Sarnus 50 Kolonisation Mission

[jinnantonix]

Sarnus 50 Kolonization Mission

 

Overview

Based on the concept of the Jool 500 Kolonization Challenge , the missions objective is to take 50 kerbals to colonise all 5 of Sarnus's moons: Tekto, Slate, Eeloo, Ovok and Hale. The goal of this challenge is to create a self-sustaining civilization in the Sarnus system including satellite networks, resource gathering/transport, etc.  The mission goals are same as for Jool 500 with the following modifications:
 

• Bases and Outposts (1).  A minimum of 5 kerbals per moon, and a minimum total in the Sarnus system of 50 kerbals.  
• Rover and Planes (4).  Long Range transports are not required.  Instead the ability to visit all biomes in the system is required, but may be achieved with a single craft shared between moons.

 

Simulator

Kerbal Space Program v1.7.3 with Making History and Breaking Ground.  Game Mode:  Sandbox, Normal. 

Mods:

• USI-LS
• Kerbal Planetary Base System

• SpaceY Heavy Lifters
• NearFuture Electrical
• DeepFreeze 
• MechJeb 
• Kerbal Alarm Clock
• Minimum Ambient Lighting
• Outer Planets Mod

 

 

Craft

Scanners and relay satellites

Spoiler

Sarnus Relay:  1 x RA-100 relay in polar orbit capable of signal from Sarnus to Kerbin

Moon Relay:  2 x RA-2 relays in polar orbit capable of signal from each moon to the Sarnus relay

 

Moon Scanner:  1 x M700 scanner and RA-2 relay in polar orbit capable of signal from each moon to the Sarnus relay

 

 

Probe and scouting rover (dual purpose):  Includes 5 seats, and science scanner

Spoiler

Ion rover/probe:  Used on Hale and Ovok to survey for minerals and locate a landing zone, as a short range scouting rover  

 

Lightweight rover/probe:  Used on Eeloo, Tekto and Slate to survey for minerals and locate a landing zone, as a short range scouting rover 

 

Science module:  Used in conjunction with the rovers to collect science.

 

Bases:  Habitat supporting up to 20 kerbals

Spoiler

Base (20 Kerbals):  Used on fully self sustaining where ore and water is available, and able to produce excess supplies to be transported to remote colonies. 

Outpost (4 Kerbals): 

Base Orbital Station (10 Kerbals): Includes science lab

[image pending]

Outpost Orbital Station (1 Kerbal): 

 

Sarnus Space Station (and science lab)

 

Resource carriers:  Skycrane, Supply Carrier, Kerbal Carrier, and Nuclear Fuel Facility 

Spoiler

Skycrane:  Provides orbital and suborbital transport 

Supply Carrier:

Nuclear fuel generator and carrier (uranium and xenon)

 

Space Transport: 

Spoiler

Nuclear tug:  transports up to 180t payload from Kerbin to Sarnus also used for inter-moon transport

Shown here in a cluster of 4 units, refueling on Ovok

 

SuperLifter:  Lifts huge payloads to Kerbin orbit

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 26, 2020 by jinnantonix

[jinnantonix]

High Level Mission Schedule

• Transit A:  Satellites/network setup, deliver bases to a stable orbit.
• Transit B: Kolonists (50), Skycrane, surface probes and resource carriers

The aim of transit A is to establish reliable communications in the Sarnus system.  Scanners are used to identify the location of ore, and a suitable outpost location for ISRU refueling of the nuclear tugs.  The refueling outpost is aimed at either Hale or Ovok, the latter being favoured since it apparently has a smooth surface for easy landing and requires less dV to travel from the other moons.

Transit Vehicle A

Travels to the Sarnus system, and utilise a low Slate fly-by gravity assist to establish a Sarnus orbit.  The Sarnus relay satellite will be released to establish a distant polar orbit.  It is proposed then to enter the Tekto SOI and leave the main craft (payload) in highly elliptical orbit, with the nuclear tugs then searching for a refueling site and setting up relays.  

 

Transit Vehicle B

Transit Vehicle B will deliver Kerbals in a frozen state, along with a Skycrane to deliver bases and Kerbals to the surface of the moons.  The vehicle will enter the Sarnus system with a low Slate fly-by gravity capture.  Initially the mission will search for water and ore to establish a sustainable base, along with uranite ore to maintain nuclear power.  The search will utilise the Skycrane , along with suitable science equipment to find the ideal location(s) for the primary bases.  Two bases will be established, possibly at different locations to ensure the highest concentrations of resources.  30 Kerbals will be unfrozen to establish these bases.  The Sarnus space station will be established in orbit above these bases.

