Beyond: Kerbalkind's History of Space Exploration

[Kimera Industries]

6 minutes ago, Kerbalsaurus said:

Although still unsure, some say they could hear the faint sound of a memorial trumpet playing

Once, my friend pretended to be dead and we held a funeral for him on the spot. I played Taps.  

RIP Sumerki.

Edited April 4 by Kimera Industries
I spy with my little eye... a new page!

[Toaster355]

4 hours ago, Kerbalsaurus said:

SUMERKI DE-ORBIT - YEAR 4, DAY 55

MISSION OBJECTIVE: De-orbit the Sumerki Module aboard Kerman Station.

LAUNCH VEHICLE: Reusable Booster System

It's a bittersweet day at Beyond today. Coming down from orbit is the Sumerki Module, the second module launched to Kerman Station. The module wasn't designed to have a docking port at the back, and instead has an airlock. Due to this design, the module simply gets in the way of expansion at Kerman Station. So, we have to destroy it. That's what Kerbals do best anyways. How are we getting the module down though?

Well, as cheaply as possible of course! Our engineers simply took the standard orbital tug, and attached a claw to it. And since mission control needs some name to identify the craft with, it has simply been named by the engineers as Dave. Dave will firmly secure itself to the back of the module, set some distance between the module and the station, and then burn back to Kerbin. The burn has to be carefully calculated, as if we don't pay attention the module may end up destroying a small town or knocking down quite a few skyscrapers. The safest place for the module to land is in the middle of the ocean. Now, enough with the yapping, let's get flying.

"Liftoff on Dave, heading up to de-orbit the Sumerki Module." - Kraft Kerman (Flight Director)

"We are go for our orbital insertion burn." - Kraft Kerman

Once Dave is in orbit, control of the RBS is handed over to EDL teams on the ground.

Parachutes are deployed in their standard fungal formation.

"Successful touchdown of the RBS!" - Jill Kerman

Back in orbit, mission control is preparing Dave for the rendezvous maneuver for Kerman Station. Not much to say here really.

"Dave is now en-route to Kerman Station." - Kraft Kerman

Dave braking to match velocities with Kerman Station.

Now that Dave is moving alongside Kerman Station, it's time for the docking, or rather grabbing procedure. The crew on board Kerman Station close up and shut down all of the systems on Sumerki, and then give mission control the all clear to grab onto Sumerki.

"Systems reading Dave has grabbed onto Sumerki, Kerman Station please confirm." - Kraft Kerman

"Kerman Station confirms." - Seefield Kerman (Station Commander)

"Roger, you are go for Sumerki undock." - Kraft Kerman

"Go for de-orbit burn. So long, Sumerki." - Kraft Kerman

Once the burn was finished communications with Dave and the Sumerki Module were cut. Although still unsure, some say they could hear the faint sound of a memorial trumpet playing (this was later found out to be Mark taking trumpet lessons down the hall. We told him not to do this at work!).

Flame textures go brrrr

Roughly the final resting place of the module. So long, Sumerki.

That orbital tug looks pretty familiar... 

[SkyFall2489]

On 4/4/2024 at 6:53 AM, Kerbalsaurus said:

SUMERKI DE-ORBIT - YEAR 4, DAY 55

MISSION OBJECTIVE: De-orbit the Sumerki Module aboard Kerman Station.

LAUNCH VEHICLE: Reusable Booster System

It's a bittersweet day at Beyond today. Coming down from orbit is the Sumerki Module, the second module launched to Kerman Station. The module wasn't designed to have a docking port at the back, and instead has an airlock. Due to this design, the module simply gets in the way of expansion at Kerman Station. So, we have to destroy it. That's what Kerbals do best anyways. How are we getting the module down though?

Well, as cheaply as possible of course! Our engineers simply took the standard orbital tug, and attached a claw to it. And since mission control needs some name to identify the craft with, it has simply been named by the engineers as Dave. Dave will firmly secure itself to the back of the module, set some distance between the module and the station, and then burn back to Kerbin. The burn has to be carefully calculated, as if we don't pay attention the module may end up destroying a small town or knocking down quite a few skyscrapers. The safest place for the module to land is in the middle of the ocean. Now, enough with the yapping, let's get flying.

