JNSQ + Kerbalism: A Crewed Exploration Career Playthrough (Cinematic Series)

[cxg2827]

Introduction
I have owned KSP since v0.18 but never really sent crew past Minmus. I am not a fan of "tin can exploration" where the crew stays in a command capsule for months on end. So when Kerbalism came out it ticked off many boxes for game features the stock did not have, including life support, part failures, and crew stress. Coupled with Nertea's suite of Mods, it is a lot easier to make aesthetically pleasing crewed crafts.
The JNSQ system's scale also feels a bit better for me, as the rockets are better proportioned and the increased challenge for reaching planets.

I originally cut my teeth on Kerbalism and JNSQ on an earlier playthrough with BDB exploring some of the inner system (Duna, Ike, Dres, Gilly), but I wanted to try a fresh restart and attempt to design unique launch vehicles using restock/restock plus

This mission report will solely focus on the crewed exploration aspect with detailing  on the design approach for the mission architectures. The first few posts will be a bit retrospective as I have already completed the missions for the inner system.

Career Goals and Mission Parameters

• This mission report begins after the Mun and Minmus have been mostly explored, and the tech tree has been unlocked enough to commit to a Duna/Ike mission
• Primary goal is to land a team of Kerbals on every body in the solar system and return to Kerbin.
• Science collection is factored into mission architecture for the inner system to maximize return and tech tree unlock, but will likely scale back for the outer system as the tech tree becomes complete
• Missions will be structured to explore all moons within the respective sphere of influence during the trip.
• Minimum crew of 3  for ground operations on planets/moons
• Jool and Lindor missions will be crewed by 6, and Nara will be a crew of 12
• Cinematics are filmed from my career save without the use of quick save, so there will be bad landings and screwed up burns that require intervention to save the crew/mission.

Game Settings and Self-Imposed Rules

• "Revert Flight" is disabled. 
• Quicksave limited use for kraken attacks and "final descent simulation" for atmospheric bodies.
• Difficulty is a blend of Medium, Kerbalism obviously, and a modified Probes Before Crew install that scales back science returns.
• Pre-requisite of probe missions to all bodies to unlock K.R.A.S.H simulation tool for designing landers.
• Eve, Duna, Laythe, and Nara will require a  pre-requisite probe to land on the surface and collect atmospheric Science.

Mod List
Full List in the spoiler but I am highlighting a few for major features that drive the mission designs:

• Kerbalism: Radiation, Life Support, Part Reliability, etc.
• Cryo Engines/Tanks: Cryogenic fuel and engines. Boil-off needs to be factored into designs
• Mandatory RCS: no more overpowered reaction wheels, RCS now a bit more important for maneuvering
   

