Apollo Style Redux v3

[Death Engineering]

On 4/16/2020 at 10:24 AM, QF9E said:

I succeeded in landing on top of the Neil Armstrong Memorial!

Great landing! 

I will be posting my video of this mission but I'm enforcing a single-take rule and even though it's only a Mun mission, there are a lot of things that can go wrong. I almost got it last night but failed the water-landing. 

[sevenperforce]

After a long wait, I've finally wrapped up my Apollo Redux and gotten all the photos organized.

If you'll recall upthread, I initially commented on this challenge, saying "Tempted to try and hit every point item with a rocket that looks as little like the Saturn V as possible." After some reflection, I decided to tweak this a bit, and instead use a rocket that looks as much like the Saturn V as possible but is nothing like it.

Here's the full imgur album in all its glory (I strongly suggest reading through this before you click the spoilers below).

Nothing on the pad...is this Saturn V horizontally integrated??

Ah, there's the familiar shape.

Spoiler

Something is very, very wrong here.

I'm guessing this isn't what you were expecting, is it?

Here we are in low Kerbin orbit.

Command, Service, Lunar, and Abort modules. You'll have to head on over to imgur to see the rest.

https://imgur.com/a/pQmHC7f

I didn't earn all possible points, but I earned most of them. Scoring below:

Spoiler

First, compliance with the rules. This was tricky, since making an SSTO was obviously not the expected way to complete this challenge.

• You MUST use your own rocket Yep, definitely my own rocket
• NO orbital construction OR refueling Not a bit
• You have to have a Lunar Orbit Rendezvous (LOR) mission design, (in the case of Kerbals, probably MOR) Same LOR design as Apollo 17, in fact; later missions always used the SM to help deorbit the LM part of the way to save fuel
• You NEED a separate Munar Excursion Module (MEM) and a Command/Service Module (CSM), consisting of a Command module (CM) and a Service Module (SM) I definitely had all three
• You MUST document the mission in one way or another, I don't care if it's video, pictures, or anything else (just please don't make 2-hour long videos!) Hopefully it is documented enough
• NO unintentional decoupling Definitely not
• NO SRBs or LRBs (radially decoupled) Not only do I have no radial boosters – I have no boosters at all!
• DLC is Allowed, However Saturn V parts are NOT Allowed Not a single Saturn V part used!

And, scoring. Started with 50 points.

• The 3 Little Kerbals - 3 Kerbals on board the spacecraft (1 remaining in the CM, while the other 2 land on the Mun) +20 Yep
• A Flag on the Mun?! - Plant a flag on the Mun (Non-cumulative, 2 flags do not get 10 points) +5 Definitely
• Mun Buggie - Have a Munar Roving vehicle (MRV) on board +15 Not only did I have a Munar Roving Vehicle on my Munar Module, my Munar Roving Vehicle WAS my Munar Module!
• Abort! Abort! - Have a Launch Escape System on the top of the rocket +15 Technically on top of the command module, but given my 0-0 abort with splashdown, I think that capability is good enough
• Konked Out! - Kill a Kerbal -25 points per Kerbal All Kerbals survived…even during testing.
• Return for Free - Have a Free Return trajectory on the way to the Mun +10 Naturally
• No More MEM! - Dispose of the MEM by crashing it into the Mun (without Kerbals inside of course!) +5 I crashed both the MEM and the Service Module into the Mun!
• Up, Up, and Away - Make the MEM two-stage, leaving the descent stage and its engine on the Munar Surface +20 How else?
• Look on the Bright Side! - Land on the bright side of the Mun +10 Had to do this
• Shut Away From The World - Put the MEM behind some sort of fairing +5 It was behind some sort of fairing during ascent
• Down Under - Put the MEM under the CSM during ascent +20 It was "under" the CSM during ascent
• Splashies! - Splash down in the ocean on Kerbin  +5 Do I get this three times for the two splashdowns after aborts?
• MEM Hugger - Dock to the MEM using the CSM +10 No RCS on the MEM so this was a given
• SubSat - Deploy a small sub-satellite before returning to Kerbin (Like the PFS sub-sats deployed during Apollo 15 and 16) + 10 This is the one thing I didn’t do, just to save mass and complexity
• Minmalist! - Do it on Minmus -5 That would have been sacrilege…though perhaps not as sacreligious as an SSTO Saturn V
• No More Docking? - Decouple the docking port on the CM right before deploying parachutes +5 Done
• Parachute Problems - Have 3 main chutes and 2 drogues on the CM +10 Not just mains – steerable mains!
• Saturn-Alike - Make the launch vehicle (LV) resemble the Saturn V (S5)(Making History Saturn V Parts Does Not Count as this)+10 It definitely resembles the Saturn V as long as you look edgewise with the gear retracted!
• Land within 5 km of the Neil Armstrong Memorial (NAM) +5 Easy
• Land within 500 m of the NAM + 10 Yep
• Land within 50 m of the NAM +15 Nope, figured I had to save points for someone else
• Land within 5 m of the NAM  +20 Way too impatient to do this
• Test Drive - Drive beyond 100 meters of your lander +5 Yep
• Proper Shakedown - Drive beyond 2 kilometers of your lander +10 Yep
• Gone drivin' - Drive beyond 5 km of your lander + 15 Yep
• Are we there yet? - Drive beyond 10 km of your lander +20 Once more, just too impatient
• Minimalist - Deploy one MunSEP at the landing site +5 Yep
• That'll Do - Deploy two MunSEPs at the landing site +10 Yep
• For Science - Deploy two MunSEPs at least one kilometer from the landing site (at least one kilometer from each other) +15 Yep
• Science Extravaganza - Deploy four MunSEPs at least one kilometer from the landing site (at least one kilometer from each other) +15 Of course!

