Duna Mastery Challenge - from Fly-bys to Settlements

[Sp1f]

Destination Duna  (0.1.0.0)

Challenge Completion Pictures-

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Nice challenge!

[Sp1f]

2. Otherworldly Connections.

First real look at Duna. Very pretty!

Proofs:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

[Draradech]

6. Bring it Home

  Reveal hidden contents

Lander in payload fairing.

Launch.

Fairing separation.

Decouple booster.

Initial trajectory.

Mid-course correction.

A bit of radial in, and we have a nice PE for circularization.

In orbit.

Deorbit burn.

Decouple transfer stage.

Ready for entry.

Landing.

Lander on Duna surface.

I tried to warp for transfer window, but after returning to the lander, it was 212m below the ground.

So we are launching before transfer window warp.

Back in orbit.

Now we can warp for transfer window.

The maneuver looks totally wrong while in Dunas SOI.

As does the predicted trajectory after burn.

But after SOI exit, we see the real trajectory. Not bad for eyeballing the transfer.

Only 50 m/s correction needed to get an encounter.

Correction burn done.

At Kerbin, we can't be picky with our entry location, we're almost out of fuel.

Ready for re-entry.

In the upper atmosphere.

Landing.

Good. We aren't sinking.

So we can have a look at daytime also.

Not that far from KSC.

[Speeding Mullet]

Other Worldly Connection (Version 0.1.0.0)

Here's the full mission report for my second mission to Duna.  It was completely bug free and after its recent success with a flyby mission, starts the Mullet Dyne rocket program on its mission proper of maintaining a permanent presence at Duna long into the future.

Here's a postcard from what was a spectacularly visual feast of a mission:

Image courtesty of C7 Aerospace Division - Why go up when you can crash equally well going sideways

Another fun mission, and on to the next!

SM

 

[LameLefty]

Well, I want straight to #4, haven't yet bothered with #1 or any of the others (yet).

No mods, but there is a major Duna spoiler here, so be warned if you want to be surprised.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

[OJT]

This thread is popping off will this finally be enough to get TOTM?

@Draradech Nice work, will be adding both to the lists. And since you've already done Challenge 7, I will honor my word and add it aswell. Only Challenge 8 left: curious how you're going to tackle that

@Sp1f Welcome to the thread! First two submissions going into the lists

@Speeding Mullet The solar panel looks a bit overpowered for the satellite of this size, but either way, solid mission report

@Scarecrow71 Yeaaah. Sad that the game has been treating you this rough. We will be waiting for your comeback

[Scarecrow71]

  On 3/7/2023 at 7:15 AM, OJT said:

@Scarecrow71 Yeaaah. Sad that the game has been treating you this rough. We will be waiting for your comeback

Expand  

Well, I'm back.  I wasn't gone long. 

I realized that KSP2 != and =/= as KSP1.  All the things I built and flew there may not necessarily fly here, and so I had to take a step back and rethink how I built stuff.  Like, how did I ever complete the Caveman Challenge in KSP1?  Well, by building small.  Once I stripped off the largest engines I was using and scaled back, flying became easier.  I'm not trying to push a grape with a jet engine any longer (as an example), and so ascent became easier.  Holding SAS was still an issue, but that's resolved with spamming RCS thrusters up and down the side of the rocket.  It's odd to me because I didn't need to do that in KSP1...but again, this ain't KSP1.

I've got a rocket headed towards the Kerbolar SOI, with 2 and 3 to follow.  I'll have an update today I hope!

[Draradech]

I have a manned plane at Duna that I hoped to land there and get back to the KSC runway afterwards. That's not happening. I can't land a plane that heavy on Duna, and giving it even bigger wings would make it even more impossible to launch in the first place.

I'll try an unmanned plane tomorrow instead, as it can be far lighter if it doesn't need to return.
I dumped the drop tanks and most of the fuel, plane can now land (and start and re-land). Building the rescue mission for Bobson now.

It worked!

 

Mission report for 8 - Come Fly With Me

 

Plane Mission (pilot stranded on Duna):

  Reveal hidden contents

Getting a plane up there is a challenge. Pointing straight up for a long time helps.

Solid boosters done at 12km, still pointing up.

Side boosters almost done (remaining fuel transferred to core stage via resource manager).

Side boosters go.

Core stage decouple.

Parking orbit.

Transfer planned.

Transfer executed.

Finetune before arrival.

Set PE for circularization.

Circularized.

Deorbit burn.

The plane is too heavy to land. Bobson will need a rescue mission. Drop the external tanks and transfer most of the fuel into the transfer stage to drop as well.

The now very light plane glides well.

Last-minute turn over to the right to avoid the hills.