Spoiler

Benjee10_MMSEV

CommunityResourcePack

CommunityTechTree

CrewRandR

CryoEngines

CryoEnginesRestock

CryoTanks Custom

CustomBarnKit

CustomPreLaunchChecks

DecayingRTGs

DeployableEngines

DistantObject

DynamicBatteryStorage

EarnYourStripes

EnvironmentalVisualEnhancements

EveEngines

FlightTracker

Fox's Profiles

HabTechProps

HeatControl

JavelinEngine

JNSQ

X2Antenna

KerbalAtomics

KerbalConstructionTime

Kerbalism

KerbalismConfig

KerbalKonstructs

KerbalReusabilityExpansion

Kopernicus

KRASH

Kronometer

KSPCommunityFixes

KSPRescueContractFix

MagiCore

MandatoryRCS

MechJeb2

ModularFlightIntegrator

NearFutureConstruction

NearFutureElectrical

NearFutureExploration

NearFutureLaunchVehicles

NearFutureProps

NearFuturePropulsion

NearFutureSolar

NearFutureSpacecraft

Nereid

NRAP

OSSNTR

PhotonCorp

PlanetShine

PreciseNode

ProbesBeforeCrew

RationalResources

RationalResourcesKerbalism

ReStock

ReStockPlus

RestockRigidLegs

SCANsat scatterer

ScienceParamModifier

SpaceTuxLibrary

Squad

SquadExpansion

StationPartsExpansionRedux

StationPartsExpansionReduxIVAs

Strategia

SystemHeat

SystemHeatConverters

SystemHeatFissionEngines

SystemHeatFissionReactors

SystemHeatHarvesters

SystemHeatIonEngines

TrackingStationEvolved

TriggerTech

TUFX

Waterfall

WaterfallRestock

Prologue: Minmus
Editing of the videos improves as the series will progress, but here the first video of a Minmus mission. The video gives a brief glimpse of how kerbalism changes the gameplay. Future videos will have more of a cinematic feel with less of the HUD in many of the clips.

 

[cxg2827]

Mission Planning: Duna and Ike
At this stage of the career, there is roughly 1.5 million funds available for spending and a majority of 3.75m diameter parts unlocked. LH2/Ox Cryogenic propulsion was chosen for the transfer vehicles, as nuclear on LH2 alone would need much more tanks to get similar delta-v. This also meant that there was much less LH2 to worry about for cryo cooling, so batteries and solar panels were enough to prevent boiloff and recharging of batteries from nightside use. The total mission cost is ~1,050,000, allowing a comfortable margin in the event of 2-3 failed launches. I recall one of the launches actually did fail midway through the ascent when a core stage engine failed, putting the craft into an uncontrollable  spin.

 

High Elliptical Orbit Staging
I wanted to try an idea out that would help keep the craft size down.  Using Mechjeb transfer planner, I plotted a transfer for a Duna which required 1,815m/s delta-v. Afterwards I deleted the node and placed a new one in the same location to be executed on the next orbit with a 1,200m/s delta-v burn.  This way, on the date the transfer window opens, only an additional 615m/s delta-v will be needed to intercept. With the craft in High Elliptical Orbit (HEO) It can be re-fueled. On the return leg, similar can be performed to minimize the capture requirements. Overall 2,400m/s of Delta V can be shaved from the craft design .

Spoiler

 

Mission Design
The mission will utilize 4 vehicles:

• Crew Transfer Vehicle (CTV)
  • Habitation and Laboratory.  Mystery Goo, Materials Bay, "Porthole" Observation Window, and "Oculus" Remote Telescope included to farm science in Sun, Duna, and Ike Space.  There is a Radiation Detoxification Unit (RDU) in one of the modules with space to cure a single kerbal.
  • Command module will dock to the CTV and act as additional livable space, and a lifeboat in the event that the CTV cannot capture in Kerbin orbit. This contingency will allow the crew to return safely while the CTV is ejected back to a solar orbit.
  • Supplies to sustain crew of 3 for 4 years, 294 days

Spoiler

 

• Duna Ascent Vehicle (DAV)
  • Single stage craft that will act as habitation and return vehicle. Mystery Goo and Materials Bay  for surface science.
  • Solar cells for daytime recharging of battery banks, and a backup fuel cell.
  • Supplies to sustain crew of 308 days

Spoiler

 

• Duna Mobile Habitat
  • Rover to allow greater range of surface exploration, and more science from crew reports, EVA reports, and surface samples.
  • Redundant pair of solar cells, in addition to redundant pair of fuel cells for nighttime power
  • a pair of landing gear to help flip the rover back upright in the event of a rollover (tip assist!)
  • Supplies to sustain crew of 3 for 19 days

Spoiler

 

• Ike Lander
  • Reusing a majority of the design of the mobile habitat, this is fitted with LF/OX tanks, twitch engines, and RCS on booms for better control.
  • Supplies to sustain crew of 3 for 10 days

Spoiler

Orbital Assembly
A total of 13 Launches were performed using the following vehicles. The fully fueled tank segments of the crew and lander transfer vehicles were between 44-55t, so those were required to be launched partially fueled. The DAV was also required to be launched partially fueled.

