orbital, Uncrewed	The Mun	Success, Brought Jeb and Bob Back To Kerbin
Jebediah Kerbin Station	Part 9	Orbital, Crewed	Kerbin	Success, First Part Of The Kerbin Space Station

(If someone has an idea for a better name, i would appreciate it.)

Edited December 1, 2019 by TheKSPKerbalGuy

[TheKSPKerbalGuy]

Part 1 - The First Flight

Since this is just about the first flight of the career and start to the space program, this part will be relatively short. When i get to the more interesting missions in later parts, it will be longer.

With the new space program just having been created, it wasn't long before the first vessel contract was accepted and a rocket started being built.

The first rocket, called the Kanev 1, was a very simple design, which would do a short hop and come back down. The pilot was Jebediah Kerman.

The rocket was sent out to the launch pad, where it sat waiting for liftoff

When the launch finally happened, the booster pushed it into the air, and shortly after cut out and was seperated from the capsule. Some science was collected during the flight

Jebediah: "Wow, this thing sure accelerates fast!"

The parachutes opened as they were supposed to, and a gentle splashdown occurred in the ocean next to the KSC

 Jeb went on an EVA to collect some science from the water

The mission was a great start to the space program, and a good amount of science data was gathered!

It was used to start researching more advanced parts which would push the agency's rockets into space and eventually orbit!

 

Edited November 1, 2019 by TheKSPKerbalGuy

[TheKSPKerbalGuy]

Part 2 - Valentina's Orbit

Having done some suborbital test flights with Kanev 2 and 3, including high speed reentry ones, it was time for the space program to put their first kerbal into orbit!

The rocket, Kanev 4, which would be piloted by Valentina, would go into orbit, and hopefully return safely back to kerbin.

The rocket sat on the launchpad, waiting for the countdown...

Mission Control: 3... 2... 1... Launch of Kanev 4, we have a liftoff!

After a few minutes, the first stage shut down and was detached. Then, the much weaker, vacuum optimized second stage engine ignited

In less than 4 minutes, it was already almost at orbital velocity

About 2 minutes later, Kanev 4 successfully reached orbit and completed the orbit contract!

As Valentina orbited the planet, she became the first kerbal to experience sunrise from orbit

A little while later, Valentina's craft passed over the kerbal home continent, and she got a glimpse of the KSC from this distance

A few orbits later, the de-orbit burn was done, and Valentina was on her way back home!

As her craft experienced re-entry heat while plummeting through the atmosphere, valentina described was she was seeing out the window

Valentina: "Looking out the window, i can see sparks flying everywhere! I'm just glad i'm not outside right now, or i would be toast."

After the re-entry, valentina was coming down in an area near some mountains

The parachutes opened as they should, and the only thing that exploded on touchdown was the heat shield!

Before getting recovered, Valentina did an EVA to get some extra important science data

After the success of the mission, Valentina had become a hero to kerbals after they watched her daring mission. Now, it was time to start planning the next mission and look ahead... To The Mun!

 

[TheKSPKerbalGuy]

Part 3 - To The Mun!

After the recent success of Valentina's orbiter mission, the space program started looking towards its next goal, sending a kerbal to the surface of the mun and bringing them back to kerbin safely. First though, they would have to send someone around the mun and back. Jebediah was chosen for the mission, which would be on the next rocket in the Kanev series, Kanev 5. It was similar to Kanev 4, except it had some SRB's on the side and some improvements to the design

As the rocket was prepared for launch, Jeb thought about the amount of science data they would gather about their nearest neighbor!

Like previous launches, the launch went well, and in a few minutes Jeb was already in orbit

After reaching orbit, Jebediah did a system check to make sure everything was in working order, before doing the Trans-Munar Injection Burn on the night side of the planet

On the way to The Mun, Jeb took a few glimpses back at Kerbin, as it slowly receded 

Once reaching Munar SOI though, it was found that the spacecraft was on a collision course! A small correction burn was made so Jeb would not impact The Mun

As Jeb approached The Mun, he described what he was seeing some distance away

Jebediah: "Looking out the window, I can see some some well defined surface features, mainly the large craters and what appears to be some sort of canyon near one of them!"

