Kerbalism Is a Harsh Mistress [on hiatus]

[TotallyNotHuman]

Right, let's give this a go, shall we?

This mission report will chronicle the (mis)adventures of yours truly, a mediocre KSP player, and the stupid intrepid kerbs of my budding space program. I originally intended this post to be a one-shot Jool-5 with Kerbalism, but I figured I had better become semi-knowledgeable in its workings first, lest I send many kerbonauts to their inglorious deaths. Depending on how far I get I may actually attempt the Jool-5—but who knows. 

Modlist (1.9.1) can be found here.

Self-imposed rules:
Reverting and quickloading are only allowed in case of Kraken encounter.
HyperEdit is also allowed in such an event, but should be used if absolutely necessary.
Any kerbonaut losses due to Kerbalism malfunctions and/or operator error are final. Boo-freakin'-hoo.

With all that out of the way, let's get started!

 

Table of Contents

Spoiler

Project MinMun

Chapter 1 - this post
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Minmus Station

Chapter 4
Chapter 5

Project Athena

Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9

 

Chapter 1 - Project MinMun

Spoiler

 

I figured I would test the (turbulent) waters of Kerbalism with Project MinMun. Its mission profile is as simple as its namesake: landing a kerbonaut on Minmus and the Mün in one mission, and returning them safely to Kerbin.

MinMun uses the Kerbin orbit rendezvous methodology, which means the lander has to be launched unkerb'd before the CSM goes up (yay KCT).

The lander for MinMun 1 launches atop a simple 1.875m booster. This is actually the second launch—the first stage on the previous launch lacked the thrust to get up to altitude, and crashed into the ocean just off Failed Spaceplane Peninsula. This booster has been retrofitted with a sustainer with a little bit more oomph.

The first stage detaches about a minute into flight, and the upper stage burns towards orbit.

The upper stage inserts it into an equatorial 150km near-circular orbit, where it awaits the MinMun CSM to launch.

About 20 days after the lander launch, the CSM is rolled out to the pad and our valiant kerbonauts prepare to enter their home for the next forty-or-so days.

Pictured, left-to-right:
Lieutenant Clauory Kerman (Kerbin Engineering Corps), mission engineer and CSM pilot
Major Doodrick Kerman (Kerbin Air Service), mission commander and MML pilot

The crew access arm retracts and the duo is off!

After establishing a stable orbit, Clauory plots a periapsis kick burn to rendezvous with the lander.

In hindsight, the lander's upper stage should have performed the rendezvous burn, as this maneuver (and matching velocity with the lander) left the CSM's upper stage with insufficient Δv to perform the Trans-Minmar Injection. But the damage has already been done.

About an hour later, the CSM stack decelerates in preparation for docking.

Doodrick assumes remote control to bring the lander stack in…

…and our first failure of the mission occurs! Back home on Kerbin, Gene begins drafting a strongly worded letter to the engine manufacturer, as the engine was nowhere close to exhausting its rated number of ignitions.

Doodrick, of course, has no time for shenanigans. He instructs Clauory to suit up, and vents the CM in preparation for an EVA.

He jets towards the lander and boards it, then jettisons the derelict upper stage. Clauory holds the CSM still as he inches in to dock on the descent stage's RCS thrusters.

And…docked!

CLS unfortunately does not seem to want to transfer Doodrick back to the CM, despite the junior ports showing as "Passable" in the VAB. It's no trouble for Doodrick, though, as he opens the hatch to rejoin Clauory in the CM.

Once Mission Control started breathing again and greenlit Clauory and Doodrick for Trans-Minmar Injection, they punch in the maneuver.

The maneuver ensures both a Mün flyby and a free-return if the SM failed to inject into Minmar orbit. Unfortunately the CSM's upper stage does not have enough Δv to perform the burn, but Doodrick and Clauory decide to go ahead with TMI.

The upper stage detaches after exhausting its fuel, and the SM engine ignites.

As I expected, the maneuver did not proceed as planned because of staging and the SM's lower TWR.

Minmun 1 will fly by the Mün (and then return to Kerbin, but possibly destructively) but not Minmus, and the lander is configured such that they have to land on Minmus first. Mission Control gets to work plotting a midcourse correction.

Less than a day later, the CSM executes the midcourse correction, and Minmun 1 is Minmus bound!

That's all for now. I have some other work to take care of but Chapter 2 should be up soon. Stay tuned!