• Pegasus V 
  • Inspiration taken from the Ares V/SLS and shrunk down to a 3.75m form factor
  • 32.5t payload capacity to 130km orbit
  • Launches:
    • Propulsion Module - CTV
    • Inline Tank - CTV
    • Propulsion Module - DAV
    • Inline Tank - DAV
    • DAV

Spoiler

 

• Pegasus V XLUS
  • Extended Length Upper Stage variant
  • Upper stage has more delta-v for smaller payloads, allowing the stage to be used for planetary transfers and captures
  • Launches:
    • Habitat Module - CTV
      • Rendezvous with Transfer stage in HEO
    • Ike Lander
      • Direct Launch to Ike
    • Duna Mobile Habitat
      • Direct Launch to Duna

Spoiler

 

• Pegasus V - Tanker 
  • LH2/OX Tanker
  • 3 Launches

Spoiler

 

• Pegasus I - Tanker 
  • Inspiration taken from the Ares I, but using a LF/OX first stage instead of an SRB
  • 2 Launches for DAV top-off
    • LF/OX
    • Monoprop

Spoiler

 

 

Orbital Assembly Video

 

 

[cxg2827]

Duna and Ike Departure
Crew Roster: 

• Asmund (Pilot)
• Bill (Engineer)
• Bob (Scientist)

It is Year 10, Day 125. The crew take off on a Pegasus I and perform a rendezvous with the Duna-CTV in HEO. The command module has ~1,400m/s delta- V once in orbit, so rendezvous can be done fairly easily. A 610m/s periapsis kick is performed for the ejection to Duna.  The DAV departs shortly after leaving, from a 130km circular orbit.  They will both transit interplanetary space for 246 days before entering Duna's SOI.

 

Ike Mission
Once the CTV enters Duna's SOI, a capture maneuver is plotted that also creates an Ike intercept. This way 620m/s Delta-V is conserved compared to circularizing and completing the Duna segment first. The CTV then captures at Ike and rendezvous with the  Ike lander, which remotely docks with one of the open docking ports on the CTV. The crew transfers to the lander, and depart for the surface.

Year 11, Day 32. Mission time of 271 days, and the first steps are taken on Ike. Surface samples are obtained from 2 biomes, mystery goo and ionographer ground experiments are deployed. The crew stays for a few days before returning to the CTV in orbit and burn for Duna.

Spoiler

 

Duna Mission
the CTV performs a rendezvous with the DAV,  which has captured in a 100km orbit several days earlier. The DAV undocks from the transfer stage and remotely docks to the CTV. 

Spoiler

 

After several orbits, the landing sight of the Mobile Habitat is in daylight and the Crew disembarks on the DAV. At this stage of the game, I have not installed the Trajectories mod, so previously a simulation in KRASH was performed to estimate the de-orbit burn to place the DAV close to the Mobile Habitat. The landing was sub-optimal as the burn was throttled back briefly after parachutes deployed. Throttle was restored to full and saved the landing, but touching the ground at 8m/s was too rough for the lander without any legs to cushion the impact and caused 2 of the airbrakes to get destroyed. Thankfully these are only needed for the descent

Year 11, Day 118. Mission time of 357 days, and the first steps are taken on Duna.

Spoiler

 

Insufficient Photovoltaics
During the first night on the surface a planning error has caused the batteries to not operate for the full duration at night, and required systems to be shutdown for a 3 hour period before the next sunrise. What was found is that the Kerbalism planning tool showed 0.228ec/s used for all systems (scrubber, climatization, pressure control, comms, etc). However, what I missed was that the values was specific for when the craft was in daylight, and that the climatization power increased dramatically on the nightside due to colder conditions. The Kerbalism planner tool showed a power draw of 0.58ec/s in the shadows which estimated the battery runtime to about 4 hours. 7-8 hours or nighttime battery use is needed to sustain the mission, so now the original plan for a  300 day surface mission was now compromised.  H2+O2 fuel cells were not designed into the DAV, so the only option was to complete the remainder of the stay  via the Mobile Habitat.