By my numbers that's a final score of 305.

 

[QF9E]

Just now, Death Engineering said:

Great landing! 

I will be posting my video of this mission but I'm enforcing a single-take rule and even though it's only a Mun mission, there are a lot of things that can go wrong. I almost got it last night but failed the water-landing. 

Thanks! I started it with the idea of doing a single take, but I've been doing reruns of this mission for a couple of days now so I decided to relax the rule a little. I only have so much tolerance for rover crashes due to glitches in KSP.

That said, doing a single take Apollo mission that ticks all the boxes would be truly awesome.

1 minute ago, sevenperforce said:

After a long wait, I've finally wrapped up my Apollo Redux and gotten all the photos organized.

If you'll recall upthread, I initially commented on this challenge, saying "Tempted to try and hit every point item with a rocket that looks as little like the Saturn V as possible." After some reflection, I decided to tweak this a bit, and instead use a rocket that looks as much like the Saturn V as possible but is nothing like it.

Excellent mission, and a fun take on the "not a Saturn V at all". I am tempted to do a not-Apollo-at-all version with a recreation of N-1, including a Lunokhod recreation as a rover, that would be launched separately by a Proton rocket.

[kspnerd122]

Amazing I give you 20 extra points for making it an SSTO, I did not expect that approach

[QF9E]

56 minutes ago, sevenperforce said:

• Minimalist - Deploy one MunSEP at the landing site +5 Yep
• That'll Do - Deploy two MunSEPs at the landing site +10 Yep
• For Science - Deploy two MunSEPs at least one kilometer from the landing site (at least one kilometer from each other) +15 Yep
• Science Extravaganza - Deploy four MunSEPs at least one kilometer from the landing site (at least one kilometer from each other) +15 Of course!

Hmm, I think I misunderstood the scoring system: I thought that you could only score one of these MunSEP goals. I did not bring any MunSEPs to deploy at the landing site so I did not tick the first two of the MunSEP mission goals. In my quest to complete all the goals I will have to do the mission again.

Edited April 17, 2020 by QF9E

[sevenperforce]

1 minute ago, QF9E said:

Hmm, I think I misunderstood the scoring system: I thought that you could only score one of these MunSEP goals. I did not bring any MunSEPs to deploy at the landing site so I did not tick the first two of the MunSEP mission goals. In my quest to complete all the goals I will have to do the mission again.

