Dr. Kerbal's Mission Logs

[Dr. Kerbal]

I will post all my missions that I did. Sorry if I don’t have any screenshots of craft files available. Alll time is on Kerbin time.

Luna:

Rover, Mun, Mission Duration: 33 years, Goal: Explore Mun and Recover Muna

Mission Log (below):

The mission of the small rover Luna started on a launch pad with a rocket capable of going to the Mun. The rocket has around 5,097 m/dv. Just a regular launch and then I burned for the Mun. I arrived at the Mun with a periapsis of 9.8 km. Got my self into a low Munar orbit. However I have a bad communications network around the Mun. So I had to wait 5 months to all the probes to align. Once the probes aligned I started the landing burn. I didn’t have long as the probes moved fast. After 10 minutes I was 4 meters above the surface when I lost communications. The craft feel and Boom! The landing equipment broke but the rover was fully fun cation all and in one piece. I explored the nearby craters and used the robotic scanner to scan some rocks. Soon I will drive the rover to Munar a rover that ends it’s mission when the solar panels broke. The rover is over 100 km away so it might take a while.

Status: Fully Functional, All Dqiupment is Safe, Landed on Mun, Mission is 68% complete, life expentancy: at least 30 years

Edited February 17, 2021 by Dr. Kerbal

[Spaceman.Spiff]

7 hours ago, Dr. Kerbal said:

So I had to wait 5 months to all the probes to align

Lol

it would have been faster to just launch a new comms network. 

[Dr. Kerbal]

ARelay:

Relay Probe, Satellite, Mission: 56 years

ARelay is a relay probe launched from Woomerang Launch site. The probe is quite small but is it a high elliptical orbit to communicate with probes on the Mun. Soon a large relay network will be placed around the Mun to ease communication with other probes, bases, and etcetra.

Status: Fully Functional, Mission 99.999% Complete, Relay Systems OK, Life Expectancy: 100 years 

 

[Dr. Kerbal]

Com Sat

relay Probe, Experimental Probe, LKO Relay Probe, Gravity Experiment Probe, Mission: Extended 20 years (before Hibernation: 10 years)

ComSat is a small relay probe meant to test and transmit science and reading about Kerbin's gravity from space.  Sadly though since the probe was made before solar panels were unlocked the probe only has a limited time. My estimate it will last ten years. However 4 years later I came back and set it to hibernation mode, this lets the probe preserve more energy and it transmits relay signals.  The estimate time now is 20 years. 

Status: Partially Operational, Relay Coms OK, Signal: OK, Power Status OK

[Dr. Kerbal]

Bubble Space Telescope

Telescope, Science Probe, Experiment Mission, Fuel Cell Experiment, Low Kerbin Orbit Probe, Relay Probe, Life Expectancy: 100 Years (Current 20 Years)

The Bubble Space Telescope is a probe that has a mission to test experiments from all sorts. However an astroid has a close encounter with the probe. I though the probe was safe but the astroid came too cloaks and the solar panels broke. The only source of fuel left is the Fuel Cells. They turn rocket fuel into energy. The probes life is now drastically limited due to the incident. When PC update 1.11 comes to console, I plan to repair the probe and attach solar panels so the probe can be fully operational.

Status: Partially Operational, Coms OK, Relay Coms OK, Power Status: Partially Okay (Solar Panels Status: Broken and Damaged)

[Vanamonde]

Since this is a report of missions you have done, the thread has been moved to Mission Reports. 

[Vagrant203]

One fun little trick I've learned is to include a relay with any drone exploration lander mission. Once you've reached your final orbit before landing, separate the relay and then begin deorbiting.

I keep the relay small and simple. All you need is a probe core, relay antenna, and solar power. A small battery would help too. The relay's probe core can be set to hibernate.

If you already have a rough network you can use the smallest simplest relay antenna to save mass and funds.

[Dr. Kerbal]

SSTO Caravan Dragons

SSTO, Plane, Test Flight, and Science

Today I have launched a MK2 SSTO into low Kerbin orbit. This is not the first time I’ve made an SSTo and made it to orbit however. Before I get to why I announced this I will tell you the beginning. First I made the SSTO. I launched from the run way and kept a rather high pitch. Just 10 meters or 0.01 kilometers from the end of the runway the plane swept up and it flew like an angel (I’m just tying to say it easy to fly). I kept a 43 degree pitch for about 4 kilometers and pitched to a 25 degree pitch. Keeping the pitch for a long time I gained speed up to 2,345 m/s just 45 km above  sea level. I had a very efficient gravity turn and I got it not orbit just using 2 nuclear engine aboard the plane. However since I launched in the evening the KSC was at night by the time I got into orbit. I had plan to land back at the KSC (being my first time).  After waiting 5 hours in orbit the KSC was faintly in some light and it was in the morning. I burned retrograde and entered the atmosphere. I kept a -9 degree pitch amazing at the KSC. Thank goodness the craft didn’t blow up. Looked like the Kraken let me survive. After keeping the angle for about until I reached 3,00 meters above sea level i realized I was going to fast. Pitching up and down I started to loose emended speed. However the landing would be awful. During rentry my allotment was off from the KSC. I could land on the runway. I had to fly around and make some really sharp turns. I almost hit the SPH. Oo. That gave me chills. However I finally pitched up to make a loop. I shutdown my engine and fell. I rotated the craft and reignited the engines and faced the runway. I had put the lights and gears on. Soon I finally touched the Runway surface with the wheels. Success! It was the first time ever I had landed on the Runway. I quickly braked and the mission ended. Woo. What a flight. Jebidiah and Bill were relieved. The long 6 hour mission ended. And I built and landed my first SSTO at the KSC.

Status: Fully Functional, Reusable, Not Broken, Crew Survived, Mission Succesful