Spoiler

 

Mobile Expedition
The Mobile Habitat Bon Voyage controller is activated to autonomously drive to the DAV landing site. This is monitored closely and changed to be manually driven back for the last 5 kilometers. With Bon Voyage, if you were to let the craft drive all the way to the target, there is a good chance that the craft will spawn inside the target and destroy both. The crew all transfers to the Mobile Habitat and spent several days driving across several biomes, with the plan to drive into the Trenches biome 200km away. As the crew approached the edge of the trenches, the terrain and steep conditions for driving seemed too risky to traverse and instead they turned back and returned to the DAV. In total 4 biomes were explored (Lowlands, Midlands, Craters, Highlands) with the farthest flag planted 160km from the landing site.

Spoiler

 

Duna Departure
With all samples and data transferred to the DAV, it ascends and returns to the CTV. They will remain in orbit for close to a year for the transfer window to open on Year 12, Day 100. During this time the samples will be analyzed in the CTV laboratory and transmitted back to Kerbin.

Spoiler

 

Return to Kerbin
With the Window to return to Kerbin now open, both the Lander Transfer Vehicle and the CTV perform burns for the return.  Year 13, day 1 the CTV enters Kerbin SOI and performs a capture into an elliptical orbit. The crew departs on the Command Module near the apoapsis and execute a small burn for re-entry.

Year 13, day 7. Mission time of 2 Years, 272 days the Crew safely land back on Kerbin.

Spoiler

 

Financial and Scientific Results
After completing the various contracts, the Space Program now has ~4.5million funds. Science obtained during this mission was enough to unlock a majority of tech for 5m rockets, and advancements in both the Nuclear power and propulsion branches, as well as Ion Propulsion . A new series of 5m Lifters are now in development.

 

Duna and Ike Mission Video

 

[AlSlea]

I just wanted to say I'm a massive fan of this series. If it weren't for these videos, I'd have given up on JNSQ/Kerbalism, rather than just put it on pause for a bit. Looking forward to a full Grand Tour!

[cxg2827]

7 hours ago, AlSlea said:

I just wanted to say I'm a massive fan of this series. If it weren't for these videos, I'd have given up on JNSQ/Kerbalism, rather than just put it on pause for a bit. Looking forward to a full Grand Tour!

Glad to hear you are enjoying it. It can definitely be a bit challenging at times, and I even had to take breaks from the game between missions.

 

The Jool V mission currently being designed, although not requiring extreme lander designs like Eve, is proving a bit difficult due to Vall and Laythe orbiting inside the  radiation belt. Even with full shielding  a kerbal cannot survive more than 3 days and 6 hours. I've finally figured out a way to still land on these moons and keep the crew alive so crisis temporarily averted.

[AlSlea]

I was thinking that a lander for the inner Jool moons would have to be completely covered in fuel tanks or something to let the crew live long enough to land, plant a flag (Maybe a robotic hinge to allow for that?) and get out. But that might depend on what level of difficulty you run. For me, Earth's radiation rings are more than dangerous enough, and those RDUs haven't been as helpful as I hoped.

[cxg2827]

Mission Planning: Edna and Dak
With a new 5m lifter developed, constructing the mission to Edna will require fewer launches and orbital assembling. The original thought was to reuse the Duna Transfer Vehicles and insert inline drop tanks, however the retrofit would have required a total of  10 launches, 4 of which needing HEO rendezvous for replenishing 4 drop tanks used to boost to that staging orbit. Canceled design in spoiler below:

Spoiler

 

 

Mission Design
The new direction for the crew transfer vehicle was to design a craft utilizing nuclear thermal  propulsion. The design will still boost to the 1,200m/s Delta-V staging orbit, but would not need to refuel. The first stage has 1,390m/s delta V before the crew boards and docks the capsule, so the saddle tanks will not be jettisoned until the departure burn occurs. When jettisoned, they will remain in an elliptical orbit around Kerbin. For the Enda mission, there is enough spare delta-v that these will remain on the craft until an escape trajectory is confirmed, and then dumped in solar orbit.

As Edna has slightly lower Delta-v requirements than Ike, it was decided to reuse most of the hardware from the Duna and Ike Mission for ground operations.