It may or may not be cumulative, I don't know. But I think @kspnerd122 was basing it off the Apollo missions where two SEPs were deployed at the landing site and four were deployed at a distance from it.

[kspnerd122]

doing all will get you 50 pts for dedication, otherwise, not culmative, because it becomes, Whose computer can handle the highest part count

[QF9E]

16 minutes ago, kspnerd122 said:

doing all will get you 50 pts for dedication, otherwise, not culmative, because it becomes, Whose computer can handle the highest part count

Thanks for the clarification. But as written it should net you 45 points. Or should the point total for the final goal be +20 instead of +15?

I was confused by your earlier reply to me that it is not cumulative - I thought that meant you only score the highest goal. But as far as I understand it now, you mean that you can score each goal only once.

[kspnerd122]

+20, that was a typo

[ralanboyle]

@kspnerd122, Are you interested in putting a leader-board on the OP? 

[QF9E]

Almost does not count...

It seemed as if I was going to get the perfect mission. A one-take mission which ticked all the boxes, including a one-take landing on top of the NAM. But then the Kraken ate one of my MunSEPs: when I switched to it after deployment it got displaced about half a meter upwards, into the space occupied by my rover, and subsequently got launched into space and crashed. And on the way back to the lander my rover hit one of those $@%$^%! glitches in the collision model of the Mun and lost one of its front wheels. I managed to get it back to the lander, but then its reaction wheel acted up: when I switched off SAS, instead of winding down it started running ever faster, launching my rover tumbling into space. I eventually found a solution by turning off the reaction wheel before switching off SAS but that was after numerous reloads and some experimentation.

And then I had either the luckiest or unluckiest re-entry ever: I hit a tiny spur of land in between two oceans with my landing. But on that spur of land happened to be a lake and I landed in the lake! It, however, counts as the Grasslands biome, so despite splashing down I failed to land in the ocean.

Fortunately I created some savegames, so I can rewind to just after my landing on the NAM and take it from there. But unfortunately, no one-take perfect mission for me .

[QF9E]

I finally completed all mission goals in my simulated Apollo 15 mission. While I was hoping to be able to do it in a single take, that did not quite work out: I needed to reload twice (I messed up one munar landing and one munar ascent - the latter because I forgot to enable SAS). But nonetheless, by my reckoning my mission gets me 375 points, which is the maximum possible score for this challenge.

 

Spoiler

• You MUST use your own rocket  -- That I did

• NO orbital construction OR refueling -- Nope, single launch. I even took care not to accidentally have unplanned crossfeed by switching off all resources of stages not currently in use
• You have to have a Lunar Orbit Rendezvous (LOR) mission design, (in the case of Kerbals, probably MOR) -- Yep, did that
• You NEED a separate Munar Excursion Module (MEM) and a Command/Service Module (CSM), consisting of a Command module (CM) and a Service Module (SM) -- Not sure how this is different from the previous, but I did this as well
• No MechJeb, KOS is permitted for all phases of the flight -- Since I was a bit confused about which mods were allowed, I played without any mods whatsoever, and without the DLC. Just the stock1.8.1 base game
• PLEASE note that visual mods (EVE, Scatterer, SVE, SciFi Visual Enhancements, etc.) are NOT considered modded, with an exception - mods like VSR, which replace models of the parts, making craft incompatible with stock saves
• Mods are allowed, but you will get a modded badge -- Nope, I played fully stock
• You MUST document the mission in one way or another, I don't care if it's video, pictures, or anything else (just please don't make 2-hour long videos!) --See video
• NO unintentional decoupling -- Nope. I break a single piece intentionally, a sensor on top of the 1st stage, to simulate a similar event that happened on the real Apollo 15
• NO SRBs or LRBs (radially decoupled) -- Nope, did not use any
• DLC is Allowed, However Saturn V parts are NOT Allowed -- Did not use DLC as I wasn't sure what counts as a Saturn V part: the 5m tanks? The MEM? The 1st stage thrust structure?

The main goal is to land a Kerbal on  the Mun and return him back safely, but not in any way - Apollo Style!

