JNSQ: To the Mun!: Epilogue

[Roland1999]

15 minutes ago, JadeOfMaar said:

 

Thank you once again.

 

 

[Angelo Kerman]

@Roland1999 The fins are needed to make the rocket fly like an arrow. Without them the craft goes all over the place.

Chapter 10

The Docking Alignment Target roared off the launchpad and leaped into the sky. Built on a modified Explorer probe core, the DAT dispensed with science instruments in favor of a small docking port. A day later, Pioneer rolled out to the launchpad.

For Pioneer’s third flight, Jeb once again took the controls. KSP ‘s mission planners decided to put his rendezvous skills to good use; they wanted to test docking and refueling in orbit and then perform a plane change. After that, Jeb would spend a few days in orbit making observations before landing back at KSC. The launch went smoothly, and 6 hours later, Jeb rendezvoused with the DAT. Jeb then deftly moved closer to the other craft. The docking magnets engaged, and for the first time in history, two spacecraft docked in orbit.

As planned, Jeb tested out the fuel transfer system and fully refueled Pioneer’s kick stage. Then Jeb changed the flight plan. Again. Instead of undocking, he shut down the kick stage engine, locked its fuel valves, and throttled the DAT’s motor down before engaging it. It was a delicate balancing act, but the combined spacecraft’s reaction wheels were able to handle the unbalanced load.

At first Flight was furious, but then they began to see the merit in Jeb’s plan. By burning gently, he could use the DAT to perform a significant portion of the plane changing burn. Once the DAT nearly ran out of fuel, Jeb undocked from the craft and used Pioneer’s fuel reserves. It worked out quite well, but by the end, the K-20 was dangerously low on fuel. As a result, Flight ordered Jeb to deorbit and return home.

Burning all his reserves, Jeb was able to deorbit but he still overshot KSC. Not even making S-turns could slow him down enough. Though way off course, at least Jeb was able to set Pioneer down on land.  It was Valentina’s turn to give Jeb a hard time for overshooting the space center- Jeb landed a long way off.

And with a stretched kick stage, Valentina repeated Jeb’s feat- and landed back at KSC.

[RealKerbal3x]

Once again, cool stuff!

Is this game on 1.8.1 now, as Kopernicus has been updated?

[Angelo Kerman]

37 minutes ago, RealKerbal3x said:

Once again, cool stuff!

Is this game on 1.8.1 now, as Kopernicus has been updated?

Not yet. I have to redo my game for 1.8.1. With KSP 1.9 around the corner though...

[Angelo Kerman]

Now that I've updated to KSP 1.8.1...

Chapter 11

When Pioneer looped around the planet, there were significant gaps in the Deep Space Network of ground stations which resulted in loss of contact. That had to change if the Kerbal Space Program was going to reach the Mun. Today, they attempted to change that issue. On its maiden flight, Mariner carried aloft the world’s first telecommunications satellite.

The launch went well, and Mariner reached a 1000km orbit, but when Jeb deployed Comm Sat 1 too early, he was out of communications range and the probe failed to activate. He carefully flew in formation with the satellite until he regained contact with Mission Control. Though annoyed, Flight managed to activate the communications satellite successfully.

The next day, Flight directed Jeb to lower his orbit to 200km in preparation for landing. He had no trouble reaching the target orbit, but the landing attempt was another story. The higher orbit meant that Mariner had additional velocity, and as it plunged into the atmosphere, the K-20 overheated. Jeb also attempted to slow down with an S-turn, but that overstressed the airframe and Mariner broke apart.

Fortunately, the cockpit survived, so Jeb bailed out and parachuted into the ocean. Valentina quickly launched the Sea Goat to retrieve him. Jeb was quite embarrassed to say the least, but Valentina just quietly flew him home safely.