• NTR - Crew Transfer Vehicle (NTR-CTV)
  • Duplicated the habitation space and design from the Duna-CTV, with a modified aft segment to taper to a transition for the truss.
  • Propulsion utilizes the Cherenkov nuclear rocket motor operating on LH2. 8x 5m drop tanks and a single 5m fixed tank will give this sufficient range for Edna and Dres.
  • Comparted to the cancelled design, this only needed 6 launches to Low Kerbin Orbit, and reduced the mission cost from 3 million funds to 2.3 million
  • Small fission reactor was required to provide enough electricity for cryo cooling on the nightside of Kerbin as well as our near Edna and Dres.
  • Command module will dock to the CTV and act as additional livable space, and a lifeboat in the event that the CTV cannot capture in Kerbin orbit. This contingency will allow the crew to return safely while the CTV is ejected back to a solar orbit.
  • Supplies to sustain crew of 3 for 4 years, 294 days

Spoiler

 

• Edna/Dak Lander
  • Ike Lander was reused without any design modifications.
  • The lander would refuel after the Edna mission phase for use at Dak.

• Edna Mobile Habitat
  • Re-used the Duna Mobile Habitat.
  • Descent stage was modified to remove parachutes, and increase tank size for the additional Delta-v required for landing.
  • A materials bay was attached for extra science, with the ability to be decoupled and discarded on the surface.

 

Orbital Assembly
A total of 6 Launches were performed utilizing the same 5m Lifter

• Hydra LV 
  • Fully Cryogenic design composed of 2 stages
  • 55t payload capacity to 130km orbit
  • Launches:
    • Power/Propulsion Module
    • Habitat Module
    • LH2 Saddle Tanks
      • 4 Launches

Spoiler

 

 

Orbital Assembly Video

 

 

12 hours ago, AlSlea said:

I was thinking that a lander for the inner Jool moons would have to be completely covered in fuel tanks or something to let the crew live long enough to land, plant a flag (Maybe a robotic hinge to allow for that?) and get out. But that might depend on what level of difficulty you run. For me, Earth's radiation rings are more than dangerous enough, and those RDUs haven't been as helpful as I hoped.

That would be a good solution to mitigate solar storms, as that is calculated based on line-of-sight from the sun. However with radiation belts, it is only calculated based on the amount of shielding is added to the crewed compartments, taking an average from all crew able parts. unfortunately parts max out at 20mm of shielding material, so you cannot make a crew capsule with extra shielding to be a radiation bunker.

 

There might be a way with an MM patch to change this, or modify the persistent file once the craft is launched. But for my playthrough I want to attempt a method without these workarounds.

[cxg2827]

Edna and Dak Departure
Crew Roster: 

• Jeb (Pilot)
• Hayfield (Engineer)
• Munus (Scientist)

Year 14, Day 20. The crew take off on a Pegasus I and perform a rendezvous with the NTR-CTV in HEO just as it was performed for the Duna mission. A 1,165m/s periapsis kick is performed for the ejection to Edna. 

Spoiler

 

Edna Mission
The Edna Mobile Habitat was the first to arrive at Edna and performed a capture with the transfer stage, where the rover decoupled and performed the final descent and landing. The transfer stage was fitted with relay dishes and SCANsat instruments to collect additional science and to improve communications at Edna. The original relay satellite placed years earlier has began failing with many parts requiring service or inoperable (Kerbalism feature).

The NTR-CTV and lander arrive a few days later and rendezvous. The Lander transfer stage is docked to the CTV as it acts as the refueling tanker for the lander. It will need to be refueled for the Dak portion of the trip. 

Year 15, Day 205. Mission time of 1 year, 185 days, and the first steps are taken on Edna. The mobile habitat makes a drive to rendezvous with the crew in the lander, and several biomes are explored. Samples are collected, experiments deployed.

Spoiler

 

Return to Orbit: Mistakes Were Made
Attempting to both film content as well as perform a direct rendezvous, the lander over-burned on ascent and did not have enough fuel for rendezvous. an EVA was performed during the suborbital trajectory to strip down the lander of various parts in hope to gain back some delta-v. This helped a little, but it fell short once a rendezvous was encountered, and thankfully the tanker/transfer stage was still docked to the CTV, as it was used as a rescue tut to retrieve the crew.

