The Third Moon of Kerbin

[RoninFrog]

 I've been thinking about the idea of redirecting a comet ever since 1.10 was released.  If a comet went over the KSC every half-hour and showered the whole place with star dust, how cool would that be?  Reading this thread, I finally decided it was time to find out.  I'm gonna try to put a comet into LKO.

Preliminary groundwork:

Spoiler

According to this thread, to find a comet, I will need to throw a whole bunch of Sentinel telescopes into an orbit lower than Kerbin's.  So I loaded 9 of them onto a rocket:

...and punched them out of Kerbin's SOI via direct ascent.

There go the probes!

Immediately, a comet was sighted.  A small, near-Kerbin comet with Ap near An.  Perfect!  Go sick 'em, Jeb!

Here is the liftoff of the mighty rocket.  7 Mammoths underneath a massive bundle of boosters and a bloated fairing.

Craft and comet.  This megalith-mover has 7 Rhinos, 4 drills, 7 ISRUs, 6 gargantuan Thermal Control Systems, and a whole menagerie of fuel cells.  Oh, and dozens of reaction wheels, because how else am I going to turn the thing?

This craft can really move without a comet strapped to the front.  The full TWR is about 3.  The burn out to nearly Jool's orbit lasted less than a minute.

Jeb and Bill drifted out into space for a couple years, and then it was time for the adjustment burn.

Now for another couple years of drifting back down to the intersect!

Oooh!  We're getting close!  That trail is absolutely huge.

There it is!  The great big hunk of ice!

Successfully grabbed!  Of course, there were some kraken problems, but spamming "Autostrut: Heaviest part" on everything did the trick!

90% ore, wow!  If only I could find the place this comet came from, all my ISRU dreams would come true!

Now to move this megalith...  The comet is now at Ap and An, and it's time for an inclination change!  The 7 Rhinos are at full blast, providing a whole 0.07 of a g!

The burn was divided up into four-and-a-half burn/refuel segments.  Here is the Cometron's burn almost finished up a just over a day later:

0.0° inclination!  We have proof-of-concept!

The big burn is next, over 1600 m/s.  I calculate it to last over the course of four days.

But I am not a kerbal, which means I do have to sleep!  So, "to be continued!"

Edited August 13, 2020 by RoninFrog
The pictures were "squooshy"

[SuperMiiBrother]

It’s working! My stupid idea is working!!!

[Guest]

Nice job with your mission so far!

[Ksp Slingshooter]

Did you name your craft "Halley Engine"? 

It is both a reference to the Halley's Comet and a reference to the game Planetary Annihilation Titans 

[RoninFrog]

The kraken is a pain.  Often times, exiting timewarp results in this:

After about half an hour of troubleshooting, I managed to eradicate the kraken via repositioning the craft and applying some more kraken deterrent, also known as "Autostrut: Heaviest part".  Commence the retroburn!

Oh ho!  That trajectory is changing radically!

Most humans would be terrified at the thought of a comet passing this close to Earth.  Fortunately, kerbals couldn't care less.

That trail is absolutely HUGE!  It's gonna completely cover Kerbin in debris.  My imagined half-hourly light sprinkling of stardust has become a deluge.

If kerbals interpret comets as supernatural signs as was common in the medieval world (e.g. Battle of Hastings), I can only imagine what they must think this one means.

116 m/s wasn't enough to capture, eh?  Bill, get some fuel in those tanks quick!

The Cometron has successfully achieved orbit!  Now for a whole bunch of Periapsis kicking.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.  Fourth round of Pe kicking, still plugging away.

Hmm.  That's funny, why isn't the ISRU array working?  Lemme see...      No...

[TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES, PLEASE STAND BY.]

 

 

A solution will be found shortly.  Probably something along the lines of "Moar Boosters".

[James M]

"You there, what are you doing?!"

"I uhh.. I'm preparing the cargo bay sir!"

"With what?"

"MOAR BOOSTERS"

"Great Kalypso! That's a lot of boosters! You plan to get those into orbit? HOW!?"

"MOAR BOOSTERS"

[SuperMiiBrother]

WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU’VE RUN OUT OF FUEL?! THIS MISSION IS TOO BIG TO FAIL! Send a rescue mission! Engage full panic mode! 

