HA! First landing on Duna!

[stephensmat]

Today, for the first time, I put footprints on Duna. The ship is the one I mentioned yesterday. (The one that used to Be a Space Station. ) Took three cargo flights to fully reload up the fuel tanks, but I got there. I named her the Lewis, after the Commander of Mark Watney's mission. When I build an upgraded Mothership for a second flight, I think I'll call her the Waterman; after the hero in Ben Bova's Mars Trilogy.

Duna orbit. My next step, a Landing. The Lander has half a dozen experiments mounted on the underside, and I was able to collect results twice, once during descent, and once again after landing.

I saved a lot of Delta-V by barely using my engines for the landing. Parachutes did the job of straightening me out.

The trade off for that was, of course, that I had to trust to luck and Duna winds to find me a level landing spot. It wasn't perfect, but it was close enough. Better than I had on the Mun anyway.

You'll note that I left all the experiments I could on the surface. The Surveyor probe that I built a while ago is still orbiting Ike, and it has a transmitter powerful enough to relay everything from Duna to Kerbin.

I'm doing a little dance in my chair, because this is my first interplanetary flight in KSP. 

I made it back up to orbit and docked. I did a third loop with the experiments I had, and stored them in the advanced probe cores that are still on top of my three engines. I used the orbital boosters for a 'drive section' on the Lewis, and as a result, they still have Probe Cores mounted on top. A good place to store experiments as the data works its way through my ship's science lab; waiting for a top up. I currently have 610 Data stored in my Lab, ready to process into science, with enough solar and batteries to let it run around the clock.

I'm doing a little dance in my chair, because this is my first interplanetary flight in KSP.  My question is, do I leave the Lewis there, churning out science, and build something new at Kerbin, or do I bring it home, just to make sure I can? The Surveyor around Ike should keep those ground experiments transmitting for a while now. If I go back, then I'll cut the Lander loose, and just let it float around Duna until I return. I'm almost sure I have enough Delta-V to return to Kerbin orbit. (One question: Will the Lab still run the same numbers during a return flight?)

I was going to use the science to unlock mining/refuelling tech and build another module that I could take with me for the Lewis' next flight. But if I can send all the science, then I could build that module, send it to Duna, and have them dock. Start refuelling, and keep the mission going from here...

Edited May 1, 2022 by stephensmat

[Aerodynamic Kerbal]

Good job! One question:

How much Delta V do you have on the lander before the Trans-Kerbin-injection?

[stephensmat]

7 minutes ago, Aerodynamic Kerbal said:

Good job! One question:

How much Delta V do you have on the lander before the Trans-Kerbin-injection?

None. I emptied the tanks into my drive section before I detached. If you mean how much I had left upon docking, it was about 500 Delta-V, give or take. Waste not, want not.

[Aerodynamic Kerbal]

39 minutes ago, stephensmat said:

None. I emptied the tanks into my drive section before I detached. If you mean how much I had left upon docking, it was about 500 Delta-V, give or take. Waste not, want not.

SO are you on a course back?

[Vanamonde]

Congratulations.

[stephensmat]

8 hours ago, Aerodynamic Kerbal said:

SO are you on a course back?

I think I'm going to, but I haven't left yet. The return window is still 400 days away, and I'm transmitting science in blocks of 40. By the time she makes it back, I'll probably have an upgraded one ready, with the newly unlocked tech. This mission alone might be enough to open up the entire tech tree.

Thought I might add a few extra comms, and IR scanners, and refuel the Lewis to orbit Kerbol, watching for asteroids and such, let her live, unmanned, as a relay point for the rest of my game.