You start with 50 points, but can gain or loose points by achieving the following mission/design goals, achieve negative objectives, like killing Kerbals, which greatly lower your score -- Ok, let's go. Current point tally in brackets (50)

Goals

• The 3 Little Kerbals - 3 Kerbals on board the spacecraft (1 remaining in the CM, while the other 2 land on the Mun) +20 -- Yep. I named them Scott, Worden and Irwin Kerman after the Apollo 15 crew (70)
• A Flag on the Mun?! - Plant a flag on the Mun (Non-cumulative, 2 flags do not get 10 points) +5 -- Yep, did that as well. I planted 2 flags, the second one just to mark how far I drove the rover (75)
• Mun Buggie - Have a Munar Roving vehicle (MRV) on board +15 -- Yep, I had. Mine is capable of autonomous operation, and it can fly short distances thanks to an onboard RCS system (90)
• Abort! Abort! - Have a Launch Escape System on the top of the rocket +15 -- My rocket has a fully functioning abort system. See my earlier mission report for pad and in-flight abort tests. It also includes a boost protective cover (105)
• Konked Out! - Kill a Kerbal -25 points per Kerbal -- No Kerbals were harmed in this mission (105)
• Return for Free - Have a Free Return trajectory on the way to the Mun +10 -- I did! I even took care to put the Apollo stack back on the free return trajectory after extracting the MEM. (115)
• No More MEM! - Dispose of the MEM by crashing it into the Mun (without Kerbals inside of course!) +5 -- Did that as well. I also crashed the Saturn V 3rd stage into the Mun, like was done on the real Apollo 15 (120)
• Up, Up, and Away - Make the MEM two-stage, leaving the descent stage and its engine on the Munar Surface +20 -- Yep, descent stage can still be seen at the landing site (140)
• Look on the Bright Side! - Land on the bright side of the Mun +10 -- I still don't know if the bright side is the near side (the side pointed towards Kerbin), or the daylight side, but I did both, so it does not matter (150)
• Shut Away From The World - Put the MEM behind some sort of fairing +5 -- Yep, I faithfully recreated the SLA panels from the original. I could not, however, get mine to tumble like the real ones did (155)
• Down Under - Put the MEM under the CSM during ascent +20 -- Did that as well. Might be an interesting challenge to make a functional abort system without doing this (175)
• Splashies! - Splash down in the ocean on Kerbin  +5 -- Yep, I landed in the middle of the ocean (180)
• MEM Hugger - Dock to the MEM using the CSM +10 -- Did that, twice. The first time during MEM extraction, the second time when the MEM had returned to orbit from the Munar surface (190)
• SubSat - Deploy a small sub-satellite before returning to Kerbin (Like the PFS sub-sats deployed during Apollo 15 and 16) + 10 -- I did. I even made it look a bit like the original  (200)
• Minmalist! - Do it on Minmus -5 -- Nah. Although I did play with the idea of bringing a second lander and visit Minmus after the Mun (200)
• No More Docking? - Decouple the docking port on the CM right before deploying parachutes +5 -- Did that. Nice little historical detail that I was not aware of (205)
• Parachute Problems - Have 3 main chutes and 2 drogues on the CM +10 -- Yep. I also cut the drogues after main chute deployment, like the real Apollo did (215)
• Saturn-Alike - Make the launch vehicle (LV) resemble the Saturn V (S5)(Making History Saturn V Parts Does Not Count as this)(otherwise it becomes, to get more points you must spend your money)+10 -- I believe I did (225) Although my 1st and 2nd stages are not wide enough because I did not have access to 5 meter parts without the DLC, I did incorporate various details from the real Apollo 15 in this mission:
  • My rocket has the same stages as the real Saturn V, and the correct number of engines, in the correct layout, for each stage. It also flies in the correct orientation. The Saturn V engines made an X in flight, as seen from behind (unlike Soyuz, the boosters of which make a + shape)
  • I had the correct amount of ullage and retro motors on all stages, as well as auxiliary propulsion systems (APS) on the 3rd stage.
  • I did a two-plane separation between the 1st and 2nd stage, in which the interstage is jettisoned some time after 1st stage jettison
  • I had a sensor on top of the 1st stage break on purpose after 2nd stage ignition. The real Apollo 15 had a similar issue due to less stage separation distance than anticipated
  • Like in real life, but unlike most launches in KSP, I ignited the engines before liftoff, holding the rocket on the pad until engines reached full thrust. I placed the holddowns in the correct positions, between the outer engine fairings
  • I performed a roll program after liftoff. The real Apollo 15 rolled just 9 degrees but I chose to do a 90 degree roll program. The 9 degrees for Apollo 15 made sense because the real KSC is not on the equator, whereas in KSP it is.
  • I shut down the center engine some time before the outboard engines on both the 1st and 2nd stage. In KSP this has no real purpose but in real life this was done to limit maximum acceleration
  • I limited the 3rd stage to two firings, like its real counterpart. I did this by reaching orbital AP (of just over 70 km - the Apollo J missions had incredibly low parking orbits as well to maximize payload capacity to the Moon) on the 2nd stage and using the 3rd stage to circularize the orbit. I then re-ignited the 3rd stage for the Trans Munar Injection burn. At the end of that burn, I fine-tuned the trajectory with the APS
  • I deliberately crashed the 3rd stage into the Mun
  • I did a "barbecue roll" with the CSM / MEM stack on the way to the Mun, which was done in real life to even out the heat from the sun
  • I did a visual inspection of the MEM after undocking by twirling it around in front of the CSM, like they did in real life.
  • My CSM had a telescope on board, just like the real Apollo 15.
  • I did a stand-up EVA prior to starting surface operations. This was Dave Scott's idea, so that he could get a quick overview of the terrain surrounding the landing site. I found that if you add a docking port to the top mounting point of a Mk2 lander can and then slightly clip it into the can, the top hatch becomes visible and functional without impairing the docking port.
  • I did a deep space EVA on the way back to Kerbin to simulate the EVA done by Al Worden on the real Apollo 15, to retrieve the film cassettes from the telescope
  • I took 8 superfluous 75 kg panels with me to the Mun, only to make the descent stage of the lander look properly octagonal. Oh the horror at this waste of payload capacity ;).