At around closest approach, an opportunity was taken to get some science data from near The Mun

And as he was leaving, Jeb took one last look at the munar surface before entering back into Kerbin SOI

After re-entering Kerbin's SOI, a small burn was done to make sure the craft would enter the atmosphere at a reasonable altitude

A couple of days later, the re-entry happened, and Jeb's capsule streaked through the atmosphere at high speeds before eventually slowing down

The parachutes deployed, and Jeb had a safe splashdown in the ocean

After recovery of the craft, it was found that a total of over 100 science had been collected!

With the success of Jeb's mission paving the way towards an eventual Mun Landing, the space program started looking at Tourism as another thing they could do, and after some looking around, they found a paying customer. It was time to kick off space tourism!

[TheKSPKerbalGuy]

Part 4 - Tito The Tourist

After the last few missions, things were going well for the space program. They had put kerbals in orbit, flew them past the mun, and returned them safely to kerbin. But it was time to also start looking at something else, tourism! Tito Kerman was willing to pay a good amount of funds to go to kerbin orbit and back, so a rocket was assembled, the Tourist Starter, piloted by Valentina Kerman. He would be the first tourist!

The launch pad, which was now no longer just a dirt pile, had been upgraded

The liftoff went well, and the ascent into orbit was already a pretty standard procedure

The orbit was just above the 75,000 meter one that Tito had requested for his flight

And since there was some extra fuel in the stage, it was decided to boost the spacecraft into a higher orbit

For the next 4 hours, Tito had a great time enjoying the view outside the window as they orbited Kerbin several times. He snapped plenty of great pictures from orbit to keep with him when they eventually returned back to Kerbin

With Tito's time he had paid for now up, the de-orbit burn was done to put the spacecraft onto a re-entry course into the atmosphere

The spacecraft re-entered into the atmosphere, over the badlands biome

Something new to this mission though, was that it had some drogue chutes, to slow the craft down before the main parachute opened

After a relatively gentle touchdown (once again, only the heat shield was destroyed), Valentina did an EVA to get some science from this previously unexplored area

With the mission now finished, and Tito being pleased with how his flight had gone, he gave the space program quite a good amount of funds

And with some new science earned, more technology could be unlocked to push the space program even further into space! Now, it was time to start preparing for the historic mun landing mission, which was planned to happen very soon...

[TheKSPKerbalGuy]

Part 5 - One Small Step...

It was time to finally put kerbals on the surface of The Mun! The rocket, Korven, had already been built, and the crew would be Jebediah and Bob Kerman, also making it the first 2 kerbal mission of the space program.

After the roll-out to the launch pad, the rocket stood on the pad, ready to be launched

  The first stage was the three outer boosters, which would put the spacecraft up to a certain altitude before separating

The second stage was powered by a single LVT-45 engine, and would push the spacecraft most of the way into orbit

The third stage was a shorter, more fuel efficient one, powered by a LVT-15 engine (which is from one of the mods) and would put the spacecraft into low kerbin orbit

After reaching orbit, Bob did some EVA's (which could now be done due to the Astronaut Complex upgrade to level 2) to get science and check the spacecraft systems in preparation for the Trans-Munar Injection burn

After waiting to see The Mun start rising on the horizon, the third stage fired again to start the Injection burn, before burning out and the fourth stage being ignited to finish the burn. The fourth stage would also the lander and return stage

During the outward coast, another EVA was done by Bob to make sure everything was still working as it should be when they arrive at The Mun

Sometime later, they entered the SOI of The Mun, and collected some science as they approached the grey rock

After the injection burn, they had put the spacecraft into an elliptical orbit, so at periapsis another burn was done to circularize the orbit

While they were low over The Mun and preparing to start the landing burn, Bob once again went on EVA, to collect science low over specific biomes on The Mun

After deciding what would be the best place to land, the Northwest Crater was chosen as a good location, and so the decent to the surface started

On the way down though, the crew was met with a special surprise, an eclipse of kerbin and the sun!

The decent was carefully planned, and they had a gentle touchdown in the crater at a few meters a second

After the touchdown, every one in mission control cheered! They had safely landed two kerbals on the surface of The Mun! After some deciding on who should be first, Bob Kerman was chosen, and so he became the first one to walk on the surface of The Mun

After some walking around and science gathering, a flag was planted, so that the landing site of the historic mission would not be forgotten...