Several weeks later, the Mariner Accident Investigation Board concluded that the K-20 lacked sufficient thermal shielding to handle de-orbiting from a high orbit, and that Jeb’s attempt at an S-turn at a high velocity over-stressed the already weakened airframe which caused it to break up. Engineers examined the config files design and found that it lacked ModuleConductionMultiplier  sufficient heat reflective materials and coatings for the higher deorbit altitude. They recommended that the K-20 deorbit from no higher than 100km and that engineers add additional heat shielding.

After Updating a custom MM patch researching a solution that changed metal alloys used in the K-20 construction, engineers modified and finished restoring Pathfinder to flight status and began reworking Pioneer. Engineers managed to cram additional fuel into the kick stage, but it was clear that its operational ceiling was 1000km without stretched fuel tanks.

Valentina made the next flight. Pathfinder performed flawlessly, delivering Comm Sat 2 into orbit, followed by Jeb delivering Comm Sat 3.

[Angelo Kerman]

Chapter 12

Several hundred kilometers to the east at the newly renamed Darude Launch Complex, a new spacecraft leapt into the skies: the Drakken! Just like the Kerman States, the vonKerman Republic had to start over with their launch vehicles. But rather than start from scratch, the vonKermans based their design on a scrapped V-7 ballistic missile. Despite a lack of blueprints and example hardware to copy, they were able to bring new life to the old design. It helped that there were still a few retired missile engineers around from the old days; they were delighted to see their designs adapted to peaceful uses.

The Drakken carrier rocket rolled to its launch azimuth and began to pitch over after clearing its launch pad. A couple of minutes later, it ditched its four side boosters and continued its climb to orbit. Just past 60 kilometers, the core stage burned out and was discarded, leaving the upper stage to continue the ascent.

Once the rocket exited the atmosphere, it jettisoned the protective shroud to reveal the Drakken spacecraft itself. Not long after, the upper stage burned out and dropped away, leaving the Drakken to circularize its orbit. Free of its carrier rocket, the Drakken extended its solar arrays to drink up the sunlight.

The spacecraft consisted of an orbital module with extra space for the crew, a reentry module where the crew would also fly into orbit, and a service module with an orbital maneuvering engine. It could carry a crew of 3, but for its maiden flight an autopilot system replaced the crew.

After a week of testing in orbit, Kontrol commanded the Drakken to deorbit and land. Everything went as planned- to a point. The engine burn put the spacecraft right on target to land near the Darude Launch Complex, the orbital module and service module separated as expected, and the heat shield shed the heat from atmospheric entry.

But the parachutes failed to deploy, and the Drakken slammed into the desert floor.

The vonKermans learned a lot from the flight despite the landing mishap. The next one would fix the parachute problem, correct some deficiencies, and hopefully land safely.

Edited February 15, 2020 by Angel-125

[RealKerbal3x]

Nice chapter!

8 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

This is one of the prettiest screenshots I've ever seen

[Angelo Kerman]

9 hours ago, RealKerbal3x said:

Nice chapter!

This is one of the prettiest screenshots I've ever seen

Thanks! I'm definitely having fun with JNSQ and finding new things to do. Once I'm able to update to KSP 1.9, I'll be making use of the new camera rotation feature while paused. Anyway, on with the show!

Chapter 13

To the Mun. That was the mandate of the Kerbal Space Program. Their driving goal. Today, KSC took another step towards that goal. MunShot 1 blasted off the pad, carried aloft by its Edna 1B launch vehicle. First in a series of upgrades to the Edna, the 1B variant replaced the twin Reliant engines with a single new RE-I5 Skipper. Though originally intended as an upper stage engine for a heavy lift vehicle, the Skipper had better performance than the engines it replaced. If the test was successful, then engineers were ready to make additional updates.

The launch went well; the new engine provided better thrust with improved fuel economy compared to the Reliants. MunShot 1 entered a 401km by 400km orbit and still had propellant left in its upper stage to conduct additional maneuvers.

The probe extended its relay and kick stage communications antennae, and 17 minutes later, matched planes with the Mun. Five minutes after that, with the CommSat network providing coverage, MunShot 1 burned for the Mun.