 

 

Edited June 15, 2020 by TotallyNotHuman
Hiatus due to RIS

[TotallyNotHuman]

Chapter 2

Spoiler

 

After the CSM-MML stack's decelerated into a low Minmus orbit, Doodrick exits the CM and prepares to board the MML.

While he's out and about, Clauory fills up the MML's monopropellant tank and supplies.

(This screenshot also isn't really lit properly, sorry about that.)

Around ten minutes after the deorbit burn, Doodrick lights the engine to decelerate.

It's not the smoothest landing, and the lander tips over, but turning right-side up with the landing gear and RCS thrusters is hardly a challenge in Minmus gravity.

After cleaning the snacks off the inside of his helmet, Doodrick exits the lander and plants a flag.

Mission directives don't include any details on the plaque text, so Doodrick blesses us with some wisdom.

(No, Doodrick, it's not literally to die for. I'd prefer to get you back to Kerbin.)

Having performed his duties, Doodrick re-enters the lander and launches for orbit.

Unfortunately, he miscalculated the direct rendezvous, and there isn't enough EC in the lander can to wait until the maneuver node.

His suit, however, consumes much less power than the ship's life-support system, so he decides to step out and "enjoy the view" a little bit.

He makes a mental note to yell at Gene once they're back in comm range.

(I sorely overestimated my rendezvous skills and underestimated the power draw of the lander. Score's now 2-0, Kerbalism, if anyone's keeping count.)

Doodrick performs a risky ingress on the night side, just before the maneuver node.

After burning to establish an intercept, he has to EVA for another hour or so. Unfortunately now his suit's charge is running low as well, so it'll be tight.

Clauory burns to match velocities with Doodrick and the lander, so he has more time to get back into the lander can without wasting precious monoprop.

Clauory: Solid lock on MML. You're cleared for CM ingress, Major.

Doodrick: Thanks, Lieutenant. What's SM fuel looking like?

Clauory: Not great—I've been running simulations while you were down there. SM has enough delta-v for interlunar transfer to Mün, but not enough to capture. Münar orbit rendezvous is also going to be tough, what with the MML not having a power source. It's your prerogative, sir, but I suggest we scrub the mission.

Doodrick: Good call. Let's transfer the lander's fuel into the SM's tanks and head home.

Having deorbited the lander, the duo burn for home.

A few days later, they finally re-establish contact with Mission Control through the medium-orbit commsats.

(This is also the result of me being a dingus. I took the HG-5 antenna, which only has a range of 20 Mm. Minmus is some 46 Mm away. )

Doodrick: Mission Control, this is MinMun 1 Actual. Come in, Mission Control.

Gene: MinMun 1, this is Mission Control. Good to hear you, but you're about twenty days early. What gives?

Clauory: CDR consulted me and made the executive decision to scrub. The lander doesn't have a power source and he had to EVA for about an hour while performing the Minmus orbit rendezvous. We also didn't have enough delta-v for interlunar transfer, so we disposed of the lander and burned home.

Gene: Understood, MinMun 1. We believe you made the correct decision here. We're tracking you on course for touchdown near the Desert Airfield, t minus five hours. How are you all doing?

Doodrick: We're all about ready to head home.

Gene: I bet you are. Sorry about the kinks, but we couldn't have ironed them out without you.

Right on schedule, the crew re-enter Kerbin's atmosphere and touch down after five hours.

 

While MinMun 1 wasn't a complete failure (it landed on Minmus at least) it did expose some severe flaws in the CSM and MML.

The CSM got another oxygen tank (for the fuel cell, since O₂ was running a little low by the time the end of the mission rolled around) and a DTS-M1 (50 Mm range) in lieu of the old antenna.

The MML was retrofitted with two fuel cells and H₂/O₂ tankage to supply it.

Clauory and Doodrick also received a whole slew of ribbons, and were promoted to Lieutenant Commander and Lieutenant Colonel, respectively, for their badSery.

Here ends Chapter 2. I'll be flying the MinMun 2 mission and taking copious (and better-lit) screenshots soon. Until next time!

 

 

Edited June 10, 2020 by TotallyNotHuman
Spoilerization

[KerballingSmasher]

Awww, this is cool so far! Plus, you returned your kerbals which makes the score 2-1, still in favor of Kerbalism though...