 

Dak Mission
Dak has a lower gravity than Gilly in JNSQ, only needing 55m/s, so the Edna lander will have plenty of fuel to make a few hops to visit other biomes. Dak has some very interesting surface terrain and has been a favorite of mine to visit.

Spoiler

 

Return to Kerbin
After exploring Dak, the crew diches the lander and returns to Edna to wait for the transfer window back to Kerbin. 

Year 16, Day 117. Mission time of 2 year, 97 days, the transfer window opens and the CTV burns for the return.

Year 17, Day 60. Mission time of 3 year, 40 marks the return to Kerbin's SOI. A capture is performed using the final drop tanks and sending them off to a solar orbit while the CTV completes the capture.

3 days later, the crew safely returns to the Surface.

Spoiler

 

Edna and Dak Mission Video

 

 

Edited October 23, 2022 by cxg2827

[tilliepops]

On 10/23/2022 at 11:31 PM, cxg2827 said:

Edna and Dak Departure
Crew Roster: 

• Jeb (Pilot)
• Hayfield (Engineer)
• Munus (Scientist)

Year 14, Day 20. The crew take off on a Pegasus I and perform a rendezvous with the NTR-CTV in HEO just as it was performed for the Duna mission. A 1,165m/s periapsis kick is performed for the ejection to Edna. 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Edna Mission
The Edna Mobile Habitat was the first to arrive at Edna and performed a capture with the transfer stage, where the rover decoupled and performed the final descent and landing. The transfer stage was fitted with relay dishes and SCANsat instruments to collect additional science and to improve communications at Edna. The original relay satellite placed years earlier has began failing with many parts requiring service or inoperable (Kerbalism feature).

The NTR-CTV and lander arrive a few days later and rendezvous. The Lander transfer stage is docked to the CTV as it acts as the refueling tanker for the lander. It will need to be refueled for the Dak portion of the trip. 

Year 15, Day 205. Mission time of 1 year, 185 days, and the first steps are taken on Edna. The mobile habitat makes a drive to rendezvous with the crew in the lander, and several biomes are explored. Samples are collected, experiments deployed.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Return to Orbit: Mistakes Were Made
Attempting to both film content as well as perform a direct rendezvous, the lander over-burned on ascent and did not have enough fuel for rendezvous. an EVA was performed during the suborbital trajectory to strip down the lander of various parts in hope to gain back some delta-v. This helped a little, but it fell short once a rendezvous was encountered, and thankfully the tanker/transfer stage was still docked to the CTV, as it was used as a rescue tut to retrieve the crew.

 

Dak Mission
Dak has a lower gravity than Gilly in JNSQ, only needing 55m/s, so the Edna lander will have plenty of fuel to make a few hops to visit other biomes. Dak has some very interesting surface terrain and has been a favorite of mine to visit.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Return to Kerbin
After exploring Dak, the crew diches the lander and returns to Edna to wait for the transfer window back to Kerbin. 

Year 16, Day 117. Mission time of 2 year, 97 days, the transfer window opens and the CTV burns for the return.

Year 17, Day 60. Mission time of 3 year, 40 marks the return to Kerbin's SOI. A capture is performed using the final drop tanks and sending them off to a solar orbit while the CTV completes the capture.

3 days later, the crew safely returns to the Surface.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Edna and Dak Mission Video

good work

[cxg2827]

Mission Planning and Design: Dres
The success of the NTR-CTV means that it will be refurbished and re-used for the Dres Mission. Original launch cost for the Edna mission was 1.6 million funds, while a refurbish and refit for the Dress mission was reduced to a little over 1 million.  With the increased delta-V for reaching Dres and the short duration stay before return to Kerbin, it was decided to change the approach for ground operations and send a lander with a deployable rover rather than a separate mobile habitat.

