Week World Grand Tour

[Stamp20]

After seeing the Week World Planet Jam on the KSP subreddit, I decided to do a grand tour of it. I immediately regretted it after seeing Mindo's gravity.
Despite that, I'm still going to do the mission (or try to).

Mod list:

Week World Planet Jam 0.7

Near Future Technologies (except Aeronautics and Propulsion), Station Parts Expansion Redux, Restock+, Simple Fuel Switch
Full mod list:

Spoiler

XyphosAerospace is a patch that makes the 10m heat shields deflatable.

Part 0: The Craft

The craft is split into 7 parts, the booster, the main lander, the utility module, a scanner/service probe, two atmospheric landers for Elaan and Reticulum, and the Mindo lander.

Spoiler

The full ship. (Note that the atmospheric landers are using an old design, the new ones are smaller.)

Without the landers. The bottom part is the booster, center is the lander, top is the utility module. The utility module is missing the service probe and the Windswept extension. I used Simple Fuel Switch to change the booster's tanks to all liquid fuel instead of liquid fuel and oxidizer.

The Mindo lander. It uses an extreme amount of heat shields and parachutes to land, then refuels with ISRU on the surface to save mass. I took inspiration from an Alternis Kerbol Tylo landing which used a similar strategy.

Launch 1: Booster Module

Spoiler

Launch of the heaviest piece, the nuclear booster.

The booster circularizes under its own power.

Launch 2: Main Lander + Utility

Spoiler

A much more reasonable rocket.

Docking to the booster.

Valentina Kermal (Parman?) goes on EVA to inspect the ship. The nose cone on the left is an extra fuel tank for Windswept, on the right is the service probe. The gravity ring wasn't necessary, but after playing with Kerbalism I decided the kerbals need some extra comfort for the long journey.

Inspecting the lander. I used a hollow 2.5-3.75m adapter to make the lander shorter without extreme part clipping.

I still used part clipping anyway to put 2 drills next to a GARNET fission reactor. It provides more than enough power to run both ISRU modules on the lander and booster.

The booster is powered by 12 Cherenkov nuclear engines from Restock+. It also has its own ISRU which it can use to refuel on the many tiny asteroids and moons in this mod.

Launches 3 and 4: Atmosphere landers

Spoiler

The atmospheric landers are used for Elaan and Reticulum, the second and third hardest places to land and take off from. They have some similarities to the Mindo lander, mostly the use of Aerospike engines and 10m heat shields.

Rendezvous with the mothership. The framerate is already below 30.

The service probe flies out to move the lander into place.

Docked.

Same as the first lander, but with a smaller rocket because I overestimated the dV needed.

Docked.

The plan is to go to Reticulum, then split the craft. The craft has to be split after leaving Asite Par to comply with Ultimate Challenge rule 5. The booster and Mindo lander will go to Mindo, while the rest of the craft does landings in the Reticulum system. After the Mindo lander is dropped off, the nuclear booster will return and the whole craft will go to Elaan to drop the second atmospheric lander.

Next time, I launch the Mindo lander and some extra parts, then go to Reticulum.

[Stamp20]

Part 0.5: Mindo lander

Not going to Reticulum just yet, finished up the ship first. The average FPS is 8.

Launch 5: Spare parts pack

Spoiler

I forgot a few parts and needed extra heat shields for the atmosphere lander, so I sent them up in the most reasonably sized launch vehicle so far.

Decent FPS, for once.

Nevermind, FPS is below 15 again.

EVA construction specialist Zelus Kerman goes on EVA. She uses a KAS winch to prevent the part pack from drifting away.

A fin broke off the second atmo lander during ascent, so a replacement is attached.

Several other small parts, such as some monoprop tanks for the service probe and some LFO tanks for the booster so its fuel cells can be used are added to the ship.

The service probe moves the heat shields to temporary docking ports at the bottom of each lander.