Not too long after Bob had started his EVA, Jeb went out to join him, and they spent some time exploring the surface and looking around

Before going back in though, Jeb took one last look outside, shortly after the kerbin sun eclipse had ended

Now, they were ready to finally go back home. The only problem was... they didn't have enough fuel!

It seemed that they were now stranded on The Mun! As mission control started assembling a rescue mission, it looked like things had gone for the worst... Will Jeb and Bob be rescued and get back to Kerbin, or will they be stranded with no way of getting home? Find out in a future part of From Kerbin To Beyond, A Kerbal Series!

Edited November 3, 2019 by TheKSPKerbalGuy

[Pleb]

You've got to have the obligatory rescue missions and the rescue of the rescue mission or it just isn't KSP! 

[TheKSPKerbalGuy]

Part 6 - Siwell Kerman

While mission control started working on sending a rescue mission to save Jeb and Bob, another mission would be done in the meantime. The space program did not have many pilots, and they were looking for more for future missions. While they could hire some pilot skilled kerbals from the astronaut complex, it would be pretty expensive, so it was decided to do a rescue mission contract to save Siwell Kerman. Hopefully they would be a pilot!

The rocket, deemed the Kerbal Rescuer 2.2, would be controlled from a probe core that would provide SAS. After rendezvousing with Siwell's craft, Siwell would get out and EVA to the other spacecraft. Then Siwell would safely land back on kerbin via parachute and the mission would be finished.

It was once again another standard launch to orbit, although some buildings had been upgraded since last time

The second stage finished the orbital insertion, and then the craft was in a relatively low orbit

A maneuver was planned to intercept Siwell's craft at a close distance, around 4 km away

After the burn was done, the craft went around in its orbit, until it eventually started getting close to Siwell's craft

Some fine burns and maneuvering later, and the rescue craft was right next to Siwell's craft, which was a command pod

Siwell Kerman went on EVA to the rescue craft, and luckily enough, she was a pilot!

After getting in, the de-orbit burn was done and the capsule survived the heat of re-entry, with Siwell Kerman onboard

They were coming down in a mountainous area though, so the height of when the parachute deployed was raised to be safe

Close to the mountains, the parachutes opened, and the craft had a touchdown on the side of a mountain

After getting rescued and recovered, Siwell Kerman joined the space program! With a new pilot, it would help them for future missions when they needed a pilot to be onboard. In the meantime though, they still had to worry about rescuing Jeb and Bob, on the Korven mission...

[TheKSPKerbalGuy]

Part 7 - Jeb and Bob's Munar Rescue

This is the first of two parts that documents the rescue of Jebediah and Bob Kerman, who were previously stranded on the munar surface with no way of getting home or even reaching munar orbit. The mission to rescue them, the Eliot Green, was finally finished.

The rocket sat on the launchpad, ready for its automated liftoff

After launch, the ascent to orbit was all automated, and done by a probe core on top of the vehicle

After reaching orbit, a maneuver was planned to bring the craft into munar SOI. After that, another maneuver would be done to change inclination

The second stage did most of the burn, and the third stage finished it

The craft was now on a trajectory that would bring it close to The Mun

A maneuver done at closest approach to The Mun to put the craft into a low circular orbit

The de-orbit burn was done, and the craft landed within 1 kilometer of the Korven landing site

After waiting for it to be daytime, Jeb and Bob got out of their craft, and made an EVA over to the rescue lander

Jeb: "Man, it sure is good to finally get rescued!"

Bob: "Yeah, it sure is, I just want to get back to kerbin with all the science we have collected!"

After arriving at the lander, they got in, and prepared for liftoff

After liftoff, they went into a low munar orbit, and were glad they were finally off the surface!

The craft had just barely enough fuel to put them into orbit

Now, as they waited for the next part of the mission to arrive and bring them the rest of the way home, Jeb and Bob enjoyed a nice eclipse

[TheKSPKerbalGuy]

Part 8 - Jeb and Bob's Rescue (Continued)

This is the second of two parts that documents the rescue of Jeb and Bob and their return to Kerbin. After spending a few days in low munar orbit, the second rescue craft, Egmont, would bring them the rest of the way home. First, the Egmont's on board computer set up a maneuver to rendezvous with them.