[TotallyNotHuman]

On 6/8/2020 at 11:41 AM, Kerballing (Got Dunked On) said:

Awww, this is cool so far! Plus, you returned your kerbals which makes the score 2-1, still in favor of Kerbalism though...

Hey, thanks! I think MinMun 2 will even the score though.

 

Chapter 3

Spoiler

 

Once the changes to the CSM/MML were effected, the VAB crew got to work and assembled the lander and its launch vehicle.

Nothing much to see here, really, just a nominal fairing sep with gratuitous RealPlume/AVP eye candy. Love those mods.

A few münths later, the CSM/LV stack is assembled and rolled out for a night launch.

Lieutenant Eriemone Kerman (right) is definitely not having a pre-launch freakout. Good thing Graberry can't hear her.

Engine lighting always makes a night launch better.

Speaking of things that happen at night…the rendezvous with the lander will happen in the shadow of Kerbin, so not a lot of pretty pictures from that.

The transfer stage burns for Minmus.

Not quite a free-return, but I'll take it. Engine redundancy for the win.

Look ma, comms beyond 20 Mm. Eriemone and Graberry can stay in contact now, but the lack of nitrogen for cabin pressure is a bit of an issue.

Graberry ditches the spent transfer stage after circularizing, while Eriemone prepares for the Minmus landing.

She begins burning as Kerbin sets below the hills of Minmus.

Eriemone sticks the landing and plants a flag.

]

Now that there's a fuel cell on the lower stage, Eriemone has all the time in the world to rendezvous with the CSM.

(Well, not really, but certainly more than Doodrick did.)

The lander brakes into a rendezvous with the CSM.

And docked! Unfortunately the lander docked so that its hatch is on the opposite side of the CM's hatch, so Eriemone has to do a little more work.

A wacky interlunar transfer courtesy of MechJeb. No free-return but again, it should be fine.

(Famous last words…)

Just over two münths later, Eriemone and Graberry brake into a bass-ackwards (164° inclination ) low Mün orbit.

Graberry: Lander is away. Good luck down there, CDR—you know the lander's not exactly been tested on the Mün.

Eriemone: Thanks, Lieutenant. I've a bit more faith in the eggheads, but I'll slap the fuzzy dice on the way down.

Eriemone begins her braking burn.

At this point I get a bit concerned. The engine's rated burn time is getting a bit low, but we're still a good two minutes from landing. Eriemone seemed oblivious, though.

In spite of all that, though, she guides the lander to a soft touchdown on the Münar surface, with 50 m/s of delta-v to spare. Take that, Kerbalism!

She checks on the descent stage engine and embellishes the plaque accordingly.

It's a bit difficult to launch to a direct rendezvous in an orbit as backwards as the CSM's, but Eriemone goes for it anyways, making sure to squeeze every bit of juice out of the fuel cells before detaching.

Graberry: Best possible intercept at DN is going to be two hours away.

Eriemone: One hour. That's how long my batteries will last, and don't even think about making me suit up for longer.

Graberry: Aye, ma'am, plotting a radial-out maneuver. How's forty-five minutes?

Eriemone: Better.

And docked with around ten minutes of EC to spare.

Having deorbited the lander, Graberry punches in the TKI burn and the crew is homeward bound.

About seven hours later, they detach the SM in preparation for re-entry.

Yay gratuitous explosions!

Chutes away.

Eriemone and Graberry slowly drift towards the deserts of Kerbin as Kerbol sets behind the mountains.

Have I mentioned how gorgeous AVP is?

 

MinMun 2 was a resounding success—surprisingly, pretty much nothing went wrong. Except for the perpetual nitrogen shortage, but we don't talk about that.

With the viability of 20+ day missions proven, the space program has set its sights on longer-term missions that will hopefully pave the way for interplanetary expeditions.

A Minmus surface base/orbital station will likely be the next step; while it's quite a ways from Kerbin should the need for a rescue mission ever arise, its forgiving gravity means that botched landings won't immediately consign the kerbonaut to their fate, as it would on the Mün.

(Also an overwhelming majority of kerbals voted in favor of a Minmus base because of the mint ice cream-esque view. I don't blame them.)

Here ends Chapter 3. Tune in Soon™ to check out the development of Minbase Alpha—hopefully.

 

 

Edited June 10, 2020 by TotallyNotHuman
Spoilerization

[KerballingSmasher]

2 landings? I think that's a 3-2 score.