The two monoprop tanks on the side of the service probe and the two Baguettes on the booster are new, as well as the cardboard box on the utility module containing some KAS parts.

Launch 6: Mindo lander

Spoiler

The unaerodynamic mess that is the Mindo lander taking off. I had to keep the center heat shields deployed, they can't deploy if something is attached to the bottom node for some reason.

Reverting to launch breaks the game.

Part of one of the parachute modules floated off to the side, for some reason. Whack-a-Kerbal objects have no effect on it. It mysteriously disappeared after loading a quicksave in orbit later.

Docking took a frustratingly long time due to a lack of proper RCS and slow rotation.

Fully assembled ship, with labels.

The ship is now fully assembled and ready to depart to Reticulum. Since Asite Par is in its L5 point, I don't have to wait for a transfer window since the two planets are roughly the same distance away at all times.

[Whirligig Girl]

I'm really pleased that the similarity between Mindo and Alternis Super-Tylo has not gone unnoticed. AFAIK it was a coincidence, but I noticed how similar they were as soon as I put Caps Lock's Mindo and Diredul in-game. The difference is that somehow, as bad as Mindo is, Super-Tylo is worse.

Edited September 28, 2022 by GregroxMun

[Clonos]

good luck

[Caps Lock]

i apologize for making mindo

[Whirligig Girl]

5 minutes ago, Caps Lock said:

i apologize for making mindo

but have you considered: egg giant.

[Stamp20]

Part 1: Reticulum

Week World Grand Tour departs for the Reticulum system, Asite Par's closest neighbor.
1.1: Reticulum transfer

Spoiler

The craft is surprisingly stable during phys warp.

This system seems very small compared to the stock system. It only takes 45 days to get to Reticulum, and based on TWP data, actual interplanetary transfers are similarly short.

WWGT passes very close to the rings.

1.2: Reticulum landing

Spoiler

The service probe moves the top heat shield into place. The service probe has proven to be very useful despite being an afterthought.

During the descent, I find a use for docking port rotation to prevent the parachutes from burning up.

Valentina safely lands on Reticulum, marking the first landing of many.

Val has to go on EVA to circularize.

The service probe is one again the most useful part of the craft, retrieving Val.

1.3: Ribo

Spoiler

The next destination is Ribo, a tiny asteroid. It should be easy to refuel the entire craft on it.

Bill moves a spare docking port to the bottom for the second atmo lander. If I left it as is, the craft wouldn't be able to correct for the unbalanced CoM.

The nuclear engines should be frying the atmo lander, but this is KSP.

The booster and main lander split off to land.

It drifts over the surface for a while, and ore is converted to monoprop in an attempt to slow down.

It eventually stops, and I can finally start refueling.

Jeb plants a flag for Landing #2.

I forgot to take any screenshots of the ascent, unfortunately. It wasn't very eventful given the pathetic gravity. The booster redocked to the Mindo lander, leaving the main lander and utility module separate.

Zelus quickly goes on EVA to move one of the ore tanks to the booster.

EVA construction is quite buggy here.

Next time, the booster will go to Mindo to drop off its lander, while the main lander plants flags in the rest of the Reticulum system.

Edited October 4, 2022 by Stamp20

[Stamp20]

Part 2: Dropping off the Mindo lander

The nuclear booster and the Mindo lander leave, and encounter a bug.

2.1: Diredul Caen

Spoiler

Going straight to Diredul would be expensive (and take a very long burn). WWGT goes to Caen, the next planet in, to refuel.

Leaving Reticulum.

The Mindo lander heat shields are used to help slow down.

The engines nearly overheat in the process, but are saved by spin cooling.

Using an action group allows the center heat shields to be retracted, even though the option isn't in the PAW.

Landing on Ovoidun to refuel. The Mindo lander is left in orbit.

However, as there is no flag, the Asite Par Astronomical Society cannot verify that a landing truly happened here. This could be some elaborate photoshop on one of Reticulum's moons as far as they know.