After that, the Egmont rendezvoused with the Eliot Green, where Bob and Jeb were currently (And in the process partially completing a contract)

 Then, Bob and Jebediah did an EVA and boarded the Egmont (which became the first dual EVA in space)

A maneuver was then planned and executed which would bring them back to Kerbin

On the way back home, they enjoyed the view, and after a few days, prepared for re-entry

Like on some previous missions, the kerbals described what they were seeing as they re-entered the atmosphere

Jebediah: "I can see flames outside as we are streaking through the atmosphere."

Bob: "All I can say is... its very hot outside! I can see The Mun also."

And finally, after spending around 40 days on the munar surface, Jebediah and Bob had returned home! They were glad to be back after what had happened

It was found they had collected over 360 science from their Mun mission!

With Jebediah and Bob Kerman now back after the rescue mission, the space program could start focusing on other things. Jeb and Bob would take a rest from going on missions, while other astronauts such as Val would continue to. Using all the new science, they could finish unlocking everything they would be able to until they upgraded the R&D to level 2.

Edited November 5, 2019 by TheKSPKerbalGuy

[TheKSPKerbalGuy]

Part 9 - The Start Of A Station...

After the rescue of Jeb and Bob, it was decided to launch the first space station! The contract was signed, and construction was started.

The first part of the station was named the Jebediah Kerbin Station, and it would launch with four crew onboard, all recently rescued kerbals.

The rocket sat above the launchpad on clamps, so it would not fall over before liftoff.

For some reason, during the beginning of the launch, the crew was scared. Even though nothing had gone wrong so far after liftoff

The rocket consisted of two stages. The first brought it most of the way out of the atmosphere, and the second stage finished putting the station into low kerbin orbit

The fairings detached to reveal the station, and the crew was able to see a glimpse of the fairing after it had fallen off

After reaching orbit, it was decided to raise the periapsis and apoapsis to around 175,000 m to avoid a collision with any of the debris scattered around LKO

With the second stage no longer being needed, it was decoupled and the crew observed it as it drifted away

Before the contract was fulfilled though, it required the station to be in orbit for at least 2 days. During that time, the crew got great views of Kerbin and occasionally the KSC as well

With the contract now complete, the space program could start adding new parts and modules to the station. The first addition, named the Bob Kerbin Module, would be launched and docked to the station in the near future. In the meantime though, the first interplanetary launch window was coming up, and a probe was already being prepared to be sent to the innermost planet of the Kerbol system, Moho.

[TheKSPKerbalGuy]

SCANsat Maps Update #1 - Mostly Complete Low Resolution Kerbin Maps

In addition to the parts, now I am doing SCANsat map updates as well, since that mod is now part of the ones used in this series.

On Year 1, Day 107, mostly complete low resolution maps of Kerbin were obtained using SCANsat technology onboard the Kerbsat 2 satellite. The maps are more than 98% complete. When more detailed maps are obtained, including maps for other planets and moons, they will be shown.

The Kerbsat 2 Satellite, In A Polar Orbit Around Kerbin To Maximize Scan Coverage.

A mostly complete low resolution elevation map of kerbin.

A mostly complete low resolution slope map of kerbin.

The two mostly complete low resolution maps combined.

The next part in this series will be Part 10, which will be about a crew rotation mission to the Jebediah Kerbin station, which should have a new module by then.

Edit: A complete version of the low resolution kerbin map has now been obtained.

Edited November 7, 2019 by TheKSPKerbalGuy
Added complete map image

[TheKSPBeginner]

Very cool

[TheKSPKerbalGuy]

Part 10 - Kerbin Station Crew Rotation

After spending some time on the Jebediah Kerbin station, it was time to do a crew rotation. One new kerbal would be sent up to the station, and three kerbals who had spent some time there would return home. The mission was called Kerbion 1, and the new crew member being sent to the station would be Siwell Kerman.

The launch went well, and in a few mintues, Siwell Kerman was in orbit.