Landed.

Going for a short flight.

Take off.

Turn around.

Back to the flat area.

Touchdown speed ~25ms/s

Landed again.

 

Rescue Mission to get our pilot Bobson back home safely:

  Reveal hidden contents

Rescue rocket in VAB.

Launch.

Those plumes at night are bright.

Almost in orbit.

Drop the core stage.

Parking orbit.

Planned transfer.

Burn done.

Correction burn to push descending node to encounter.

Deorbit, going directly over the plane.

Deorbit, going directly over the plane.

Coast down.

Going to overshoot.

Doesn't matter, the plane can come here.

This is fine.

Prepare short flight to the rescue vehicle.

On our way.

Again, overshoot.

We're just going to drive there.

Plane works on the ground as well.

We're here.

Going up tp the rescue capsule.

Launch.

Circularized.

Encounter was more expensive than expected, but it'll work.

A bit of finetuning.

We're aerocapturing at 40km PE.

Reentry and get rid of the last stage.

Landing.

Bobson is back home safely.

Edited March 8, 2023 by Draradech

[Scarecrow71]

@OJT

Duna III:  Transmitting Live From Duna

Before I give the images, I need to explain what happened here.  Simply put, I was trying to play KSP1 in KSP2.  And that doesn't work.  Craft that I can build and fly in KSP1 no longer work here, primarily because of new physics and the lack of MechJeb.  So I had to take a step back and relive my Caveman days, simplifying craft and re-learning how to fly properly.  Once I got over that hump, the challenge started to become a bit easier.

The second thing I had to do here was to slow down.  There is no time limit; there is no race.  This is a marathon, not a sprint.  And so I realized that I didn't have to shoot all 3 probes at Duna at once; I could send one, make sure that one was ok, and then the next, and so on.  There is no need to strap all 3 to one rocket and fling that into the cosmos.

Once I finally had both of those thoughts in my brain, I was able to continue with the challenge.  And I give you the constellation orbit, 3 satellites around Duna.  I'll be honest in saying that I could have gotten the constellation a bit tighter than it is; 2 of the satellites are a bit closer to one another than I'd like, and I may go back and fiddle with the orbits a bit.  But I have 3 of them in orbit around Duna.

  Reveal hidden contents

2 things about what happened here.

1. After I set the initial orbit/encounter with Duna, I switched from Map view to Vessel view, because...well, I just do that.  But then when I switched back to Map view, the encounter I had plotted changed ever so slightly.  I was able to use the Maneuver Node Controller mod to get back to what I had set previously, but it was really odd that the plotted trajectory changed just by switching from Map to Vessel and back.  Just odd.
2. The constellation orbit is polar, not equatorial.  This is due to the initial trajectory of the first probe I sent (Duna III-A) being nearly polar.  Like, at about 85 degrees inclination.  So I just eyeballed 90 degrees and went with that.

And now, on to the next part of the challenge!

 

[Scarecrow71]

@OJT

Duna IV:  First Landing

And now the updates are coming in fast and hot.  This is why I fell in love with KSP1, and why I bought into KSP2 in early access.  Moments like yesterday when I finally figured out how to go about flying, and moments like this morning when I landed on Duna.  WITHOUT the help of the computer, by the way.  Came in a bit hard (~8 m/s), and I thought for sure I'd take damage.  But nope, no damage.  Now, the landing gear is in the surface of Duna, so I'm sure it will suffer the fall-through bug.  But I still landed.

  Reveal hidden contents

You will notice that the encounter I got with Duna was prior to leaving Kerbin's SOI.  I'm getting pretty good at eyeballing where Duna needs to be for the transfer window.

And now I shall enjoy a frosty root beer before continuing on.

[Uuky]

Part 1: Destination Duna

Probe : Duna Alpha 1 #0000.001

Objective: Fly-by Duna.

  Reveal hidden contents

UT 0.163 Probe launched. Parking orbit.

UT 0.163 Injection burn to initiate transfer to Duna.

UT 0.168 Probe "sailing" to Duna.

UT 0.170 Small correction burn to acheive duna intercept.

UT 0.399 Probe over Duna south hemisphere. 

UT 0.399 Probe trajectory inside Duna's SOI.