Docking is still a pain every time.

Eventually, it works.

Leaving Caen to go to Diredul.

There is a problem, however. Right as the maneuver is about to finish (with 43 m/s left), the game crashes. It happens every time and I'm not sure what's causing it, something to do with the Diredul encounter? I still haven't found a solution, any help would be appreciated.

Edited November 6, 2022 by Stamp20

[Stamp20]

Part 2.5: No Bugs Here

I found the solution to the bug, turning off always show closest approach stops the game from crashing. With the crash fixed, the mission can progress.

2.5.1: Reticulum's moons

Spoiler

While the booster drifts through deep space, the crew at Ribo visit the other moons.

Zelus moves around some docking ports.

The remaining atmo lander is repositioned for balance, and then left behind.

The first destination is Golgi, which Ribo is trailing. It has a very bumpy surface.

The entire crew lines up for the flag-planting picture.

I'm going to be taking surface samples from every CB except Reticulum (because that would involve landing again).

Leaving Golgi.

The next destination is Lyso, smaller than Golgi but with much rougher terrain.

Golgi in the distance.

Bill plants a flag.

Drilling into the surface of a volcanically active moon should be fine, right?

The 4th, largest, most distant, and final moon is Cytosel.

The canyons stand out from orbit.

Zelus goes to visit the nearby canyon.

Didn't get a picture of the flag, but it's up there.

She had to go a bit further, the previous tumble was into a crater that was not part of the canyon biome.

Leaving Cytosel.

Redocked at Ribo. I'll grab a sample when I refuel the booster.

2.5.2: Mindo, finally

Spoiler

WWGT captures for free using Mindo's immense gravity.

While waiting for the burn to complete, I noticed Diredul was slightly oblate. I looked into the files to see if there was some sort of height map causing this, but found this instead:

Spoiler

I lost the game, and now you have lost too.

The Mindo lander is dropped off. The second it left physics range, the FPS jumped from 10 to 60.

Going to Awoy to refuel. It's visible, but the small size and Steam's compression make it very hard to see.

Landed and refueled after 10 years on the surface.

The booster has just enough TWR to take off.

Next time, I figure out how to get back to Reticulum, then visit Elaan.

[Clonos]

nice job!

[Stamp20]

Part 3: Inner System

The reunited ship visits Elaan, Yroptos, and Windswept.

3.1: Reticulum (yet again)

Spoiler

Free of the Mindo lander's excessive mass, the booster can afford to go straight to Reticulum.

Leaving Diredul.

The booster passes through the rings.

Rendezvous is extremely easy around Ribo.

Cercal gets a surface sample during refueling.

3.2: Elaan

Spoiler

Elaan is a superkerbin that is mostly ocean with a breathable* atmosphere. Orbiting it is Askilos, a gas giant with an extremely dense atmosphere.
*Elaan's atmosphere is not breathable in v0.7, which I'm on.

WWGT must leave Reticulum, first.

Accidental Lyso assist.

Approaching Elaan.

The second atmo lander will be carried to low orbit by the primary lander.

Some spare docking ports are moved to allow it to carry the atmo lander and the heat shield.

The booster is left in a very elliptical orbit.

Using the heat shields, I aerobrake into a low orbit.

Bill moves the heat shield into place.

Descent. I initially aimed for the coast since it's on the equator, but I couldn't get back to orbit.

I land in the mountains instead.

No flavor text here.

The ascent is very close, the upper stages have <1 TWR.

Zelus has to EVA back to the ship.

The ship is whole again.

3.3: Yroptos

Spoiler

Yroptos is a tiny asteroid, with an even tinier asteroid, Exular, orbiting it. Similar to how Asite Par is in Reticulum's L5 point, Yroptos is in its L4 point.

Burning to Yroptos. I left Elaan's SOI first so I wouldn't accidentally collide with Askilos during timewarp.

During the burn, Reticulum is visible.

