Hatsunese Space Program - HASDA (Japan-like) | 1989-03-12 | Saki-09, first Phobos/Deimos landings

[Pipcard]

Phase 3 - 17

1986-01-06 - Watarimono-2 made its closest approach to Uranus (after having entered its sphere of influence on 1985-11-26), beating Voyager 2 by a few weeks even though this probe launched 2 years later. Uranus rotates on an axis tilted 97.8 degrees from its orbital plane, meaning that while the planet rotates every 17 hours, only one side of the planet faces the Sun for half of its 84-year orbital period. This also suggested that the planet was impacted by a large planetoid a long time ago. The featureless atmosphere was observed to have methane in addition to hydrogen and helium, and water, ammonia, and methane ices deeper within. Uranus had its own magnetic field and faint ring system. After the Uranus encounter, Watarimono-2 would continue onward to arrive at Neptune and its moon Triton in August 1989.

 

Spoiler

1986-04-06* - Houki encountered Halley's Comet, first observing the long tail of ionized gas and dust being blown away by the solar wind and photons, then passing as close as 540 km from the comet's rocky and icy nucleus. Targeting of the nucleus, which is surrounded by a fuzzy cloud known as the coma, was achieved by the Soviet Vega probes, which flew about 10000 km away. Data was shared with HASDA in an example of scientific cooperation between Cold War rivals. Houki was equipped with a Whipple shield to protect the spacecraft from dust as it flew by the nucleus at 65 km/s. The spacecraft was still struck by particles that sent it into a spin; some instruments were damaged, but the probe mostly survived. The European Giotto spacecraft would accomplish the same feat several days later.

[*Halley's Comet from the Real Expansion mod has a slightly inaccurate orbit, and the probe should have arrived on a day like 1986-03-09. This image has also been edited to add the coma.]

 

Edited November 22, 2021 by Pipcard

[Pipcard]

Phase 3 - 18

1986-04-27 - An M-2-34 rocket launched MELODI-2 (Mars Exploration with Lander-Orbiter Data Interactions), Hatsunia's second Mars lander. The orbiter also had enhanced instruments for observing the surface and atmosphere of Mars. This used the four-LRB variant of the M-2 as the launch window required an orbital inclination of 54.4 degrees instead of 26.6 degrees with an easterly launch from Negishima Space Center. The trip to Mars would take about 7 months.

Spoiler

1986-06-19 - Usagi-14, the second lunar rover of HASDA, launched on an M-2-30 rocket and landed in the sloped terrain of Maskelyne A (crater). southeast of the Sea of Tranquility, on June 22.

Spoiler

1986-09-20 - Saki-07 launched with Mizuko Rokuda, Tsunekazu Hosokawa, and Yayoi Mimura. They spent 21 days in low Earth orbit (until October 11), surpassing the Space Shuttle's capabilities to remain in orbit on its own. as HASDA prepared for even longer-term crewed missions supported by a small prepositioned space station derived from the Saki Expansion Module.

Spoiler

1986-12-01 - MELODI-2 inserted into an elliptical Martian orbit, before deploying the lander on the next day. It landed in Lycus Sulci, a ridged region northwest of Olympus Mons, the largest and tallest volcano in the Solar System.

Spoiler

[Vagrant203]

4 hours ago, Pipcard said:

a small prepositioned space station derived from the Saki Expansion Module.

Looking forward to seeing this!

[Pipcard]

Phase 4 - 01

Compared to its predecessor, the M-2A rocket featured stretched core stages and improved thrust (about 33%) and specific impulse for the upgraded LE-04A kerolox and LE-05A hydrolox engines. A fourth LE-02B kerolox engine was added to the second stage. This increased the maximum lift capacity to low Earth orbit to a range between 11 and 18 tonnes. The two-stage all-kerolox configuration could also launch sizeable satellites to geostationary transfer orbit with less need for the high-efficiency but expensive hydrolox third stage, which would be reserved for missions that needed the extra performance, such as space probes going beyond Earth orbit.