[TotallyNotHuman]

12 hours ago, Kerballing (Got Dunked On) said:

2 landings? I think that's a 3-2 score.

Considering the descent stage engine had run out of burn time I think it might be closer to 3-3, but I might be a bit biased.

Also sorry that this chapter took so long—the editor  decided to eat half of my post. Oh well.

Chapter 4 - Minmus Station

Spoiler

After several liters of koffee and many long nights, the R&D team have finally produced designs for Minmus Station and its supporting equipment.

The MSEV is a bit of an interesting design. It runs on a monopropellant arcjet which power draw is provided by monopropellant fuel cells. Kind of cheaty if you ask me (especially since the monoprop cells aren't Kerbalism compliant ) but it is a lot more efficient than plain LFO or MP engines; efficiency and endurance is what we need out at Minmus. It should be able to land and get back up to the station eight times on one tank, though I haven't tested that out.

The MTV is, for lack of better words, a Hitchhiker can bolted onto a command pod and an elongated service module. Nothing much to see here, really.

Finally, the station itself. It houses a nominal crew of four and has provisions for seven years—which is a bit overkill but you never know. The airlock placement is a bit odd, in hindsight, since any craft docking there would come dangerously close to the solar panels. But the damage has been done.

The VAB crew are certainly being kept busy.

Thirty days later, Minmus Station is perched atop its horrifically inefficient lower stage.

Booster sep is nominal…

…and so is upper stage sep.

Kerbol lights the way as the station makes its trans-Minmus injection.

Eight days later, it's settled into a low Minmus orbit. Before the order is given to detach the upper stage, though, a Mission Control intern notices something odd.

Intern: Uhh, Flight? My readouts are showing that the station doesn't have a communications array.
Gene: What in the Kraken? Wernh, can you check the blueprint?
Wernher: Verdammt, I seem to have left out the antenna on the latest revision.
Gene: *facepalm* Got any ideas?
Wernher: I suppose the station crew could move the antenna from the transfer stage to the station. I will instruct the VAB crew to add a screwdriver to the Transportfahrzeug.
Gene: Do that.

Meanwhile, the MSEV began its voyage atop a SRB-augmented liquid core booster.

Nominal booster sep. Bluedog SRBs sure are pretty after they've burned out, even during a night launch.

Second stage ignition.

Fairings away, revealing the payload in all its glory.

Trans-Minmar injection started.

The initial trajectory was a bit rough, but a midcourse correction should put it enroute.

After the course correction, it's in a pretty good spot for a direct intercept, but it will be on the night side.

After timewarping to the day side, the lander moves in to dock…

…and docked!

The lander's transfer stage is jettisoned and burns for impact.

With the station somewhat operational and all supporting equipment present, the valiant first rotation of Minmus Station crew was given the go-ahead to launch on the MTV.

Our brave kerbs include two veterans and two greenhorns:
Cdr. Eriemone Kerman, MS-Expedition 1 CO, CDR of MinMun 2
Lt. Cdr. Clauory Kerman, MS-Expedition 1 XO, CMP of MinMun 1
Lt. Catald Kerman, qualified engineer
Lt. Leing Kerman, qualified scientist (and in fact the only scientist of Kerbonaut Group 1)

As well as Maj. Kirrigh Kerman and Maj. Sonsby Kerman acting as pilot/navigator for Expedition 1.

The gang is raring to go to space.

Gene: Major Sonsby, you are go for automated ascent.
Sonsby: *click* Yee-haw! Let's ride!

Kirrigh: Clean SRB sep, passing six klicks. Vehicle is supersonic, main engine performing nominally. How are the gees, ladies?
Eriemone: I've pulled more on a MinMun ascent. Keep your eyes on the prize, cowboy.
Sonsby: You heard the Commander.
Kirrigh: Yessir.

Sonsby: Flight, good MECO, nominal SMPS ignition.
Gene: Copy, nominal SMPS ignition. You are go for LKO insertion.
Sonsby: *whistles* dayum that's pretty.

He's right, you know.

Gene: Major, transmitting parameters trans-Minmar injection now. It's a bit of a wonky trajectory but it should get you there nonetheless, and it'll get you back if the SMPS fails to ignite for orbital injection.

Kirrigh: Copy that, Flight. Executing.

Sonsby: Flight, navigation computer's indicating negative on encounter. We may need a midcourse.
Gene: Tracking that as well. Transmitting that to you now.
Kirrigh: Flight, all due respect, you sure the navcom's rad-hardened?