Once the primary bases and sustainability is established,  and supplies are being generated, the remaining kerbals will be thawed and outposts delivered to each of the moons (minimum 5 kerbals per moon), locating at a position of high ore concentration so that visiting ships can easily refuel.  A small space station will established at each moon, each thoroughly investigated, gathering science data, and sending it to the science laboratory at the Sarnus space station.

Supplies will be occasionally delivered to each outpost and space station using the Supply Carrier rover to maintain the system indefinitely.

If at any point the system fails, all kerbals can be frozen in the Cryo module, and returned to Kerbin orbit.  

  

Edited May 24, 2020 by jinnantonix

[jinnantonix]

On arrival in the Sarnus system, and completion of the Slate fly-by, it is discovered that Tekto is well outside the plane of the ecliptic, and so would require significant fuel to reach Tekto's SOI.  After the long journey from Kerbin, the transit vehicle is short of fuel so the plan is to reach a stable Sarnus orbit outside of Slate's orbit, requiring just 200 m/s of delta-V.    The main craft (payload) will be left in this orbit, with the nuclear tugs then searching for a refueling site and setting up relays.  

 

Edited April 28, 2020 by jinnantonix

[jinnantonix]

Ovok

Setting up the scanner and relays:  Scanner reports ore and water availability.  According to the Ovok wiki there are 3 biomes, 

• Macula Oblongata  
• Tasi Region
• Scarring

If water AND ore is available in reasonable quantity in one of these biomes, then Ovok may be a suitable site for sustainable habitation.  After landing the nuclear tugs in the area indicated by the M700 scanner, the resource scanner analysis reveals that biome Macular Oblongata has ore (10.16%) and water (7.38%), so is apparently an ideal location for both refueling and habitation.  Ovok orbit is also the ideal location for parking Transit Vehicle A as a distribution point for the relays. 

 

 

Edited April 28, 2020 by jinnantonix

[jinnantonix]

 

[jinnantonix]

Transit Vehicle A and B are now docked in orbit around Ovok.  A kerbal engineer has been thawed and has piloted the Skycrane to the proposed Ovok habitat landing zone to refuel, along with the nuclear tugs.  The first flag in the Sarnus system has been planted.

The consolidated transit vehicle in orbit around Ovok.

Edited May 1, 2020 by jinnantonix

[jinnantonix]

 

 

[jinnantonix]

Ready now to begin the kolonisation, with the first primary sustainable base with 15 kerbals is deployed on Ovok.  The supply carrier is filled with supplies, and the Skycrane delivers it to the orbital station, filling it  with supplies.  The mission is now ready to take kerbals to the other moons to set up outposts.

 

[jinnantonix]

Hale

Sending the first kolonists to Hale.  According to the Hale wiki, the gravity is very low, and the surface very uneven.  This would suggest that the main criteria for a landing area is not availability of resources, but a flat level surface.

Hale is so close to Ovok, the Skycrane has plenty of delta-V for transporting the craft  with 5 kerbals from Ovok to Hale.

 

Edited May 9, 2020 by jinnantonix

[jinnantonix]

 

[jinnantonix]

Eeloo

Wiki advises, Eeloo has a number of equatorial biomes that will need to be investigated for ore availability, and for a level surface for the colony to be established.  The transit vehicle will include a fully fueled Skycrane with science module and surface rover, along  and plenty of spare fuel in the nuclear tugs to allow several landings without the need for ISRU  before deciding on the best site.

Eeloo Transit vehicle

 

[jinnantonix]

Eeloo Science report:

First landing on Eeloo Midlands.  Low ore and no water.  Not suitable for a habitat site, so relanding in the nearby Ice Canyon - 10% ore, but no water.  Launch and head east along the equator.  After a few minutes, Highlands - again has 10% ore and no water, and terrain is hilly.  Partial refuel and continue to Lowlands.  Surveying at orbital speed from 3km altitude, Eeloo is very flat so no mountains to worry about.  The barren midlands continue forever, heavily cratered.  Babbage Patch landing on flat terrain, 3% ore and no water.  Fragipan, flat terrain but only 3% ore and 0% water.   Craters at 14% ore and 0% water, and surprisingly flat terrain.  Lowlands does not appear to occur at the equator, so settling on Craters for the landing zone.

According to the scanner, there is some water somewhere on Eeloo, although apparently not at an equatorial biome.  Can Eeloo support a sustainable base?  Maybe.  But apparently not at the equator.
 

 

Edited May 12, 2020 by jinnantonix

[jinnantonix]

 

[jinnantonix]

Slate:

Slate has several biomes around the equator, but unlike Eeloo has a relatively high gravity  and no atmosphere to assist with aerobraking.  This means that landing on the surface will consume large amounts of fuel.  A landing in a biome where there is no ore to use ISRU to produce fuel could strand the lander on the surface, unable to return to orbit, and be fatal to the mission objective.