Additional Goals

     Landing Accuracy -- I landed on top of the Neil Armstrong Memorial, which gets me all of the points. I've now done so three times, after about 10 failed test landings, so it's not a fluke either. The trick is to bring enough fuel reserves that you can take it slowly and to be able to make a second attempt if you hit the LM statue on top of the NAM, as you are bound to do as space on top of the NAM is fairly limited

1. Land within 5 km of the Neil Armstrong Memorial (NAM) +5 -- Yawn (230)
2. Land within 500 m of the NAM + 10 -- A fun and relaxing challenge (240)
3. Land within 50 m of the NAM +15 -- Getting interesting (255)
4. Land within 5 m of the NAM  +20 -- Now we are talking. (275)

     I was roving on the Mun one day... -- Did some exploring of the 10 km aorund the NAM. I can recommend going southeast, I found that the most interesting terrain. The trick is to have a very reliable rover, to avoid getting damaged from glitches in the collision model of the Munar surface. I recommend an SAS unit and some RCS so that you can land softly without cartwheeling out of control after hitting something. As a bonus, I flew my rover down from the top of the NAM and back up.

1. Test Drive - Drive beyond 100 meters of your lander +5 -- Barely getting started (280)
2. Proper Shakedown - Drive beyond 2 kilometers of your lander +10 -- We are getting there. Are we though? My rover had a top speed of 13 m/s, driving this far will take a while (290)
3. Gone drivin' - Drive beyond 5 km of your lander + 15 -- Better have some good company and interesting terrain to keep you occupied, this trip is getting boring (305)
4. Are we there yet? - Drive beyond 10 km of your lander +20 -- Yep, did this. Scott Kerman found this really curious piece of Munar crust out there. It has since been labeled "sample 15415". Also a terminally boring drive (325)

     Munar Scientific Experiments Package (MunSEP)

     Your MunSEP must have a power source that can keep it alive for at least 6 hours, at least one science experiment, and be controllable (have a probe core on board) -- Yep, my MunSEPs have a probe core, solar panel, thermometer and seismometer. I verified that they were still working by operating the antenna of MunSEP 1 after splashdown, at which time the MunSEPs had been on the Mun for a day and a half.