Sonsby: That is a sight to behold.

Kirrigh: It's so…small.
Clauory: First time out this far, gents?

Six days later, Kirrigh fires up the SMPS to put them on an intercept course with Minmus Station.

The braking point is right on the edge of the terminator, with Kerbin and the Mün lurking behind the transport.

Sonsby fires up the docking cam in preparation for docking. Flying it entirely from IVA was probably the highlight of this mission.

And docked!

Eriemone: Thanks for the ride, gents.
Kirrigh: Our privilege, Commander.

(I timewarped to the day side for better lighting.)

Eriemone: How's it going, Commander?
Clauory: Just depressurized the airlock. This thing doesn't have a tether, but I should be fine.
Eriemone: I'll let Mission Control know when they send another module up. Be careful out there.
Clauory: Roger. Approaching station transfer stage now.

Clauory: I've got the antenna. Where shall I attach it?
Eriemone: Slap it on the back of the hab.
Clauory: Roger.

Clauory: Airlock is cycling. You're clear to detach transfer stage, Commander.
Eriemone: Roger.

Sonsby: Minmus Station, MTV. Requesting permission to depart.
Eriemone: Granted. Krakenspeed, gents.

Kirrigh: Flight, we've got a return trajectory plotted. Should have splashdown in t minus nine days.
Gene: Copy. You're go for TKI.

Sonsby: Whoof, that's a rough entry. I thought we'd be hitting two-and-a-half, maybe three tops.
Kirrigh: Yeah, that inflatable shield causes a lot of drag. We should be through the worst parts now.

Kirrigh: Chutes away!

Sonsby: And we're down. That was pretty smooth.

Meanwhile, back on Minmus Station, the crew have begun their activities. Lt. Leing decides to crawl down to the ventral cupola to take a look at Minmus.

Eriemone: Lieutenant, you alright down there?
Leing: It's beautiful.

Here ends Chapter 4, but we're not done with Minmus Station quite yet.

 

[TotallyNotHuman]

Chapter 5

Spoiler

Gene: What do you mean, the station doesn't have enough charge?
Eriemone: It does, Flight, just not enough to run the RDU and essential systems at the same time. You can't pause either, so we're going to need more batteries if you want us to measure the efficacy of the RDU.
Gene: Very well, I'll get the VAB crew on that.
Eriemone: Much appreciated Flight. Oh, and while you're at it, it'd be great if you could send up another screwdriver. Commander Clauory seems to have misplaced hers.
Gene: Noted, Commander.

I did indeed forget to put enough electric storage on Minmus Station, so it's getting its first extension well ahead of schedule. This module also includes an angle-snapped antenna, to replace the one that was filched from the transfer stage. Also thanks to CLS I can't just use inline batteries—gotta make sure it doesn't compromise the station's passability.

A couple of days later, it launches for Minmus.

Unfortunately it veered quite a bit during launch, wasting precious delta-v in the process. This would come back to haunt me once it was in orbit.

At least the SRB sep was nominal…

…and so was core stage sep.

Once it's in orbit I notice that the swerving cost me quite a bit more than expected. The module will have just over 200 m/s of delta-v to rendezvous with Minmus Station, but I go ahead with the transfer nonetheless.

Just over two meters per second shy of completing the intercept, not to mention the 40 m/s it needs to match at intercept. I begin to lose hope here, but then I remember the probe has plenty of monoprop for docking. The RCS should have enough delta-v to finish the job.

The RCS does end up working for the planar correction burn, but the flight computer refuses to execute the velocity matching burn because I shut off the main engine. I re-plot a set of maneuvers so that it intercepts Minmus Station on the near-side, where Mission Control can operate it directly, because apparently Minmus Station isn't capable of remote probe control.

Finally, the module makes its final approach to Minmus Station. There's some weirdness with the docking ports, so I right-click on the module's port and it says "Decouple Node" despite not being connected to anything.

I decouple it and this happens:

I suppose the port was connected to the transfer stage? In any case, the KIS container full of goodies is floating away, so Clauory quickly suits up.

She has to push the docking port towards the module, and initially overshoots quite a bit…

But she attaches it all the same. She makes another trip to the KIS container to grab the winch, which was also sent up.

Now the station has a rudimentary EVA tether.