The mission plan is as follows:

1. Passage from Ovok to Slate, with full liquid fuel, and enough oxidiser for two landings on Slate.
2. Release relays and scanner in high elliptical orbit. and deploy in polar orbit
3. Use the M700 scanner to determine which biomes are likely to have significant ore concentrations
4. Circularise in low Slate orbit (~35km altitude)
5. Use the resource scanner to identify biomes and the longitudes around the equator
6. Land at a likely biome ++ near the border of another biome.  This will allow a short hop to the other biome if it offers a better ore concentration.
7. Use the rover to find a level surface for the base landing zone, and provide LZ target.
8. Return Skycrane to orbit, collect outpost, refuel from the tugs suffucient for the landing
9. Land and deploy the outpost, refuel Skycrane and return to Ovok.

++ Note:  Land the Skycrane with no kerbals aboard, as a failure of this process strand the kerbal on the surface with no chance of rescue.

There is a nuclear tug on Ovok which can come to Slate to provide more fuel if necessary.

Edited May 14, 2020 by jinnantonix

[jinnantonix]

Slate (continued):

The M700 scanner indicates that Northern Sea and Gorgoroth Plateau appear to be the richest in ore.  A site is selected near the border of the two biomes.  During descent it becomes clear that the surface is very rugged, with the mountain and plateau regions being hilly and steep, offering few landing sites.  On final approach to the Northern Sea landing site, it becomes obvious that even here the surface is rough and cratered, and required two attempts at landing to find reasonably flat ground at the base of a crater.  After successful landing, an ore concentration of 12.5% is confirmed (more than adequate), and the rover is deployed to establish a flat and level outpost site.  Refueling without an engineer required 50 days, then launch and rendezvous with the outpost in orbit ready for landing.

Edited May 24, 2020 by jinnantonix

[jinnantonix]

 

Edited May 16, 2020 by jinnantonix

[jinnantonix]

Tekto:

This is the most fascinating moon in the Sarnus system, arguably in the whole Kerbol system.  According to the Tekto wiki it is a Titan analog, with a low surface gravity, but a very thick atmosphere.  Due to it's high inclination to the Sarnus ecliptic, it requires a high dV to reach from Ovok base, but this is offset by the aerobraking facility to reduce the dV for landing.  The mission therefore requires minimal oxidiser for the journey, just sufficient for a landing to verify resources. Like Slate, the M700 scanner results will be important to ensuring that the initial landing offers ore for ISRU refueling.  There is liquid on the surface, is there water too?  Could this be the site for a sustainable base?  There are 22 biomes , so plenty of potential choices.

 

[jinnantonix]

Tekto: (continued)

There is both water and ore at at least one biome at the equator.  Sending down the Science module to find a landing site.  Potential for sustainable habitation!

Spoiler

 

 

The landing site has been identified in the Silandro Region.  Best site for level surface appears to be on a peninsula the eastern side of the region, jutting out into the Silesko Sea.  Approximately Lat=0N, and Lon = 160E.   If this is too hilly, there is another site on an island on the western side of the region.

Edited May 24, 2020 by jinnantonix

[jinnantonix]

Tekto (continued):

A successful landing at the Silandro Peninsula site discovered ore, water and flat land for a perfect base.  5 kerbals are deployed, one in orbit and 4 on the surface in an outpost. 

The second nuclear tug on Ovok docks with the remaining base in orbit, and then with Ovok Space Station to thaw and transfer the last 15 kerbals.  The orbital station is deployed with a rotating habitat ring, and science laboratory for processing science as it is collected and returned from each of the moons.  The cryogenic module remains at Ovok Space Station available for an emergency evacuation to freeze the kerbals and return to Kerbin.

The tugs transport the kerbals and base to Tekto, and the Skycrane delivers them to the Silandro Peninsula site.  After deployment  a second sustainable base is established in the Sarnus system. 

The nuclear tugs return with the Skycrane to Ovok to refuel and ready for science collection and processing at Ovok Space Station.  

There are now 50 kerbals landed across the 5 moons of Sarnus, with 5 at Hale, 15 at Ovok, 5 at Eeloo, 5 at Slate and 20 at Tekto.  A kerbal occupies a space station in orbit around each of the 5 moons.  Supplies and nuclear fuel are being generated at Ovok Base, and can be easily transported to any of the remote outposts and orbital stations to resupply them.  There is now a fully sustainable colony in the Sarnus system. 

Mission Complete.  

Edited May 25, 2020 by jinnantonix

[jinnantonix]