As MunShot 1 reached High Kerbin Orbit, the probe took some science readings and beamed the results back to the Kerbal Space Center. Four days later, it looked back at Kerbin and took a picture. The home of kerbalkin never looked so small…

Once it appeared that MunShot 1 missed its encounter with the Mun after the probe passed its apoapsis, Mission Control planned and executed a course correction maneuver. It turned out that the Tracking Station was having trouble calculating orbits; the probe had no trouble entering the Mun’s sphere of influence. But with plenty of fuel in the kick stage, Mission Control initiated a series of burns to lower MunShot 1’s closest approach to a scant 15.3 kilometers. All they had to do is wait- and run more experiments...

At its closest approach, MunShot 1 re-ran its temperature and magnetometer experiments and exhausted its full experiment suite. Then a program intended to escape orbit misfired and instead entered orbit around the Mun. 7 hours later, Mission Control uploaded a new program, and MunShot 1 headed home.

Three days after that, the probe burned through the rest of its fuel to place itself in a 176km by 4015.9km orbit around Kerbin. Considering that the probe wasn't originally intended to return to Kerbin, it was quite a feat. A few experiments still had data in them- the results could be transmitted back to KSC, but scientists pleaded with Mission Control to retrieve the samples instead for higher gains.

Gene thought about it. Ranger was almost ready, and KSC had yet to attempt a spacewalk…

Edited February 15, 2020 by Angel-125

[1THC]

Great read. Those are some really nice screenshots too! 

[JadeOfMaar]

1 hour ago, Angel-125 said:

Once I'm able to update to KSP 1.9, I'll be making use of the new camera rotation feature while paused.

You can access that already in 1.8. Go to the in-flight action group editor (the hammer and wrench button next to or between the resource panel and KSPedia buttons in the in-flight toolbar) and press F2. The main difference is you can't time a sudden event like the moment of impact with something. (Time freeze on pause is instant but you gotta wait while the editor UI crawls in.)

[Angelo Kerman]

Gonna be slowing down after next week, but until then...

Chapter 14

“Bring my husband home safe,” Valentina hissed at Jeb as he and Bob exited the astrovan. “For once, stick to the plan!” Jeb silently nodded. He was already in the zone. The two astronauts took a moment to examine their ride, the Edna 1C, before riding the elevator. An incremental change from the 1B, the 1C replaced tankage in the upper stage to reduce joint flexing. By the next launch, the core stage would undergo the same treatment.

The pair made their way across the crew access arm and boarded the Ranger. A Block 2 K-20, the Ranger eschewed the cargo bay for a crew cabin that seated 2. If testing proved successful, Ranger and Viking would fly all the way to the Mun.

Jeb ran through the checklist: fuel cell on, digital autopilot on, target selection set to MunShot 1, and so on. Mission Control retracted the fueling and crew access arms and cleared Ranger for flight.

Eight minutes later, Ranger entered an 89 km by 139.1 km orbit. Soon after, Jeb deployed the kick stage’s new solar arrays and checked the fuel levels. With the side-mounted fuel tanks- added because stretched tanks were too wobbly- they had just under 1400 meters per second to catch up to MunShot 1 and return home with.

Given its eccentric orbit, Mission Control intended to match the probe’s periapsis and then wait until the spacecraft met up. They had 8 days of life support to wait- enough to simulate a trip to the Mun and back. But if they failed to rendezvous with MunShot 1 after seven days, they’d have to return home. Five days later, Ranger and MunShot 1 were still out of alignment and it wasn’t looking like their orbits would ever allow a rendezvous anytime soon. In another two days, Bob and Jeb would have to return home. They had enough propellant to reach MunShot 1, but not deorbit.

KSC had one more trick up their sleeve: they launched a hastily refitted Docking Target and launched it into orbit. It rendezvoused with Ranger, and Jeb expertly maneuvered next to it. After he vigorously argued to take the next step, Mission Control outright refused. If anything went wrong, he’d need to fly Ranger back home.