Unfortunately at this point the transfer stage has drifted out of tether range, so the original plan of gluing the original antenna to it and then blowing it up using the K4 pack is out. The module was installed properly, which was the point of the launch, so all is well.

 

While the valiant crew of Minmus Station are being used as test subjects for testing the RDUs, the engineers on Kerbin have been hard at work as well…

 

[TotallyNotHuman]

Chapter 6 - Preparations for Duna

Spoiler

T-200d to Duna Transfer Window

Eriemone: So it takes about a hundred days per kerb for the RDU to completely treat any radiation exposure, but then again we haven't accumulated much of a dose.
Gene: Thanks, Commander. I'll pass that on to the eggheads. We'll be sending up a MTV to pick the crew up—some of you are going to have to start training in full gravity. You'll be briefed on that once you get back.
Eriemone: Understood. We'll be making preparations for departure.

Remember that Minmus Transfer Vehicle that's always on standby at the backup pad? It's being put to good use now, for a launch at the crack of dawn.
Lt Col Doodrick and Maj Ferzor are aboard, with the former getting back into action after psych leave by coaching the greenhorn pilot.

The MTV detaches the first stage and pushes into orbit.

Burning for Minmus.

The intercept is a bit off but that should be fine.

D-192d

The MTV brakes into orbit, the first of three burns which will put it on an intercept course with Minmus Station.

A few hours later, Doodrick and Ferzor complete the rendezvous and move in to dock.
Doodrick: Ahoy, ladies! Your ride home is here. Moving in to dock now.
Eriemone: Appreciate it, Colonel. Gene tell you anything about the mission?
Doodrick: No ma'am. Know as much about that as you do.

The crew of Minmus Station say their last goodbyes to the station, and board the MTV.

Without a probe core, the station is left adrift as the MTV undocks and pulls away on its RCS thrusters.

A few minutes later, they're burning for home. Thrust gravity is a bit weird for the crew of Minmus Station after about a year without it, but they're trained kerbonauts—they can handle it.

D-182d

Doodrick: Alright ladies, strap in. Re-entries with the inflatable's gonna be rough whichever way—I tried to minimize decel since you lot haven't been under gravity for a good while, but get ready to pull four-ish gees.
Clauory: You got it, Colonel.

Doodrick: Flight, we are splashed down with our VIPs in tow. Requesting recovery.
Gene: Copy, Colonel. Recovery crews are enroute; report to the briefing room upon arrival.

 

Later that day, KSC Briefing Room

"Ladies and gentlekerbs, I humbly present: the Longship Duna Exploration Vehicle."

"The Longship DEV is intended to be a reusable craft for transporting crews to and from Duna. It carries six years' worth of supplies for four interpid kerbonauts, as well as a state-of-the-art radiation detoxification unit that will keep the crew healthy on their way back to Kerbin. Its nuclear-thermal engines will be refurbished and its liquid fuel tanks will be refueled after every mission."

"Now, of course, this is merely an orbit-to-orbit transport. To truly discover the wonders of Duna, we will need a lander. That role shall be filled by the Olympus DDAV, or Duna Descent-Ascent Vehicle."

"The Olympus DDAV will transport three brave kerbonauts to the surface of Duna, and take them back to the Longship after their mission is complete."

"As we speak the Longship is being constructed, as is its Sarnus III booster that will take it, uncrewed, into orbit. Our crew will then launch, followed by the Olympus, and they shall be off on their journey."

"But now, I would like to introduce our crew for the Athena 1, the inaugural mission."

Lieutenant Colonel Doodrick Kerman, veteran of MinMun 1, shall be the commander of Athena 1.
Lieutenant Commander Graberry Kerman, veteran of MinMun 2, shall be the chief engineer of Athena 1.
Major Ferzor Kerman, qualified Air Service pilot, shall be the Longboat pilot of Athena 1.
Lieutenant Edgar Kerman, qualified engineer, shall be the junior engineer of Athena 1.

 

[TotallyNotHuman]

The Kraken decided to feast upon my persist so I had to redo the Longship launch (hence the delay). Good thing I had a fairly recent quicksave on hand.

Chapter 7

Spoiler

D-81d

The Longship lifts off from KSC atop its Sarnus III booster.

Some gratuitous explosions on the otherwise dark ascent as the upper stage melts the lower stage decoupler.

Once in orbit, the onboard probe core extends the solar arrays and begins pressurizing the artificial gravity arms.