1. Minimalist - Deploy one MunSEP at the landing site +5 -- I deployed my first MunSEP on top of the NAM (330)
2. That'll Do - Deploy two MunSEPs at the landing site +10 -- I deployed a second one at the base of the NAM (340)
3. For Science - Deploy two MunSEPs at least one kilometer from the landing site (at least one kilometer from each other) +15 -- I deployed 2 additional MunSEP, 4 and 6km from the landing site (355)
4. Science Extravaganza - Deploy four MunSEPs at least one kilometer from the landing site (at least one kilometer from each other) +20 -- And 2 MunSEPs in addition to that (for a total of 6), at 8km and 10km from the landing site.(375)

 

 

Edited April 19, 2020 by QF9E

[jinnantonix]

I started out this mission and got to the Mun.  On deploying my MunSEPs, I realised that with the core in non-hibernation (powered on), they would run out of power in less than 6 hours.  The solar panel would bring it back to life next day, however I did not know whether this was in the spirit of the requirement, so started again with a redesigned MunSEP with enough battery life and solar recharging to last indefinitely on the Mun surface, continuously powered.

I also redesigned my rover so that it more resembled the Apollo rovers in size.  This was difficult to fit in the LM, the original could fold up, and this was hard to simulate in KSP with robotic hinges.  Also hard to deploy and still keep the single inline engine design for the descent phase.  I ended up making the rover non-folding, made the LM second stage a bit taller, and removing the sides of the second stage to deploy it.

 

[QF9E]

1 hour ago, jinnantonix said:

I started out this mission and got to the Mun.  On deploying my MunSEPs, I realised that with the core in non-hibernation (powered on), they would run out of power in less than 6 hours.  The solar panel would bring it back to life next day, however I did not know whether this was in the spirit of the requirement, so started again with a redesigned MunSEP with enough battery life and solar recharging to last indefinitely on the Mun surface, continuously powered.

I also redesigned my rover so that it more resembled the Apollo rovers in size.  This was difficult to fit in the LM, the original could fold up, and this was hard to simulate in KSP with robotic hinges.  Also hard to deploy and still keep the single inline engine design for the descent phase.  I ended up making the rover non-folding, made the LM second stage a bit taller, and removing the sides of the second stage to deploy it.

 

My MunSEPs will also deplete during the night. But I specifically landed in the Munar morning so that would not be a problem, as the Mun rotates so slowly (a Munar day lasts about 3 Kerbin days or 18 hours). I'm very interested in your solution for rover deployment and keep a single center engine. I experimented with a rover built around a doughnut tank and the engine firing through it, but it turned out too big to fit inside my descent stage. Also the thrust needed for my lander was a perfect fit for 2 spark engines, a single Terrier would be the alternative but it is a bit too big for my lander.

[jinnantonix]

20 minutes ago, QF9E said:

My MunSEPs will also deplete during the night. But I specifically landed in the Munar morning so that would not be a problem, as the Mun rotates so slowly (a Munar day lasts about 3 Kerbin days or 18 hours). I'm very interested in your solution for rover deployment and keep a single center engine. I experimented with a rover built around a doughnut tank and the engine firing through it, but it turned out too big to fit inside my descent stage. Also the thrust needed for my lander was a perfect fit for 2 spark engines, a single Terrier would be the alternative but it is a bit too big for my lander.

I had a look at your video, your lander is smaller than mine.  I used a single Terrier for the descent engine.  I will have the video ready shortly.

[kspnerd122]

my lander uses breaking ground to deploy rover(BG allowed)

[jinnantonix]

Here is my submission, lots of fun thanks @kspnerd122 for managing this.  I think this is worth maximum points, but let me know if you have any questions about detail.