Instead, Bob switched places with Jeb, depressurized the cockpit, and stepped outside. He carefully reached out to the Docking Target, unlatched the hose, and connected it to Ranger’s forward connector port. He hardly noticed that he’d just become the first kerbal to walk in space. After climbing back inside- and letting his heart slow down- he and Jeb switched places so that the pilot could transfer propellant, snacks, and fresh air into Ranger. After their stores were replenished, Bob went outside again and disconnected the hose. But as he got back inside, the hose whipped around and cut through the port side solar array. They were resupplied, but it cost them. An hour and a half later, they were on their way to MunShot 1 while the spent Docking Target headed for a fiery demise.

After Jeb parked Ranger next to MunShot 1, Bob once again traded places with the pilot and stepped outside. He jetted over to the munar probe, grabbed the experiment samples, and scampered back inside the Ranger.

And after 9 days in orbit- the new record- Ranger returned home safely.

Edited February 17, 2020 by Angel-125

[Angelo Kerman]

Chapter 15

The launch gantry split down the middle and opened like an enormous pair of jaws to expose the Drakken launch vehicle. Not long after, the Drakken lifted off, carrying its namesake spacecraft into polar orbit. On its second automated test flight, the Drakken’s orbital module sported a pair of maneuvering engines and a telescope for Kerbin observations, while the service module had new Spark motors.

After a day, the Drakken decoupled its orbital module and burned for Airbase S00A, one of the vonKerman Republic’s bases on the other side of the desert. As before, the descent module made a pinpoint approach.

And as before, the chutes failed to open. The vonKerman engineers tossed their clipboards in disgust. They had more work to do.

In the meantime, the orbital module spent a few more days making Kerbin observations before deorbiting and breaking up on reentry.

A week later, the engineers disabled BARIS’ ModuleBreakableParachute in JNSQ redesigned the explosive bolts that deployed the parachutes and tried again with a low-altitude test. This time, the chutes deployed. It was time for another orbital test.

Drakken 3 lifted off and achieved a 127 km orbit, carrying with it a disposable science package. For the next 20 days, Drakken 3 would run its experiments before hopefully returning them safely.

Across the Eastern Sea, Bill, Bob, and Jeb crossed the crew access arm and boarded the Ranger for their next mission. Technically, Valentina should’ve been the pilot, but KSC policy currently didn’t allow married couples on the same mission. Instead, Valentina had other duties to perform. But with missions piling up and three-quarters of the astronaut corps going into space, it became apparent that KSC needed to expand their ranks.

After the crew access and umbilical arms retracted, Ranger blasted off, carried upwards on its Edna 1D launch vehicle. The pinnacle design of the Edna launch vehicle, the 1D replaced the upper stage’s Cheetah motor with a second Skipper and its tank gained an extra segment. The core stage also had retooled tanks for improved stiffness. But even with all the changes, engineers had to get creative to get the Ranger and its new service module into orbit.

In order to get a crew of 3 to the Mun and Minmus, they needed more living space. But to reach orbit on the Edna, they needed more fuel. Attaching side tanks to the service module worked but they also added more drag. To get around the problem, engineers found a novel approach- evacuate the tank carrying propellant and fill it with equipment stored in the interstage adapter. Though not ideal, the “wet workshop” concept did the job. After exhausting the Edna 1D and burning through most of the service module’s propellant, Ranger attained a 214.5 km by 215.5 km orbit. Bill transferred the remaining propellant to the fore and aft tanks, then got to work assembling the center tank’s interior. Before long, the Mark One Laboratory Extension was open for business. He and Bob had seven days to perform experiments in space before Ranger ran low on supplies and had to return home.

[RealKerbal3x]

I was hesitant to install MOLE because I didn't think I needed it, but now I think I should. Those new parts look awesome.

Also, just a nitpick  Your Soyuz first stage core is a little inaccurate...it should be a smaller diameter where the boosters are mounted.

http://andegraf.com/rockets/soyuz.htm

(also, check out this website, it's got 3d models of pretty much every rocket - it's an excellent resource).