Hatsunese Rockets 1952-1987

1987-02-02 - The first launch of the M-2A carried the Neginohana-6 Engineering Test Satellite to a geostationary transfer orbit, which tested a large 4.2 tonne satellite bus with advanced communications arrays. The satellite inserted into geostationary orbit using the same engine used in the Saki Propulsion Module.

 

 

 

Liquid rocket booster separation with small solid motors

Four-engine second stage (the GTO burn used two engines)

Geostationary orbit insertion

(Infernal Robotics hinge used with folding antenna)

 

 

Edited December 1, 2021 by Pipcard

[Staticalliam7]

quick question, why is the crew capsule so thin and wide?

[Pipcard]

15 minutes ago, Staticalliam7 said:

quick question, why is the crew capsule so thin and wide?

It's supposed to reduce G-forces during re-entry.

[Staticalliam7]

9 hours ago, Pipcard said:

It's supposed to reduce G-forces during re-entry.

Huh, well that's interesting.

[BuranAce]

Neat! I'd be willing to invite you to a little discord server me, @Stormpilot and @Admiral Fluffy are running, hoping to see you there!

 

Edited December 1, 2021 by BuranAce

[BuranAce]

Oh i forgot, ill need your discord username + number so i can invite you, thanks!

[Pipcard]

Phase 4 - 02

1987-03-27 - An M-2A-20 rocket launched Kodama-1 (meaning "echo"), the first in the next-generation Data Relay and Tracking Satellite (DRTS) network, which was designed for communcations during long-duration crewed missions and other satellites needing high-data rate relays. Kodama-1 used a similar bus to the Neginohana-6 satellite, but with one larger X-band antenna (8-12 GHz) mounted on a deployable rotating arm, and one smaller S-band antenna (2-4 GHz). Two more satellites were planned for the upcoming years.

Spoiler

1987-06-30 - "Yume," Hatsunia's first space station, was launched on an M-2A-24 rocket with a widened 5.39-m diameter fairing. The name meant "a dream" or "a wish for the future." It was meant to be a prototype space station with an expected lifespan of a few years, similar in role to the Soviet Salyut program. Yume resembled two Saki Expansion Modules jammed together, with two pairs of solar arrays, several RCS propellant tanks, and two axial docking ports. With a mass of almost 16 tonnes, it was packed to the brim with experimental scientific and testing equipment as well as about two months worth of food, water, and oxygen. Unlike previous crewed missions which launched to a 26.6-degree orbit (the latitude of Negishima Space Center), Yume launched to a 39-degree orbit, 390 km above Earth. This orbit provided more visibility for Earth observations, and allowed for two launch windows each day: one launching southeast to the Pacific Ocean, and the other launching northeast tangentially to Hatsunia's eastern coasts, the most northerly trajectory without flying over populated areas.

Spoiler

1987-09-30 - Saki-08 launched to Yume station on a M-2-24 rocket, with Mahiro Morimoto, Kikuo Kanezawa, and Reina Himekawa. The transit to the station took over a day as the spacecraft waited to catch up in a faster, lower orbit before making the transfer and rendezvous maneuvers. Once within proximity of the station, Saki-08 was carefully positioned in front of one of Yume's docking ports using the RCS thrusters of the Saki Propulsion Module before initiating the final docking sequence. After Saki-08 and Yume were connected, the three astronauts would spend 39 days (the first crewed mission over 1 month long) studying experiments in materials sciences (including electronics, metals, and fluids) and and life sciences, with samples such as koi fish and frog eggs being brought on-board, and the health of the crew being regularly monitored. The crew also made repeated observations of the entire Hatsunese archipelago and other locations on Earth up to over 60 degrees north or south of the equator. On 1987-11-09 (11-10 Hatsunia local time), Saki-08 undocked from Yume station to splash down in the Hatsune Sea several hours later, but left the Expansion Module attached to test orbital assembly capabilities similar to the Soviet Mir station launched in the previous year. As a prototype, Yume was planned to be succeeded in the 1990s by a larger modular space station. Since crewed stays at the station doubled as assembly flights, and due to the repeated production of the Saki Expansion Module, HASDA would be able to construct such a station at a relatively low cost.