• Dres Lander
  • 4-engine lander with the ability to sustain up to 2 engine failures.
  • Jettison-able science and rover pallet with integrated RTG for Habitat power. Lander would operate on fuel cells for ascent and rendezvous with NTR-CTV
  • RTG-powered rover for multi-biome exploration
  • Nuclear Electric Propulsion transfer/capture stage, with integrated communications dish to act as a relay once lander is decoupled.

Total mission cost: 1.8 Million

Dres Departure
Crew Roster: 

• Valentina (Pilot)
• Mifred (Engineer)
• Bobsted (Scientist)

Year 18, Day 346. The crew take off on a Pegasus I and perform a rendezvous with the NTR-CTV in HEO just as it was performed for the Edna mission. A 2,100m/s periapsis kick is performed for the ejection to Dres, expending 4 drop tanks. Within 365 days, the crew enters Dres SOI, and capture with 2,328m/s of Delta-v.

Spoiler

 

Dres Mission
The Lander arrived at Dres a few days later. On rendezvous approach, one of the ion engines experienced a catastrophic failure and exploded. Thankfully the ion engine array had 11 more engines, so it was still able to complete the maneuver with no issues. The lander successfully transfers to the CTV and the transfer stage performs a burn to enter a polar orbit, acting as a relay for the mission and rover.

A landing spot is chosen and the crew departs. The landing zone is adjacent to a large canyon, suspected to be reachable with EVA packs. Landing is performed nominally, and the rover is initially deployed to collect the first bits of science.

Year 20, Day 27. Mission time of 1 year, 46 days, and the first steps are taken on Dres. 3 biomes are explored by foot before returning to orbit.

Spoiler

 

 

Return to Kerbin
After 47 days in Dres SOI, the transfer window to Kerbin opens. A 2,056m/s Ejection Burn is performed, expending the remaining 2 drop tanks.

Year 21, Day 341. Mission time of 2 year, 360 days marks the return to Kerbin's SOI. 

3 days later, the crew safely returns to the Surface.

 

Dres Mission Video

 

[SpudNutimus]

First of all, I'd just like to say I love this series so far, I've watched all of the videos multiple times over, they're just so gorgeous and well-edited.

Second of all, if it isn't too much to ask, would you care to share whatever config you're using to get Planetside Exploration's parts and Kerbalism to fully work together?

[cxg2827]

On 12/20/2022 at 1:49 PM, SpudNutimus said:

First of all, I'd just like to say I love this series so far, I've watched all of the videos multiple times over, they're just so gorgeous and well-edited.

Second of all, if it isn't too much to ask, would you care to share whatever config you're using to get Planetside Exploration's parts and Kerbalism to fully work together?

Thanks, glad you are enjoying the video series.

regarding planetside exploration and kerbalism, from what I can tell I did not have to modify any CFG files, as it seemed to be existing compatibility with the "kerbalism config" download. Though I was only able to confirm patching for living space and life support systems, I have not used the wind power generator parts with my playthrough.

[SpudNutimus]

1 hour ago, cxg2827 said:

Thanks, glad you are enjoying the video series.

regarding planetside exploration and kerbalism, from what I can tell I did not have to modify any CFG files, as it seemed to be existing compatibility with the "kerbalism config" download. Though I was only able to confirm patching for living space and life support systems, I have not used the wind power generator parts with my playthrough.

Ah, fair enough. Most Planetside parts work fine, including the turbines, but the inflatable attic and greenhouse are broken with Kerbalism. Thanks anyway, love this series once again.

[Kwebib]

Wow, I am very impressed with your mission planning, craft design, and video-making skills! This is really cool. I loved the Laythe segment with the ticking music. Reminded me of the Miller planet scene in Interstellar.

What difficulty settings are you using for Kerbalism? I was under the impression that a crewed mission to Jool was nigh impossible (at least with the hard difficulty preset), but I haven't gone interplanetary with Kerbalism, yet.

[cxg2827]

Thanks! Yea, that was kind of the mood I was trying to mimic with the Laythe leg.