[Angelo Kerman]

5 hours ago, RealKerbal3x said:

I was hesitant to install MOLE because I didn't think I needed it, but now I think I should. Those new parts look awesome.

Also, just a nitpick  Your Soyuz first stage core is a little inaccurate...it should be a smaller diameter where the boosters are mounted.

http://andegraf.com/rockets/soyuz.htm

(also, check out this website, it's got 3d models of pretty much every rocket - it's an excellent resource).

Thanks.  I am not making replicas, I make things inspired by real world craft. So the Drakken is accurate for the Drakken launcher.

[The Dressian Exploder]

@Angel-125, what mod are you using for the descent/orbital module on the Drakken?

[RealKerbal3x]

55 minutes ago, The Dressian Exploder said:

@Angel-125, what mod are you using for the descent/orbital module on the Drakken?

It's in one of his mods, MOLE.

[Angelo Kerman]

6 hours ago, The Dressian Exploder said:

@Angel-125, what mod are you using for the descent/orbital module on the Drakken?

As @RealKerbal3x said, it’s from MOLE. The latest version revamped the Appaloosa and gave it new texture options among other things.

[The Dressian Exploder]

Nice! I'll have to check it out, because MOLE has always been one of my favourite mods.

[zumadawg18]

Is the K-20 in MOLE? I see on the github a WBT update for some parts, but can't find anything on the models they link to in MOLE? 

[The Dressian Exploder]

The K-20 is a mod by @Well, Ж-20 ''Moroz"

[Angelo Kerman]

Chapter 16

Valentina rolled the K-21 Sea Goat onto the runway for yet another survey flight and began thinking about her next tasks. With three quarters of the Astronaut Corps currently in orbit, KSP needed more astronauts if they were going to expand their operations. She was the one who got to train them. It wasn’t a glamours mission, and she’d rather be up there, but it was a necessary one. Besides, being a mentor brought with it several advantages. So, while Jeb continued to push to be the first, Valentina took the longer view.

The Sea Goat lifted off the runway, and Valentina realized that it was the last time that the airplane would fly a science mission. The upcoming KX-22 would take over the science role, but the Sea Goat still had a role in retrieving and transporting the K-20. And Valentina was already slated to test the KX-22.

Thinking about the new plane also got her thinking about how to organize flight crews- the ongoing K-20 mission needed Jeb to fly, Bill to set up the MOLE, and Bob to run the lab. It made sense that future crews should have at least one pilot, engineer, and scientist. Valentina decided that training missions should adopt that triad as well during away missions so that new recruits got used to working as a team.

But these administrative tasks would have to wait. She had a job to do. It was another long day of flying around and collecting data from the magnetometer, then landing at the C. Yeager Airfield. KSP hoped to enlist their aid in generating new research. Valentina spent the night there before meeting with the science department head and then returned to KSC.

Meanwhile, after Bill accidentally broke a solar panel while on EVA, KSC decided to accelerate their test flight of the Power Support Module. Originally intended for the next Ranger flight, the PSM provided extra power to a K-20 and could double as an emergency tug should a spaceplane run out of propellant and could not de-orbit.

In this case though, Ranger had plenty of propellant to return to Kerbin, so the PSM cached extra snacks and fresh air for the crew. Once resupplied, Ranger had enough supplies to extend its mission to 18 days.

A couple of days later, KSC launched SCANSat 2 into orbit. A mishap with the fairing release shredded half its solar arrays and one of its relay antennas. Luckily, it had backups. Nothing like SCANSat 1, SCANSat 2 sported new instruments including an advanced telescope dubbed the Kopernicus, named for a famous astronomer. KSP needed Kopernicus to map the Mun for potential landing sites, but there were rumors that they were also testing the telescope for another government agency.