Spoiler

Rendezvous

After docking

Undocking while leaving Expansion Module attached

 

Edited December 17, 2021 by Pipcard

[Maria Sirona]

Awesome! 

[Vagrant203]

On 12/16/2021 at 1:58 AM, Pipcard said:

left the Expansion Module attached

 

On 12/16/2021 at 1:58 AM, Pipcard said:

succeeded in the 1990s by a larger modular space station. 

Sounds promising! Might I suggest a further evolution of the concept, adding a centrifuge section to spin up and provide pseudogravity to the living quarter modules? A crossbar section and an additional Saki expansion for counterbalance would do the trick, perhaps.

[Pipcard]

Phase 4 - 03

1988-04-02 - The Usagi-15 lunar rover was launched by an M-2-30 rocket, and landed three days later in Oceanus Procellarum, specifically over 200 kilometers south of Encke Crater.

Spoiler

1988-07-07 - Another M-2-30 rocket launched the MMD (Martian Moons Discoverer) spacecraft, otherwise known as PLANET-L. MMD was composed of two identical probes (MMD-P and MMD-D) that were attached to a propulsion module for Mars orbit insertion, which would take place over six months later in January 1989. After said maneuver, the probes would separate to rendezvous and land on the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos. The Soviet Phobos-1 and Phobos-2 probes would launch in the same week.

Spoiler

1988-07-23 - The first uncrewed Saki-C (Cargo) spacecraft was carried by a M-2A-22 rocket to autonomously dock with Space Station Yume on the next day. Saki-C did not have a crewed Core Module but had an Expansion Module coated with golden multi-layer insulation for passive thermal management [actually a procedural tank part in KSP], which could deliver up to 5-6 tonnes (almost a year's worth) of life support supplies, such as food, water, and oxygen.

Spoiler

 

Edited December 23, 2021 by Pipcard

[Pipcard]

Phase 4 - 04

1988-10-29 - Saki-09, with Fuyuki Sana, Kumiko Matsutani, and Motoko Katagami, launched to Space Station Yume and docked for 60 days before returning to Earth on 1988-12-29. Previous Saki missions were measured in days or weeks; now, they were beginning to last months with the help of the Saki-C cargo resupply vehicle.

Spoiler

1989-01-25 - The Martian Moons Discoverer (MMD) inserted into an elliptical orbit around Mars. It then jettisoned the propulsion module and split into the two almost identical probes, MMD-P and MMD-D. Both probes would perform several maneuvers to rendezvous with their respective targets (Phobos and Deimos), raising the periapsis, lowering the apoapsis, and changing the inclination to match the orbits of the moons. MMD-P arrived at Phobos on 1989-02-10, while MMD-D rendezvoused with Deimos on 1989-02-12 [KSP normally does not simulate n-body physics, but an actual orbit around Phobos would be unstable, so a "quasi-satellite orbit" would be used instead]. Both probes observed their moons for about a month before landing sites were selected. The moons had very low gravity: Phobos had 0.058% of Earth's gravitational acceleration; Deimos had 0.031%. This meant that small reaction control system thrusters could be used to land the spacecraft, like maneuvering and docking with a very large space station. MMD-P touched down on the Phobian surface on 1989-03-09; MMD-D landed on Deimos on 1989-03-12. Both moons have high levels of carbon, and are similar to C-type asteroids. Phobos has more craters than Deimos (including the large Stickney Crater), and many parallel grooves thought to be caused by impacts or tidal stressing.

(MMD orbital insertion)

Spoiler

(MMD-P to Phobos)

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(MMD-D to Deimos)

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Edited December 26, 2021 by Pipcard

[Maria Sirona]

49 minutes ago, Pipcard said:

KSP does not simulate n-body physics

Principia exists too, ya know

[Pipcard]

On 12/26/2021 at 12:48 AM, Maria Sirona said:

Principia exists too, ya know

Yeah, I know that and I meant normal KSP. My PC is already stressed enough, however.

Also, planning and managing missions would be much more complicated.

Edited January 1, 2022 by Pipcard