After reaching orbit, the maneuver to rendezvous with the Jebediah Kerbin station was done, and the craft made its approach the station.

Since last time, a new module had been docked to the station, and it now had retractable solar panels and space for 12 kerbals.

After docking with the station, Siwell did an EVA and boarded the new module, dubbed the Bob Kerbin module.

The kerbals that would come back would be Tenand, Ribger, and Duoly Kerman. They had been part of the crew that had been launched with the station, and now it was time for them to return to Kerbin after spending around 28 days onboard.

After undocking, the crew did the de-orbit burn, and re-entered through the atmosphere.

The parachutes deployed, and after touchdown the crew was recovered.

With the first crew rotation of the Jebediah Kerbin station now complete, Tenand, Ribger, and Duoly could prepare for future missions. Also, the Moho transfer window was happening in less than 30 days, and the probe, named Mohon, was now ready for launch. It would be the space program's first mission to another planet.

[TheKSPKerbalGuy]

Part 11 - Mohon To Moho

The transfer window for Moho, was now only a few days away. Two spacecraft, Mohon and the Moho Interplanetary Communications Relay Mission (MICRM), were now ready for launch to innermost planet. Mohon would be launched first, and would be followed a few days later, by MICRM. With over 12 km (or 12126 m/s to be exact) in the vacuum of Delta-V, the probe had plenty of extra fuel in case something were to happen.

The launch went well, and Mohon reached LKO with no problems encountered except for some minor power issues.

A trajectory to encounter Moho was plotted and planned, and it would require over 2 km of Delta-V, which the probe had plenty of.

About halfway through the injection burn, the second stage was dropped and the third stage finished the transfer burn. Mohon would leave Kerbin at over 4000 m/s!

As Mohon left Kerbin's SOI, the probe's departure was observed.

With the first of the two probes now on its way to Moho, a small correction burn would be done on the way there to adjust the probe's course. 

With an arrival in about 106 days, the space program's first interplanetary probe was on its way! The plan was that once Mohon reached Moho, it would do an orbital insertion burn, and collect scientific data about the planet to send back home. If the mission had extra delta-v left after that, they might even attempt a landing with the probe, which would make it the space program's first interplanetary landing. As the MICRM spaceprobe was prepared for its launch, the space program started thinking about sending kerbals to the surface of Kerbin's second moon, Minmus.

[TheKSPKerbalGuy]

SCANsat Maps Update #2 - Complete Kerbin Biome Maps

On Year 1, Day 154, complete biome maps of kerbin were obtained using the Kerbsat 3 satellite, equipped with a SCAN Multispectral Sensor.

The Kerbsat 3 satellite, in a polar orbit of kerbin.

The complete biome map of Kerbin.

The complete biome map and a low resolution elevation map of kerbin combined.

[TheKSPKerbalGuy]

Part 12 - First Steps On A Minty World

After launching the Moho probes, it was time for Jebediah Kerman to finally return to spaceflight. His next mission, would be another historic one, in two ways. It would be the first mission to land a kerbal on Minmus and return them safely to Kerbin, and also the first mission to try and recover a stage. The rocket, named Minven, was ready for liftoff.

The launch was standard up until the first stage seperation. 

After the first stage seperated, it turned around and prepared for atmospheric re-entry. To keep the probe core batteries from dying, it had solar panels which were deployed.

Unlike the Falcon 9 first stage though, it didn't use its engine to slow down during re-entry. Instead, it relied on the atmosphere and its fins on slowing it down enough for parachute deployment.

The parachutes deployed on time, and the stage was successfully recovered from the ocean!

With the successful first stage recovery, the rest of the mission continued into orbit. After reaching orbit, a burn to transfer to Minmus was done.

After reaching Minmus, a burn to enter into a low orbit was done.

Before landing, Jeb did an EVA to collect the science from one of the Mystery Goo experiments.

After that, there was a Go for landing, and the touchdown on Minmus was a success.

During Jeb's EVA, he planted the flag, and did some exploring around the landing site.

Before going back inside though, he examined a boulder that wasn't that far away.

With the landing objective of the mission complete, Jebediah returned to Minmus orbit.

After reaching orbit, a burn was done to return to Kerbin in a few days, and Jeb watched Minmus as he departed from the Minty moon.