A 1.5km delta-v burn later, SCANSat 2 headed to the Mun. It took two days just to reach its sphere of influence. A correction burn nudged the craft into a polar orbit-ideal for mapping- but also left its fuel reserves dangerously low. Sadly, there just wasn’t enough propellant to circularize its orbit. But the mission wasn’t a complete failure; KSC managed to run a couple of experiments in high Munar orbit before SCANSat 2 swung around the Mun and entered an inclined orbit high above Kerbin. Its science mission now ended, all it could do was provide communications relay services.

[Angelo Kerman]

Chapter 17

SCANSat 3 had a few minor modifications compared to its predecessor when it launched into orbit. Engineers moved the SCANSat radar assembly to the side and equipped the probe with a docking port. SCANSat 3 attained a 200km circular orbit, successfully deployed its antennas and solar arrays, and then waited.

Exactly how to get to the Mun had been a subject of considerable debate for some time now. Should KSP use multiple launches or send everything on one massive booster? In the Kerbin Orbit Rendezvous approach, multiple launches required orbital assembly and fueling and introduced multiple chances of failure, not to mention lots of waiting for the parts to rendezvous and dock. With the Munar Orbit Rendezvous, putting everything on a single launcher required a very large and expensive booster, and you could lose everything if something critical failed. But it only required a single launch and orbital rendezvous. KSC engineers still didn’t have an answer for the kermanned landing, but they did have one for SCANSat 3.

A day later, a modified Docking Target boosted into orbit. After another day of chasing its partner, the Docking Target rendezvoused with SCANSat 3 and docked with it. It didn’t take long before the craft refueled SCANSat 3 and acted like a drop tank as the probe boosted towards the Mun.

As SCANSat 3 continued its burn, the emptied and discarded Docking Target flipped around and ignited its RCS thrusters to de-orbit. In another four days, KSC would know if their trick worked.

Meanwhile, with under a day of supplies left, Ranger’s crew finished up their experiments and headed home. After ditching its MOLE service module, Ranger became a glider again. And while Bill and Bob passed out from the g-forces, Jeb kept himself composed and expertly piloted the Ranger to a precision landing back at KSC. After a record 18 days in orbit, they were home.

Two days later, SCANSat 3 arrived at the Mun and settled into polar orbit. But when it tried to circularize into low orbit, KSC lost contact. They had to wait another four and a half days to try again, but at least the craft had the delta-v for the maneuver. The next time around, they probe settled into its orbit and got to work.

But for the Drakken 3, its time in orbit had come to an end. Kontrol commanded the spacecraft to de-orbit, burning all its propellant in the process. Several minutes later, the vonKermans cheered as Drakken 3 deployed its chutes and made a soft landing with its valuable science in hand.

[Angelo Kerman]

Chapter 18

Just when KSC was ready to retire the Edna, KSC engineers introduced liquid fuel boosters powered by brand new Mainsail engines to the design. Not only did the boosters at last provide engine shutdown capability throughout the entire flight- which significantly improved crew safety- they increased the vehicle’s payload capacity. Unfortunately, the new boosters also increased launch costs.

Regardless, Ranger leapt off the pad on twin pillars of fire. The Edna 1E didn’t need its Skipper core engine to leave the pad due to the power of the Mainsail engines. Nor did the Ranger need a wet workshop filled with extra propellant to attain its orbit. Instead, the space plane sailed into orbit with Valentina, Ferwin, and Jebman, two new astronauts from the astronaut expansion group known as The Five New Geniuses. They were delighted to make their first trip into space with their instructor. With four sets of flight crews, KSC had enough astronauts to conduct their next phase of exploration.

***

Anticipating an increase in kermanned launch cadence, KSC began converting Pathfinder and Pioneer into the K-20 Block 2, but that left them with no orbiters capable of carrying satellites. Worse, Edna launchers were tied up with the Mun Shot program. But the mcKerman Kingdom saw this as an opportunity and founded the mcKerman Ministry of Space to launch communications satellites into orbit and sell their services. If all went well, they’d be sending their own citizens into space.