"Liftoff on Dave, heading up to de-orbit the Sumerki Module." - Kraft Kerman (Flight Director)

"We are go for our orbital insertion burn." - Kraft Kerman

Once Dave is in orbit, control of the RBS is handed over to EDL teams on the ground.

Parachutes are deployed in their standard fungal formation.

"Successful touchdown of the RBS!" - Jill Kerman

Back in orbit, mission control is preparing Dave for the rendezvous maneuver for Kerman Station. Not much to say here really.

"Dave is now en-route to Kerman Station." - Kraft Kerman

Dave braking to match velocities with Kerman Station.

Now that Dave is moving alongside Kerman Station, it's time for the docking, or rather grabbing procedure. The crew on board Kerman Station close up and shut down all of the systems on Sumerki, and then give mission control the all clear to grab onto Sumerki.

"Systems reading Dave has grabbed onto Sumerki, Kerman Station please confirm." - Kraft Kerman

"Kerman Station confirms." - Seefield Kerman (Station Commander)

"Roger, you are go for Sumerki undock." - Kraft Kerman

"Go for de-orbit burn. So long, Sumerki." - Kraft Kerman

Once the burn was finished communications with Dave and the Sumerki Module were cut. Although still unsure, some say they could hear the faint sound of a memorial trumpet playing (this was later found out to be Mark taking trumpet lessons down the hall. We told him not to do this at work!).

Flame textures go brrrr

Roughly the final resting place of the module. So long, Sumerki.

Is the SkyFall Industries Centrifuge Module likely to be decommissioned as well?

[Kerbalsaurus]

32 minutes ago, SkyFall2489 said:

Is the SkyFall Industries Centrifuge Module likely to be decommissioned as well?

Yes, unfortunately.

[SkyFall2489]

10 minutes ago, Kerbalsaurus said:

Yes, unfortunately.

it's okay - again, there's definitely some in-lore reason that could be provided
perhaps the motor broke down due to mechanical wear?
SkyFall Industries might attempt to build a second one - I'll stress-test the thing much better this time.

[Kerbalsaurus]

6 hours ago, SkyFall2489 said:

it's okay - again, there's definitely some in-lore reason that could be provided
perhaps the motor broke down due to mechanical wear?
SkyFall Industries might attempt to build a second one - I'll stress-test the thing much better this time.

Maybe you could try one of the small inflatable centrifuges from Stockalike Station Parts Redux, especially since inflatable module technology is about to be introduced.

[Kimera Industries]

2 hours ago, Kerbalsaurus said:

Stockalike Station Parts Redux

If you want centrifuges to feature in future builds and as a major part of the story, this is definitely the way to go.

[SkyFall2489]

16 hours ago, Kerbalsaurus said:

Maybe you could try one of the small inflatable centrifuges from Stockalike Station Parts Redux, especially since inflatable module technology is about to be introduced.

maybe - I have an idea for another rigid centrifuge design. This one will only use one robotic part.

I'm thinking about having a single long arm with cabins on the end, using one of the launch vehicle's stages as a counterweight. To avoid putting torque on the station, I'll use 2 sets of ion engines to accelerate and decelerate the centrifuge. This way, the only robotic part will be a single large rotor.

[Kerbalsaurus]

1 hour ago, SkyFall2489 said:

maybe - I have an idea for another rigid centrifuge design. This one will only use one robotic part.

I'm thinking about having a single long arm with cabins on the end, using one of the launch vehicle's stages as a counterweight. To avoid putting torque on the station, I'll use 2 sets of ion engines to accelerate and decelerate the centrifuge. This way, the only robotic part will be a single large rotor.

How large is this arm going to be exactly? Because Kerman Station is only so large and since I plan on putting the next centrifuge on where the current one is, if the arm is too long it will take out a solar panel on HPUM.

Edited April 7 by Kerbalsaurus
Typos

[SkyFall2489]

9 hours ago, Kerbalsaurus said:

How large is this arm going to be exactly? Because Kerman Station is only so large and since I plan on putting the next centrifuge on where the current one is, if the arm is too long it will take out a solar panel on HPUM.