Jeb then watched as Kerbin's size from his perspective grew, and he got closer to re-entry.

During re-entry, Jeb's craft flew over a river, something other missions really hadn't seen before during descent.

The parachutes deployed, and Jeb had a gentle touchdown.

A tremendous amount of science from the mission had been gained! Also a large amount of funds had been collected, just over 1 million!

With the success of Jeb's Minmus mission, the science gathered was used to unlock some new technology. Another transfer window was coming up, and the new technology would be useful for robotic missions to the planet. What planetary transfer window was coming up, you ask? Well, a transfer window to the Jool system! Like with the probes to Moho, multiple ones would be launched. Also, the claw/grabber was unlocked, so some more recovery stuff would be tried with that.

[TheKSPKerbalGuy]

Part 13 - Siwell's Jaunt On Minmus

After Jebediah went to Minmus, Siwell Kerman decided she wanted to be the second one to take a journey to the minty moon. This short part shows what she did on the surface of Minmus, and is also the first part in the series to use the Hullcam VDS Continued mod.

Siwell's Minmus mission was different, as she would visit three biomes, using a technique called Biome hopping. She was there to get a lot of science for more new technology, such as better cameras.

Her first stop was the Lesser Flats, and she did some exploring around the landing site.

After planting a flag, she used her EVA camera and accidentally did a somersault over the lander. 

Her next stop was the midlands, and she did some exploring after landing for a second time. A flag would be used to mark what biomes she had already visited so future missions would know which ones had already been explored.

Her third and final stop was the Lowlands biome, and just before finishing her third jaunt on the surface of Minmus, she left a flag marking the biome.

When Siwell returned to Kerbin a few days later, she had gathered over 600 science, even more than Jebediah had gotten. The science was used to unlock telescopes, one of which, would be launched soon and be used to take extremely zoomed in views of the planets from kerbin orbit.

Edited November 10, 2019 by TheKSPKerbalGuy
Fixed Some Grammar

[TheKSPKerbalGuy]

Part 14 - The Kerbston Space Telescope

After Siwell's return to Kerbin from Minmus, it was decided to launch a telescope. Named the Kerbston Space Telescope, it would look into the sky and try to get high resolution pictures of all the planets in the kerbol system from kerbin orbit. 

The rocket, carrying the KSS, on the launchpad.

Fairing seperation and ignition of second stage.

The Kerbston Space Telescope deployed in Kerbin Orbit and ready to start observing planets and their moons.

These are the images captured by the KSS of the planets and their moons, in order from closest to furthest from the sun. Below the original picture is a labeled version with zoomed in views.

Moho - Closest Planet To Kerbol, Two Missions Currently On Their Way To The Planet

Eve - Second Planet In The Kerbol System, Has One Moon, Gilly, Thought To Be A Captured Asteroid

Duna - Fourth Planet In The Kerbol System, Has A Large, Close Orbiting Moon, Ike, Which Is Tidally Locked To The Planet

Dres - A Small Planet Orbiting Between Duna and Jool, Due To Its Size, It Has Been Referred To As A Dwarf Planet

Jool - The Largest Planet In The Kerbol System, Jool Is A Gas Giant And Has A System of Five Moons, Three Of Which Were Imaged. Missions Will Be Sent To The Planet Soon

And Eeloo - The Furthest And Most Distant Planet In The Kerbol System, Eeloo, Like Dres, Has Been Called A Dwarf Planet Due To Its Small Size

[TheKSPKerbalGuy]

Part 15 - The Jool Probes

After some preparation, the Jool probes were ready to be sent to Jool and its interesting system of moons. The first one, Jool Exploration Mission 1 (J.E.M 1) was launched, and after a transfer burn was on its way to Jool. The second one, J.E.M 2, was to be launched a few hours after J.E.M 1, but would be set up in a way that it would arrive first and ahead of J.E.M 1.

The rocket's first stage put it most of the way into orbit, and the second stage finished the orbital insertion.

The payload fairing was seperated to reveal the probe, which had a relay antenna dish, underneath.

After reaching orbit, a transfer burn to Jool was planned out, which would be done on the night side of Kerbin to improve efficiency. 