 

D-67d

As the ELOTE (Extended Low Orbit TransportEr) stands upon the pad, two very special kerbals board the KSC's Krew Kesla and make their way to the Astronaut Complex.

Doodrick: Admiral Valentina? General Jebediah? To what do we owe this honor?
Val: Please, just Val will do. Why, we're here to send you off on your voyage, of course. You'll be the first kerbs to go interplanetary since we Orange Suits retired.
Doodrick: Yes, Adm—I mean Val. Sorry, it isn't every day a flag officer drives us to the pad.
Jeb: Well, the Krew Kesla's not just for you lot. What're you standing there for? The ELOTE won't be waiting forever.

Jeb and Val proceed to the CM while the crew of Athena 1 enter the Hitchhiker can.
Jeb: Flight, mind if I play some music on the way up? It's been a minute since I've launched.
Gene: *sigh* Sure, Jeb. You're at T minus 35 seconds.
Jeb: WOO!
*Highway Star starts playing*
Gene: Oh for the love of—

♪ Nobody gonna take my ship / I'm gonna race it to the sky ♫
♪ Nobody gonna take my ship / It's gonna break the speed of light ♫

♪ Ooooh, it's a killing machine / It's got everything ♫
♪ Like that Mainsail drive / All that thrust don't take nothing ♫

♪ I love it, I need it, I bleed it / Yeah it's a wild hurricane ♫
♪ Alright hold tight / I'm a highway star ♫

♪ Nobody gonna take my girl / I'm gonna keep her to the end ♫
♪ Nobody gonna have my girl / She stays close on every ben—
Gene: That's quite enough of that, Jeb. Focus on the orbital insertion and rendezvous, yeah?
Jeb: You're no fun, Gene.

Graberry: Dayum. Is that the Longship?
Val: Sure is, kiddo.
Doodrick: The Minmus Station crew won't be happy.

Jeb: Easy… easy…

Val: And we're docked! Hatches opening, don't forget your personal belongings.
Doodrick: Jeb, Val, I really do appreciate you ferrying us up here.
Jeb: Pleasure's ours. Bring that crew home safe, yeah?
Doodrick: Yessir.

Doodrick: Dayum, that is quite the commander's console.
Ferzor: Should take a look at nav, sir. I love my job already.

 

D-54d

Gene: Longship, this is Flight. How's she treating ya?
Doodrick: Flight, this is Longship actual. Gotta say, I've got more room here than my place back on Kerbin. Any chance I can move in for good?
Gene: Well, Colonel, you've gotta stay on your toes if you do. We're sending the Olympus up now.

Doodrick: I've got eyes, range about one hundred.

Doodrick: Easy does it…and docked!
Gene: Nicely done, Colonel. If you could point her retrograde, we'll jett and deorbit the transfer stage down here.
Doodrick: Copy, Flight.

 

[TotallyNotHuman]

Last chapter of the day is a bit of a short one.

Chapter 8

Spoiler

"Alright, Flight, talk to me. What're our options here?"

Gene transmitted the first flightplan to Doodrick. "Standard Hohmann transfer has you leaving just before the window opens, in approximately forty-nine days. About 237 days after that you'll perform a low flyby of Ike and finish the orbital capture on mains."

"Sounds good," Doodrick replied. "But I'm assuming we have a faster transfer?"

"Depends on your definition." Gene tapped a few keys on his console and transmitted the second flightplan. "With this one you can leave pretty much immediately, but you won't get an Ike flyby and you'll capture into a much more inclined orbit without doing a course correction burn. And you'll spend a few more days in transit, so you'll end up arriving a few days after than if you leave closer to the window."

"I'll talk with the crew, but I think we'll take the first flightplan, Flight."

 

D-6d

Doodrick: "Major, fire up the engines. All hands, prepare for acceleration."
Ferzor: "Aye, Colonel. Nukes one through six and center reporting green for go, sir."
Doodrick: "Engage when ready."

Ferzor: "Engaging."

Ferzor: "Engine shutdown. Navcom reads Duna intercept, tee minus two hundred forty days. We're probably going to need a midcourse, though."
Doodrick: "Plot that in and execute when ready."
Ferzor: "Aye, sir."

T+4d

Ferzor: "Colonel, I've got a seven meter-per-second correction that'll take us close to Ike and into a reasonably inclined trajectory about Duna."

Doodrick: "Go for it."