The Sauwel system is extremely small. The entire inner system fits within Moho's orbit.

Avu's periapsis is around 6,488Mm. Moho's apoapsis is 6,315Mm.

Arrival at Yroptos.

It becomes transparent when getting close for some reason.

I go to Exular first to refuel since it's smaller, not that it makes a difference.

Landed, however I either sunk into the ground or the drills would say they had no ground contact.

Not wanting to risk a Kraken attack, Val goes on EVA to explore.

The south pole has an interesting mountain, which is in a biome called "Conjoined Companion". It seems that some time in the past, another asteroid collided with Exular's south pole.

The south pole has a pit, not as deep as the Mohole though.

The north pole has a similar ring to the impact in the south.

No tall spike like on the map, but the terrain is very spiky and dangerous.

Val returns to the ship, and it goes to Yroptos to refuel.

Surface sample.

Not much to say, just a normal refueling trip.

Transparency bug appears again as I leave.

Elaan is visible.

3.4: Windswept

Spoiler

The initial target of the Sauwel colonization mission, Windswept is similar to Kerbin in size, but more like Duna in every other way. Half of the surface is covered in a constant dust storm. The main lander was designed with Windswept in mind, as it's the most difficult destination that doesn't have its own expendable lander.

The lander detaches, and the service probe moves the nose cone into place.

Rocket braking is needed to not overheat.

Landed with zero fuel left. Fuel ran out shortly before landing, but the grip pads were able to survive a 25m/s impact.

No flavor text here, unfortunately.

The nose cone is detached after getting out of the atmosphere.

After reaching orbit, the lander is left with only 100m/s worth of fuel. The booster has to go down to low orbit to pick up the lander.

The lander still had plenty of monoprop, so docking wasn't an issue.

Next time, I visit Caen again then land on Mindo.

[Stamp20]

Part 4: Caen and Avu

Mindo is getting closer. Before that, some easy landings.

4.1: Caen, for real.

Spoiler

Caen is very similar to Duna, but with one key difference. Caen has a large ocean covering almost all of the equatorial region. Caen also has two moons, Ovoidun and Menea.

Picture from Part 2. Ovoidun is on the left, Menea on the right.

First, I need to leave Windswept. The transfer isn't very notable.

Approaching Caen.

The first destination is Ovoidun. Being the smaller of the two moons, it makes a good refueling spot.

Landing on Caen requires a high inclination because of all of the water. High inclination orbits are annoying, especially from the equatorial landing site on Ovoidun, so I decided not to land on the northern or southern continents. There's a small island just south of the equator, so I targeted that.

Landed second try. (Didn't slow down enough on the first try.)

Val tumbles down the sides of the island to visit the ocean.

Maybe running a nuclear reactor isn't a good idea when there's life on this planet.

The sand below the ocean is very bumpy.

Ascent is much easier than on Windswept.

Bill disposes of some extra parts to save mass. I should've just removed the entire gravity ring part.

Menea is certainly one of the moons of all time.

4.2: Avu

Spoiler

Avu is a dwarf planet with an atmosphere and two asteroid moons. It also has rings.

It has a very eccentric orbit similar to Diredul, but with its periapsis opposite of Diredul's.

Avu's orbit compared to Diredul and the rest of the inner system.

Leaving Caen.

Even with the atmosphere, the lander is more than capable of landing on Avu.

No flavor text in this system, unfortunately.

Avu's moons are even more extremely small asteroids.

Tiny Asteroid Counter: 4

Some good views, though.

Ein is the first of the two tiny asteroids. It is very wide, with the central mountains being very close to the edge of its SOI. I had to land close to the poles to avoid my orbit crashing into the surface.

Bob is capable of jumping out of its SOI, at which point it immediately goes to its ScaledSpace model and drifts away rapidly.

Going to Aire, the other tiny asteroid to the right.

Tiny Asteroid Counter: 5

My favorite screenshot from this mission so far.

Next time, I land on Mindo.