Here are the kerbalism settings I am using in my save. I recall turning down the storm probability before the Eve mission because it was becoming such a nuisance getting a solar storm on average every 30 days. As long as you have your crewed sections occluded the the propulsion section you can mitigate a large majority of radiation. I also tend to max out shielding in all crafts, and have at least 1 RDU to cycle my crew for detoxification. Though I will say things got a bit close on the dres mission as 1 RDU was not enough for the crew of 3 because I did not max out shielding so they got irradiated more easily.

For Jool and onward I consider far enough tech that I can fit the ships with the active shielding unit. This helps a lot during non-storm and non-radiation belt travel but shielding is the only way to possible survive in belts. zero shielding for Laythe's outer belts will kill in 4.5hrs, full shielding is 3 days, 9 hours (12 hour days).

 

After I upload the 3rd part of the Jool video, I'll get back to updating this thread.

Spoiler

 

[Kwebib]

Thanks for sharing your settings! Looking forward to the third Jool video. Your videos also make me consider a 21:9 monitor lol.

[Weagle]

This is amazing stuff! Love the idea and the videos, will definitely be keeping up with this.

[KrakenBeGone]

Great videos!

Curious about the use of SystemHeat and HeatControl with Kerbalism. Is SystemHeat functional just not part of the Kerbalism planner and resource simulation? I thought Kerbalism disabled the stock heat module, so I'm curious how this setup is working for you.

[cxg2827]

On 2/3/2023 at 2:21 PM, KrakenBeGone said:

Great videos!

Curious about the use of SystemHeat and HeatControl with Kerbalism. Is SystemHeat functional just not part of the Kerbalism planner and resource simulation? I thought Kerbalism disabled the stock heat module, so I'm curious how this setup is working for you.

system heat works standalone from the Kerbalism planners and simulations. There is some double simulation occurring for nuclear reactors that can cause some issues if not planned correctly. For crafts that have a nuclear reactor, Kerbalism simulates xenon byproduct creation when the reactor is running. However, if you have this on a craft that is ran with argon or some other fuel and do not have any tankage for xenon, the simulation seems to break when you return to the space center or tracking station. Occasionally you can fix this by returning to the craft and clicking on the reactors to dump xenon, but this doesn't seem to always work, and each time you reload the save you need to do it again.

 

My most recent craft I sent to orbit to prepare for Hamek I had this problem, and had to send up an engineer just to EVA install an empty xenon tank.

[Kwebib]

I was actually wondering the same thing, since I recently added System Heat after seeing you using it. I wonder if there is any savegame editing that could be done to work around the issue instead of going through the trouble of EVA installing tanks and such.

[cxg2827]

On 2/7/2023 at 7:21 AM, Kwebib said:

I was actually wondering the same thing, since I recently added System Heat after seeing you using it. I wonder if there is any savegame editing that could be done to work around the issue instead of going through the trouble of EVA installing tanks and such.

you can edit the reactors to have xenon as a resource, give it a capacity of ~50-200 depending on the reactor size, and set them to be empty. 

[Kwebib]

I'm gonna try to make a mission planning spreadsheet myself, because it'll be a good learning opportunity, but can you share any protips from making and using your sheet?

Also, looking forward to Lindor V, if it's in the works!

[cxg2827]

Sure. Here is a snip of my Edna/Dak Planning sheet. The tips I have are :

• Use the transfer planner tool to figure out launch windows from kerbin to the planet, as well as timing for the return. You can tighen the travel timeframes if you want to make the transit faster at the expense of higher delta-v requirements.
• I use probes already at the designated planets to place maneuver nodes and get ballparks for inner system transfers and captures
• Delta V maps for landing and ascent info.
• If playing with funding, it is good to get a list of required launches and their cost to make sure you can fund the mission

Spoiler

 

I finished my mission to Hamek, so that will be the next video released. I'm using the same transfer vehicle for Eeloo, so I will do that mission next before Lindor.

Edited March 9, 2023 by cxg2827
deleted partial sentence.

[FleshJeb]

I binge-watched all of these last night. Really great work, thank you.

[Kwebib]

Spreadsheets. Another reason to get a 21:9 monitor, lol.