The Ministry of Space hired Arrow Space to design and build the hardware, who in turn licensed technology from KSP and produced the Arrow 1 launcher along with the Arrow Star Communications Satellite. By the end of all the bookkeeping, the Ministry of Space effectively bartered their communications satellite services in exchange for the technology to build and launch them.

After numerous failed attempts, the Arrow 1 launcher successfully lifted off from the Yeager Eastern Pad and attained a 662.741 km parking orbit. From there, it set up an elliptical orbit that peaked at 1,388.616 km. Each time the upper stage looped around to its periapsis, it dropped off one of its Arrow Star satellites and it promptly circularized its orbit.

After the last satellite dropped away, the next time around to periapsis, the upper stage itself circularized its orbit and deployed its relay antennas to form the fourth communications satellite in the network. At last, the Ministry of Space deployed their first satellite network. Their plans were in motion…

Meanwhile, KSC engineers modified a Power Support Module and launched it into orbit on an Edna 1E. Dubbed the Lowlander 1, the probe had one mission: land on the Mun! The launch went off without a hitch. Three days later, it entered the Mun’s sphere of orbit. But Lowlander 1 ran into a serious problem- it was out of electricity! Unfortunately, the probe was on the dark side of the Mun. With no way to recharge, KSC lost tracking of the probe just over 1128 meters above ground.

Undeterred, KSC engineers equipped Lowlander 2 with a fuel cell, and KSC tried again. Lowlander 2 entered a 250 km parking orbit before heading to the Mun. This time, mission planners created a maneuver that ensured that Lowlander 2 would set down on the sunlit side. After several nail-biting moments, Lowlander 2 softly landed on the Mun! The probe quickly shut off its engine and performed a couple of experiments, transmitting the results back to KSC. Now all KSC had to do was repeat the landing a couple more times…

Things were moving pretty quickly with the space program. After 16 days in orbit, Valentina expertly deorbited and landed the craft back at KSC; the first-time landing at night.

Demonstrating a rapid turnaround capability, Ranger went into orbit again, this time with Tesen (PLT), Gerrim (ENG), and Malus (SCI) aboard. They had new experiments to run and new habitation technologies to test that were needed for the longer trips to Minmus. A few days later, MOLE 1, the first space station, arrived in orbit and parked near Ranger. Tesen then guided the K-20 and docked to the station. The crew finally had everything they needed to test extended missions in orbit.

Finally, the KX-22 Seagull made its first operational flight, with Valentina at the controls. The Seagull flew over the Antarctic ice to take magnetometer readings, then returned back to S72 to refuel before the long flight home. For once, she didn’t mind; she saw what Wernher’s team was planning, and all she had to do was bide her time…

[Angelo Kerman]

Chapter 19

Engineers at the Kerbal Space Center couldn’t agree upon whether the Block 2 K-20 could survive aerobraking from Munar orbit. The arguments became increasingly heated until Gene Kerman decided to settle the argument by ordering a test flight. Once again, engineers chose Pathfinder to blaze the trail-literally, in this case. Mostly through her Block 2 refit, Pathfinder still had her cargo bay, so engineers fitted a probe core and relay antenna into the bay, stripped the service module of non-essential equipment and replace it with extra propellant, and shot the K-20 prototype into space.

Not bothering to circularize its orbit, Pathfinder kept burning its orbital motors until its apoapsis extended past the Mun’s orbit. Nine days later, the K-20 looped back around and retracted its sensitive antennas and solar arrays. It plunged through Kerbin’s atmosphere 60 kilometers up, then sailed through the other side. Its service module adapter almost overheated and nearly collapsed, but Pathfinder proved that a K-20 could survive an aerobrake from Munar altitude. In another 7 days, Pathfinder would fly through the atmosphere again. With enough aerobraking, KSC hoped to recover the craft.

In the meantime, KSC engineers put in overtime to roll out several new mockups of their proposed Munar Ground Module System (MGMS). Headed up by Bill, Dudmon, Ferwin, and Valentina, the MGMS consisted of several ground modules modified from the K-20’s service module. Left to right, they included the Tug, Hab, Lab, Greenhouse, Hub, Logistics, Power, and Airlock. A pressurized rover was also in the works.