 

-presses red button-

ALL ENGINEERS TO POSITIONS, REPEAT ALL ENGINEERS TO EMERGENCY POSITIONS! ENGAGE PROTOCOL MAXIMUM BOOSTERS!

[Kerminator K-100]

14 hours ago, RoninFrog said:

If kerbals interpret comets as supernatural signs as was common in the medieval world (e.g. Battle of Hastings), I can only imagine what they must think this one means.

 

Probably that someone is going to add MOAR BOOSTERS!!! to something

Hey I was right!

[RoninFrog]

Okay folks, Operation More Boosters is here!

Don't worry, Jeb and Bill!  Help is on the way!  How many boosters are there?  Yes, there are!  The Sultan has 27 Saturn-V tanks and 50 Mammoths, and consumes 118 tons of fuel per second upon takeoff! 

The comet's blue ion trail lights up the entire night sky.  Awesome.

The Sultan has a crown!  I had to throttle down after 1000 m/s or else this would happen.

Orbital insertion burn on the second stage:

Burn for intercept:

Rendezvoused!  Good to see you again, rock!  Hmm.  I guess that is technically "undocking", Jeb.

The comet is just massive!  It makes the Sultan look like a tiny little thing!

Grabbed.  Boy oh boy, that is a really close dV margin!

Wow, I think the "G FORCE" gauge actually moved!

Circular and 2 m/s remaining!  Congratulations, everybody!  Kerbin now has a third moon!

Crew return:

Spoiler

The remains of the big pile of equipment known as the Cometron plunges through the atmosphere:

The final moment.  Bill and Jeb have bailed already, don't worry.

Fantastic screenshot of Bill and Jeb drifting serenely down toward the ocean.  The glow is the comet's trail, and the ion stream is hitting the Mun, turning it blue.

I've gotta save that last one somewhere.  Those kinds of screenshots only happen once in a blue moon. 

Epilogue (hey, I can't not be the first to land on the third moon of Kerbin!):

Spoiler

Valentina on the pad, ready to launch!

Yuck!  Those little SRB's really spew the exhaust!

Close to done burning for space:

The comet approaches...

"Landed"!  Too bad I can't plant a flag or take a surface sample.

"Ascent":

The reentry was surprisingly toasty for such a low orbit.  One of the landing legs nearly roasted off.

Another night landing.  Kerbin has never looked more alien.

 

[Guest]

And now the toxic chemicals of a comet can now be sprayed over kerbin.

On a serious side note well done sir!

[Guest]

Quick question @RoninFrog? How often was kraken. If too much then I am probably not going to try such a stunt

[Space Nerd]

You can take a comet sample with a Kerbal on EVA

[RoninFrog]

8 minutes ago, The Doodling Astronaut said:

How often was kraken.

Often.  Very often.  Exiting timewarp shreds the whole thing about 70% of the time.  Loading a quicksave shreds everything about 10% of the time.  Here is an example of a kraken log upon exiting timewarp:

Spoiler

It seems as though everything managed to collide with everything else at the same time.

The first picture in the second post is a typical example of what happens.

Additionally, if you don't autostrut almost everything to "Heaviest part", upon grabbing the whole thing will have siezures and pool-noodle itself into spaghetti.

Some more exotic krakens include claws flipping around backwards (do not try clicking release) and comets occasionally being unusually responsive to the slightest jet of engine exhaust.  Sometimes even the EVA thrusters can send the comet spinning wildly.

You should still go get a comet, though!  Here are the Cometron and Sultan craft files if you want them.

11 minutes ago, Space Nerd said:

You can take a comet sample with a Kerbal on EVA

Hmm.  The option didn't appear for me.

Spoiler

 

[Space Nerd]

2 hours ago, RoninFrog said:

Hmm.  The option didn't appear for me.

  Hide contents

 

Interesting, maybe you have to do it in solar orbit, because the wiki does show you can get a comet sample.

Edited August 15, 2020 by Space Nerd

[SuperMiiBrother]

Congratulations on making my stupid dream a reality! You did it exactly how I would have done it, nicely done!

[Kerminator K-100]

On 8/14/2020 at 8:58 PM, RoninFrog said:

"Ascent":

 

LOL

If you want to stay on the surface you should add a claw to the bottom of the lander.

Also is the view as cool as you thought it would be? Can you see the comet trail from the KSC?