Scoring:
 

Spoiler

Total = 285 

Start with 50 points

• The 3 Little Kerbals  +20
• A Flag on the Mun?!  +5
• Mun Buggie   +15
• Abort! Abort!  +15
• Konked Out! - 0
• Return for Free   +10
• No More MEM!   +5
• Up, Up, and Away   +20
• Look on the Bright Side!   +10
• Shut Away From The World   +5
• Down Under  +20
• Splashies!    +5
• MEM Hugger   +10
• SubSat  + 10
• Minmalist! - 0
• No More Docking?  +5
• Parachute Problems  +10
• Saturn-Alike  +10 ?

     Landing Accuracy Land within 5 m of the NAM  +20

     I was roving on the Mun one day... Are we there yet? - Drive beyond 10 km of your lander +20

•  That'll Do - Deploy two MunSEPs at the landing site
• Science Extravaganza - Deploy four MunSEPs at least one kilometer from the landing site (at least one kilometer from each other) +20

 

 

Edited April 21, 2020 by jinnantonix

[QF9E]

7 hours ago, jinnantonix said:

Here is my submission, lots of fun thanks @kspnerd122 for managing this.  I think this is worth maximum points, but let me know if you have any questions about detail.

Impressive! I especially liked your rover deployment mechanism and your MunSEP design - very clever to use a probe core with inbuilt reaction wheels so that they can move around by themselves. I also enjoyed your style of video editing, it tells the story of the mission very well.

Edited April 21, 2020 by QF9E

[Death Engineering]

First off, big thanks to @kspnerd122 for putting together this well thought out challenge. Any chance to play Apolly-style, sign me up!  Enjoyed playing with only visual mods for a change, not even MH.  Pure KSP parts 1.8.1 with Re-stock and visual mods.

Completed without reverting or F9'ing, but just couldn't string together enough time to complete the mission in one sitting. Video shows all point-scoring moments except LES which is obviously present but not engaged (in testing it did work).

Not quite max-points: 255 (including the base 50)  Breakdown --v

Spoiler

Completed Goals:

• The 3 Little Kerbals - 3 Kerbals on board the spacecraft (1 remaining in the CM, while the other 2 land on the Mun) +20
• A Flag on the Mun?! - Plant a flag on the Mun (Non-cumulative, 2 flags do not get 10 points) +5
• Mun Buggie - Have a Munar Roving vehicle (MRV) on board +15
• Abort! Abort! - Have a Launch Escape System on the top of the rocket +15
• Konked Out! - Kill a Kerbal -25 points per Kerbal
• Return for Free - Have a Free Return trajectory on the way to the Mun +10
• No More MEM! - Dispose of the MEM by crashing it into the Mun (without Kerbals inside of course!) +5
• Up, Up, and Away - Make the MEM two-stage, leaving the descent stage and its engine on the Munar Surface +20
• Look on the Bright Side! - Land on the bright side of the Mun +10
• Shut Away From The World - Put the MEM behind some sort of fairing +5
• Down Under - Put the MEM under the CSM during ascent +20
• Splashies! - Splash down in the ocean on Kerbin  +5
• MEM Hugger - Dock to the MEM using the CSM +10
• SubSat - Deploy a small sub-satellite before returning to Kerbin (Like the PFS sub-sats deployed during Apollo 15 and 16) + 10
• Minmalist! - Do it on Minmus -5
• No More Docking? - Decouple the docking port on the CM right before deploying parachutes +5
• Parachute Problems - Have 3 main chutes and 2 drogues on the CM +10
• Saturn-Alike - Make the launch vehicle (LV) resemble the Saturn V (S5)(Making History Saturn V Parts Does Not Count as this)(otherwise it becomes, to get more points you must spend your money)+10

Additional Goals

     Landing Accuracy

• Land within 50 m of the NAM +15

 

     I was roving on the Mun one day...

• Gone drivin' - Drive beyond 5 km of your lander + 15 

 

     Munar Scientific Experiments Package (MunSEP)

• Science Extravaganza - Deploy four MunSEPs at least one kilometer from the landing site (at least one kilometer from each other) +20

 

 

 

Edited April 21, 2020 by Death Engineering

[kspnerd122]

all who completed the challenge can use the badge

[QF9E]

4 hours ago, Death Engineering said:

First off, big thanks to @kspnerd122 for putting together this well thought out challenge. Any chance to play Apolly-style, sign me up!  Enjoyed playing with only visual mods for a change, not even MH.  Pure KSP parts 1.8.1 with Re-stock and visual mods.