Additionally, Jebediah and Jebman represented the Astronaut Corps during the development of the Munar Expedition Module (MEM). Designed to carry a crew of 2, the MEM was a two-stage lander with enough propellant in the descent stage to handle a short hop to another location after landing. If it worked well enough, then it would also deliver the MGMS modules.

Speaking of bases and stations, with MOLE-1’s testing completed, KSC undocked it from Ranger and initiated its de-orbit maneuver in order to free up Ranger’s docking port for a supply run. They learned a lot about station designs, and the lessons learned would be applied to both future stations and the MGMS. The prototype station broke up 24 km above Kerbin’s surface.

Then, for the first time, three K-20 vehicles flew in space at the same time. Viking made her maiden voyage with Valentina (CDR), Jeb (PLT), and Ferwin (SCI) aboard and launched on the brand-new Duna launch vehicle. Designed to test the munar vehicle stack, the Duna was a two-stage rocket whose upper Kerbin Departure Stage was slated for the larger Lindor rocket in development. Duna also finally settled the argument of how to shoot for the Mun. It was cheaper to launch everything on one rocket than to launch several and assemble the Mun craft in orbit.

The launch didn’t go as planned; the Duna struggled to remain on course and clawed for altitude. Its upper stage lacked the power to complete its orbit, but when it shed its payload shroud, it revealed why- Viking carried the first Munar Exploration Module into orbit. In addition to several research experiments, Viking was charged with putting the MEM prototype through its paces. The K-20 burned nearly all its fuel to attain an 85km by 162.6km orbit, but KSC anticipated this and had a Power Support Module ready just in case Viking needed it.

Once Viking settled into orbit and Ferwin got to work in the lab, Valentina entered the MEM, undocked, and took it for a spin. Val raised her periapsis to 130km, and 6km away, Jeb did the same with Viking. The MEM flew just past 15km before matching velocities with Viking and then sailing back towards the K-20. With no ability to survive atmospheric entry, Valentina had to dock with Viking in order to return home. Fortunately, she had no issues docking with the newest K-20 in the fleet.

After transferring fuel from the MEM’s ascent stage into the descent stage tanks, she took a brief EVA to test the craft’s airlock system, got back inside, powered down the craft and headed back to the lab. In another 20 days, they’d test the MEM’s ability to perform emergency engine burns by de-orbiting itself along with Viking.

Finally, Pathfinder looped around to periapsis once more, but this time it didn’t fare well. Its service module overheated and broke apart, leaving just the adapter attached to the glider. KSC engineers were disheartened at Pathfinder’s situation (not to mention that Funds changed hands as kerbals lost bets), but they knew that the glider’s sacrifice was necessary for research to ensure safe travels to the Mun and back. They continued to try everything they could to save the glider. After reconnecting with CommNet, engineers remotely activated the adapter’s monopropellant power unit and oriented the craft for another trip through the atmosphere. It survived, and more Funds changed hands. Five more trips were cringeworthy as the adapter nearly overheated and broke up several times. After the sixth trip, KSC calculated that Pathfinder would de-orbit and crash on its next aerobrake. But the engineers had one more trick up their sleeves.

As Pathfinder reached an apoapsis of 1328.7km, KSC commanded Pathfinder to point prograde- and promptly light its abort motors. The K-20 rapidly burned through its monopropellant in a desperate attempt to flee a non-existent ailing booster, then ejected its spent adapter. KSC engineers watched helplessly as Pathfinder’s batteries slowly drained away. But they also had a smile on their faces; the glider’s orbit stabilized into a 260.5km by 1328.7km orbit.

 

Edited April 8, 2020 by Angel-125

[fulgur]

SPACE JUNK! Also, well done for getting craft ready for a Munshot so early!

Will you try to recover Pathfinder? Also, why did the breaking of the service module mean the loss of the ship? Surely the probe core was not in that section, if they were going to land it.