The second stage started the burn, and the third stage finished it.

On the way to Jool, a maneuver was planned to bring J.E.M 2 close to the planet at its periapsis.

The probe's speed after the burn made it one of the fastest launched yet, and it passed the orbit of The Mun in less than two hours.

J.E.M 2 was trailing J.E.M 1 at the moment, but it would eventually overtake the first probe.

With two probes now on their way to Jool, one more was planned to be launched. Named J.E.M.V.L, it would try and land on the moon of Vall. J.E.M 1 would arrive at Jool in 1 year, 52 days, and 4 hours while J.E.M 2 would arrive in 1 year, 52 days, and 0 hours. 

[TheKSPKerbalGuy]

SCANsat Maps Update #3 - Complete Low Resolution Mun Maps

On Year 1, Day 188, complete low resolution maps of The Mun were obtained using the Munsat satellite equipped with SCANsat technology. 

The Munsat satellite, in a polar mun orbit.

A complete low resolution map of The Mun.

A complete slope map of The Mun.

The slope and low resolution Mun maps combined.

[TheKSPKerbalGuy]

Part 16 - Munar Station

It had been some time since the first station was launched, so it was time to launch the next one! A contract to launch a munar space station was accepted, and a rocket to launch it was built.

Named the Morben Mun Station, it would launch with 2 kerbals onboard, and would include a mobile processing lab.

The launch occurred without any problems, and the station was put into low kerbin orbit.

After reaching LKO, a burn to transfer to The Mun was done, and the crew got some great views of Kerbin on their way there.

After reaching Munar SOI, the orbital insertion burn was done, and the station was put into munar orbit.

For the contract to be complete though, the station would have to be in orbit for two days, so the crew settled in and waited.

While they were waiting in orbit, they saw an amazing sight, a Kerbin Solar eclipse.

After spending two days in orbit, the time was finally up, and the contract was completed.

With a crewed munar station now in orbit around The Mun, it would expand the space program's presence of kerbals from beyond kerbin orbit. Some course corrections were coming up for the Moho probes soon, which would put them on a close flyby of Moho. Also, a Duna transfer window was coming up soon, and some had already started proposing a daring project. Along with sending a fleet of probes to Duna and Ike, they would also try and send a kerbal to duna, and back.

[TheKSPKerbalGuy]

Part 17 - Tourists To Jeb's Station

A contract to bring two tourists to the Jebediah Kerbin station had been accepted, and would be the first mission to bring tourists to a specific definition. The last tourist to go to space had been Tito Kerman, and it was about time to bring some more to space.

The capsule was a three seater which would be piloted by Siwell Kerman, with tourists Neton and Lagerlas Kerman onboard.

The launchpad had been upgraded to level 3, which was required for a rocket of this size.

The launch was another great one, and the tourists enjoyed the view as they rocketed into orbit.

After reaching LKO, they planned a course that would intercept the station, which was in a higher orbit.

The burn was done, and the spacecraft was on its way to Jeb's station along with its passengers.

Later, the spacecraft arrived at the station and docked with it, and since last time a new science lab module had been added.

The tourists spent a few hours on the station, and gazed at kerbin as they orbited around it.

When their time was up and they were ready to return to kerbin, the last thing they did was re-positioning the science lab module. When it was originally docked, to the station, it had been docked with the wrong port. Luckily, they were able to successfully re-position it, and still had plenty of fuel left to de-orbit.

The tourists and Siwell Kerman then undocked and left the station, and observed it in its new configuration.

The de-orbit burn was then done, and they had a splashdown relatively close to the KSC.

With the contract now complete, the space program could send more tourists to their space stations in the near future. As they prepared to send a lot of stuff to Duna, there was still uncertainty at how a crewed mission would turn out. Would the crew need to be rescued like with what happened on the first crewed mun landing mission, or could they return home without any problems?

[A Random Kerbonaut]

I like watching career mode videos, but I don't like how long they are. With this, I can just open it up and read it! It's also better because I like writing better than speech. Thanks.

[TheKSPKerbalGuy]

@A Random Kerbonaut thanks! I'm glad your enjoying the series! Also, I plan on releasing Part 18 today, where i will try and test some planes, and maybe space planes.