Completed without reverting or F9'ing, but just couldn't string together enough time to complete the mission in one sitting. Video shows all point-scoring moments except LES which is obviously present but not engaged (in testing it did work).

Not quite max-points: 255

Excellent mission, and I am impressed that you managed to do a mission of this complexity without reverting. I very much liked how you just casually tossed out the MunSEPs while driving around, and your depiction of a bored command module pilot fooling around with the subsat.  I also really liked the visuals, restock sure looks pretty and the lander with the squared-off capsule looked badass.

[sevenperforce]

I was inspired by @QF9E's excellent re-creation of Apollo 15, complete with all the fancy bits and little-known configurations, so I decided to attempt to do the same with Apollo 17. My rocket is currently upwards of 300 parts and only getting bigger, which is now rather astounding. 

I've read almost the entire Saturn V User's Guide.

Some interesting facts I've learned in the past week that will be reflected...

• The iconic conical fairings on the base of the S-IC first stage were blown before retrorockets were fired. On Apollo 15 there were only 4 retrorockets on the S-IC and no ullage motors on the S-II interstage, as they determined that no propellant settling was needed. However, the low separation caused S-IC to blow up, so they added back the four missing retro motors, but still had no ullage motors for 16 and 17.
• The steering motor on the nose of the LES was deactivated for aborts which took place after pitchover.
• During nominal missions, an umbilical was retained between the Command Module and the LES so that they could trigger the abort motor if the jettison  motor failed to pull the LES and its fairing clear of the nose. This was never used.
• Rather than deploying experiment packages via rover, the crew of the Apollo 17 mission deployed five remotely-triggered explosive charges to be monitored by the seismic monitors that had already been laid down in previous missions. The mission deployed two experiments at the landing site: a gravimeter (that failed) and another seismic monitor. Their rover carried a gravimeter on board to take measurements as they buggied around. It also carried an electromagnetic emitter that was monitored by instruments on board the descent module to determine  the composition of lunar soil.
• There was only one reaction wheel on the Apollo 17 Saturn 5, in the sub-sat, and it was only activated after deployment.
• There were 12 RCS thrusters on the CM that never fired until SM jettison and then handled pitch and roll independently.
• Four of the 16 RCS thrusters on the SM were set to fire continuously to depletion after SM jettison to push it away from the CM.
• The LM had 16 RCS thrusters on the ascent stage that were used along with the descent engine during descent and landing, partially depleting the maneuvering tanks on the ascent stage.
• The S-IVB third stage had two solid ullage motors and 8 RCS engines, 6 of which were used for roll, pitch, and yaw and 2 of which fired continuously to keep propellants settled. 
• The S-IVB third stage had batteries, two solid-state antennae, and two hydrogen tank vents. After the CSM performed transposition, docking, and extraction of the LM, the S-IVB stage used RCS to point and then vented the hydrogen tanks to push it into a lunar impact. It impacted more shallowly than any other stage, at 55 degrees.
• The center engines on the first and second stages were fixed while the outer ones gimballed.

And much, much more!

Edited April 21, 2020 by sevenperforce

[kspnerd122]

I would like to know what engines you are using for stage 1

Also good use of fairings, however this abuse of fairings and use of visual mods makes the challenge tricky to judge as I do not know what is under the fairing and I do not know what engines were used

were they rhino engines or mastadons, if mastadons then sorry it will be disquallified for use of MH

[sevenperforce]

On 4/21/2020 at 4:35 PM, sevenperforce said:

I was inspired by @QF9E's excellent re-creation of Apollo 15, complete with all the fancy bits and little-known configurations, so I decided to attempt to do the same with Apollo 17. My rocket is currently upwards of 300 parts and only getting bigger, which is now rather astounding. 

591 parts and burgeoning.

[Lewie]

I play on console, how should I show proof that I did this challenge? I've already done it, but to my knowledge there's no way that I can prove it.