 

Commanding Officer's Log
Year 3, Day 308
LCOL Doodrick Kerman

It has been an arduous five days since we departed for the red planet Duna, but the crew have faced the newfound challenges with the resolve of true kerbonauts. I won't say whether Jeb or Val, those valiant legends of yesteryear, would be proud. They ought to find out for themselves.

The crew acted with reason during our first solar storm, even if we found out about it amid a continuously beeping "low charge" klaxon. I would say I'm only Kerbal, but the lives of three others are now at stake. Even if I am only Kerbal, I shall not fail them again.

We have about two hundred thirty days to go before we fly by Duna and Ike. The crew are, for the most part, in good spirits—the Interplanetary Relay has kept them in touch with Mission Control and their families. But not even the most reliable of comsats are able to guarantee 100% uptime in interplanetary space, much less around Duna. Soon we must face the reality of being out of contact with Kerbin regularly or for long periods of time.

 

[Corax]

Nice designs, and well presented, am definitely curious to see more.

I've used those landing legs before but can't remember the mod they come from. Could anybody please help refresh my memory?

Edited June 13, 2020 by Corax
shrinkage

[TotallyNotHuman]

14 hours ago, Corax said:

Nice designs, and well presented, am definitely curious to see more.

  Reveal hidden contents

I've used those landing legs before but can't remember the mod they come from. Could anybody please help refresh my memory?

Thanks! The landing legs are from Bluedog Design Bureau's "Dona" lander parts.

Chapter 9 will be up soon™.

[TotallyNotHuman]

Chapter 9

Spoiler

T+314d

The Longship and Olympus brake into a medium Duna orbit.

Unfortunately a solar storm has hit Kerbin, so Mission Control is unable to keep in contact and therefore clear them to land. This suits the crew just fine, though; they're in no particular rush to get down to the surface.

Besides, they get this view of Duna's atmosphere refracting Kerbol's light at the crack of dawn, turning it into an intriguing shade of cyan.

Once comms are re-established, Mission Control gives the go-ahead to detach the Olympus and land. However, a most peculiar bug has struck.

The linkage between the Longship and the Olympus seems to be in a state of quantum flux. They are still connected, but CLS refuses to let the crew transfer into the lander and I am unable to open the hatch on the ports. Doodrick decides to perform a brief EVA to redock the Olympus.

Doodrick: "Looks like the dock's working again, but the lander hasn't any fuel aboard. Nukes must've drained them. Can you start the pumps, Commander?"
Graberry: "With pleasure, Colonel. I'll start them and then join you aboard the lander."

Doodrick: "You have the conn, Major."

Ferzor: "I have the conn, sir. Good luck down there and Krakenspeed."

Doodrick: *whistles* "What a sight."

Atmospheric entry goes as expected and the drogues fly out.

Doodrick: "Radalt one klick, gear down, switching to automatic."

Final descent burn as Kerbol sets…

Doodrick: "Contact light, engines off. Olympus has landed. Longship - do you read?"

Of course, yet another solar storm hit Duna just as the surface crew landed, rendering contact between the lander and the mothership impossible. And after that was over Ike caused a solar eclipse, so the crew had to muck about within the confines of the ALCOR pod for two entire days before going ahead with surface ops. Talk about timing.

But it was well worth the wait.

As mission commander, Doodrick does the honors.

Graberry inspects the lander's engine cluster.

Looks like Edgar doesn't want to go back, but their supplies are running low. The Olympus wasn't designed for long-term surface ops, which is a bit of a shame, but it is the first mission after all.

With the crew aboard, Doodrick fires up the engines and heads for orbit.

Doodrick: "I'm reading malfunction on engine four, shutting off two to maintain thrust balance."
Graberry: "I did a full inspection of the engines before liftoff, what do you mean four's malfunctioning?"
Doodrick: "Sensors don't lie. T minus thirty to engine cutoff—you can check it out again then."

Graberry: "Alright, we should be back to normal. Thank the devs for duct tape."
Edgar: "Amen to that, Commander."

Doodrick: "Longship, this is Olympus. We have an intercept maneuver plotted and should be rendezvousing in about sixty-two minutes."
Ferzor: "Copy that, Colonel. Prepping the docking mechanism. It's good to hear you again."

Doodrick: "Detaching lander propulsion, moving in to dock."

Doodrick: "And we're docked. Shutting down lander controls."