[RoninFrog]

1 hour ago, Kerminator1000 said:

LOL

If you want to stay on the surface you should add a claw to the bottom of the lander.

Also is the view as cool as you thought it would be? Can you see the comet trail from the KSC?

The view certainly isn't what I was expecting; I'm not sure if it's better or worse.  The trail is a lot wider than I thought it would be, meaning that it is much, much more bigger and brighter during the night, but it is more spread out which makes it more of a faint cloud than a bright streak during the day.  It's more like living in a dust cloud than a sandblaster.  The blue ion does some pretty awesome things when it hits the Mun, and it also makes a cool blue ambience at night when the KSC is in its path.  The only real downside is that the trail pretty much destroys my framerate when the comet is close.  

Edited August 18, 2020 by RoninFrog

[Kerminator K-100]

11 minutes ago, RoninFrog said:

The view certainly isn't what I was expecting; I'm not sure if it's better or worse.  The trail is a lot wider than I thought it would be, meaning that it is much, much more bigger and brighter during the night, but it is more spread out which makes it more of a faint cloud than a bright streak during the day.  It's more like living in a dust cloud than a sandblaster.

Hmmm... not quite as cool as I had pictured

12 minutes ago, RoninFrog said:

The blue ion does some pretty awesome things when it hits the Mun, and it also makes a cool blue ambiance at night when the KSC is in its path

I saw your pictures from before with the mun and the back lit mountains and those did look pretty cool

12 minutes ago, RoninFrog said:

The only real downside is that the trail pretty much destroys my framerate when the comet is close.

RIP @RoninFrog's computer

[Krazy1]

@RoninFrog Well done, but you have crushed my booster ego. Reading about your first rocket, I was thinking "7 Rhinos is good but my Kisyphus (link) has 8 Rhinos and way more fuel. I win." But then you come back with 9 of the freakin 5m boosters and over 500k LFO.   I dream of having my own pet comet some day. I'll get medieval with TweakScale.   

It's too bad the Kraken got you. I didn't have any problem with that on Kisyphus so far, but that's pushing an asteroid not a comet. I didn't use autostruts. 

[RoninFrog]

7 hours ago, Krazy1 said:

@RoninFrog Well done, but you have crushed my booster ego. Reading about your first rocket, I was thinking "7 Rhinos is good but my Kisyphus (link) has 8 Rhinos and way more fuel. I win." But then you come back with 9 of the freakin 5m boosters and over 500k LFO.   I dream of having my own pet comet some day. I'll get medieval with TweakScale.   

It's too bad the Kraken got you. I didn't have any problem with that on Kisyphus so far, but that's pushing an asteroid not a comet. I didn't use autostruts. 

For a mining ship, it's better to go with smaller fuel tanks since the mass of the comet doesn't decrease when mining it.  It gives slightly more dV and TWR, but with the downside that it has to refuel more often.

...but when using brute force on a 0% ore comet, just go all out. 

[cubinator]

That is fantastic. I would personally go with a slightly higher orbit myself, to see the tail structure better, but you've done an amazing job. I wonder what it looks like to stand on the Mun in the middle of the ion stream?  

[RoninFrog]

7 hours ago, cubinator said:

That is fantastic. I would personally go with a slightly higher orbit myself, to see the tail structure better, but you've done an amazing job. I wonder what it looks like to stand on the Mun in the middle of the ion stream?  

It's actually not as exciting as it looks from Kerbin.  The sky is definitely blue, but the ion stream doesn't have much of an effect on the color of the ground.

The dust clouds are noticeable and move rapidly across the surface, but don't look as thick on the surface as they look from space.

The EVA report, however, is apt. 

[Krazy1]

On 8/21/2020 at 8:19 AM, RoninFrog said:

For a mining ship, it's better to go with smaller fuel tanks since the mass of the comet doesn't decrease when mining it.

Asteroids do reduce mass as you mine them. I mean the total mass of ore lost and fuel gained is constant, but after mining an asteroid and undocking, the roid will have less mass. Are comets different? 

[RoninFrog]

11 hours ago, Krazy1 said:

Are comets different?

Yeah. When I first got the comet it was 10.4 kilotons,

Spoiler

and when I finally put it in LKO at 0% ore, it was still 10.4 kilotons.

Spoiler

 

[The Dressian Exploder]

Now do it with Dres.