I'm unsure - the radius could be up to 5m. The arm will have to be oriented vertically in the fairing - I should do some math and figure out how many Gs I want the thing to have.
Most of the small SSPXR centrifuges run less than 0.2G, or about 2 m/s^2. At 5 RPM, this requires a 7m long arm, but at 10 RPM, this requires a 2m long arm. What was the rotation speed of the SSPXR centrifuges again?

Visually, I doubt it will hit the solar panels though.

 

NOTE: Gravity scales linearly with the radius and with the scale of the rotational speed. The formula is A = R * W^2, where A is in meters per second per second, R is in meters, and W is in radians per second. 1 G is approximately 10 m/s^2.

EDIT: built an early prototype of the thing - it ended up being about 6m in radius.

Edited April 8 by SkyFall2489

[SkyFall2489]

If possible, when launching the tug to deorbit Centrifuge I, could you put a second tug on the same rocket to help with docking Centrifuge II? With my current design, it's not gonna be easy to get the thing to dock on its own

[Kerbalsaurus]

24 minutes ago, SkyFall2489 said:

If possible, when launching the tug to deorbit Centrifuge I, could you put a second tug on the same rocket to help with docking Centrifuge II? With my current design, it's not gonna be easy to get the thing to dock on its own

I’m not launching another tug to Kerman Station, as the centrifuge can be de-orbited on monoprop alone (I added a few extra tanks to it, as I never trust myself docking or maneuvering anything).

[Kerbalsaurus]

CELESTIAL LOUNGE - YEAR 4, DAY 62

MISSION OBJECTIVE: Dock Kimera Industries' Celestial Lounge to Kerman Station

LAUNCH VEHICLE: Reusable Booster System

With room cleared on Kerman Station, it's now time for the first expansion module to go up. This module is the Celestial Lounge by @Kimera Industries, and it's certainly a unique module. The module is a massive glass observatory, which provides a 360^o view of the skies above our homeworld! Tourists and kerbonauts alike will be drawn to the module for the stunning views of Kerbin it provides, tourists especially. Crews on board hope that this will at least limit the amount of times tourists get in the way of their work. As usual, the RBS will flying this mission. It's the only Medium Launch Vehicle we have, and it's reusable. As the name would obviously suggest.

"Liftoff of the Celestial Lounge!" - Bobak Kerman (Flight Controller)

"We are GO for orbital insertion." - Bobak Kerman

"Handing control of the RBS over to EDL teams." - Silverstein Kerman (BOOSTER)

"Another successful landing for the RBS!" - Jill Kerman (Head of EDL)

While EDL guided the RBS to a safe landing, back in orbit mission control continues docking operations for the Celestial Lounge. First, they set up a rendezvous maneuver, and roughly two orbits later the module is on its way to Kerman Station!

"Successful startup of the LV-909." - Chris Kerman (Engines)

The Celestial Lounge hovers above Kerman Station, awaiting its next command.

Control of the module is then handed off to Kerman Station, where Coremy will guide it in to dock to the aft docking port of the station. However, it will still be monitored by mission control in case of an emergency. This remote control technology is relatively new, but will be useful in the future for the construction of AMRO and other deep space missions.

"Hard dock with Kerman Station confirmed!" - Coremy Kerman

Another successful mission! The Celestial Lounge adds an awesome new flavor to the space station, and the views it provides are absolutely incredible! Thank you to @Kimera Industries for their amazing module and congratulations on a successful launch! Beyond hopes to continue our partnership far into the future!

Edited April 15 by Kerbalsaurus
Spelling, grammatical, and phrasing fixes.

[Kimera Industries]

20 hours ago, Kerbalsaurus said:

The module is a massive glass observatory, which provides a 360^o view of the skies above our homeworld!

For some reason, when you put it that way it reminds me of this:

Congrats on the successful launch! I'm glad the Lounge wasn't too much trouble.

[Kerbalsaurus]

5 hours ago, Kimera Industries said:

For some reason, when you put it that way it reminds me of this:

The space station is about to be attacked by a deep space leviathan.

[Kimera Industries]

20 hours ago, Kerbalsaurus said:

The space station is about to be attacked by a deep space leviathan.

"Detecting high parts count space station in the area. Are you sure whatever you are trying to dock is worth it?"