UT 0.399 Eye candy

game version 0.1.0.0.20892

Edited March 10, 2023 by Uuky
changed Challenge to Part

[Uuky]

Part 2: Otherworldly Connection

Probe : Duna Alpha 2 #0002.001

Objective: Orbit Duna and have an antenna able to transmit to Kerbin from Duna's orbit

  Reveal hidden contents

UT 002.242: Mission Launch

UT 002.242: Parking Orbit

UT 002.250: Duna's SOI Intercept course

UT 002.250: Probe on its way to Duna

UT 00.3.125: Entering Duna's SOI

UT 003.163: High Above Duna

UT 003.167: Orbit around Duna acheived

UT 003.167: Eye Candy

Game version 0.1.0.0.20892



 

Edited March 10, 2023 by Uuky
changed Challenge to Part

[ChromeDome]

I. Destination Duna

Game version 0.1.0.0.20892

  Reveal hidden contents

The launch

Duna flyby and bonus Ike flyby too!

 

 

 

Edited March 11, 2023 by ChromeDome

[Scarecrow71]

  On 3/10/2023 at 2:49 PM, ChromeDome said:

I. Destination Duna

Game version 0.1.0.0.20892

  Reveal hidden contents

The launch

 

https://imgur.com/rddcIAv

Duna flyby and bonus Ike flyby too!

 

https://imgur.com/UREvzs1

 

https://imgur.com/UgePsaI

 

 

https://imgur.com/UgePsaI

Expand  

Your money of shot of Duna is pretty sweet.  It looks like Ike is cracked in half!

[Scarecrow71]

@OJT

Duna V:  Desolation Road

And I was able to put a rover on Duna.  This is a MAJOR first for me; I've only ever landed a rover on the Mun in KSP1, and at that it was a stroke of pure luck that it happened.  I simply have problems designing a rover and then a craft to take it places.  So to get this done here was a major accomplishment for me.  I will state, though, that once I got the rover moving on Duna...I couldn't get it to stop.  Is there an issue with braking in this game that I've not yet read about?  Either way, the rover is on Duna, and has since tipped over and now needs someone to go get it right-side-up.  But I have shots of it upright!

  Reveal hidden contents

You will notice in the descent shot that the parachutes are deployed but missing.  I was under the impression that there were no atmospheric effects, and yet the chutes aren't there.  Also interestingly enough was that I was able to repack them...but firing them again did nothing.  Oh well; looks like a bug to report!

Anyhow, now I'll be on to #6!

[ChromeDome]

II. Otherworldly Connection

Game version 0.1.0.0.20892

To save fuel and launch mass, I've decided that all the missions except Destination Duna will utilize aerobraking or aerocapture.

  Reveal hidden contents

Bracing for aerocapture

In orbit

This was a really good learning experience for me, it's the first time I've done an aerocapture to save fuel.

Edited March 11, 2023 by ChromeDome

[ChromeDome]

III. Transmitting Live From Duna

Game version 0.1.0.0.20892

In the same fashion as the last mission, I've done an aerocapture to save fuel.

  Reveal hidden contents

Bracing for aerocapture

The network after completion

[ChromeDome]

IV. First Landing

Game version 0.1.0.0.20892

The mission is quite simple, I just put the ship on a collision course with Duna at the equator and landed there. I used a skycrane style lander to do an unpowered parachuted decent there.

  Reveal hidden contents

Bracing for entry

The lander on descent

Touchdown confirmed!

This mission was really fun! Although it was quite simple and short, I had gained a lot of experience on how to build Duna entry vehicles. Definitely need more reaction wheels to prevent the craft from flipping on the aerobrake.

Edited March 11, 2023 by ChromeDome

[Uuky]

Part III: Transmitting Live from Duna

Objective: Surround Duna with a communication satellite constellation. (min 3 with powerfull enough antenna)

Strategy : 3 satellites launched independently because an all-in-one craft was sacrificed multiple times to Kraken. 

  Reveal hidden contents

UT 0004.294 :  Launch of first satellite of constellation. (other launches occured from launch pads 2 & 3.)

UT 0004.300: Fleet on its way to Duna.

UT 0005.229: Constellation in place.

2 Molnya-like orbits (~55km*6500km) and 1 near-equatorial orbit at ~500km

Eye  candy:

Game version 0.1.0.0.20892

[ChromeDome]

V. Desolation Road

Game version 0.1.0.0.20892

The debris of the skycrane marks the original landing position of the rover, you can see I've driven some distance to demonstrate its mobility.

  Reveal hidden contents

The rover assembly and transfer stage sailing to Duna

Bracing for aerobrake

The rover on Duna

 

Edited March 12, 2023 by ChromeDome

[OJT]

Man, I can barely review one submissions when others are being posted I wonder for how long this activity will be sustained

@Draradech Looks like you're the first one to complete the first 8 challenges, congratulations! Looks like you decided to brute force the Kerbin ascent, but either way the plane works and the kerbonaut is returned home

@Scarecrow71 Seems like you got over the problems you were having (or most of them, at least). Everything so far looks nice and dandy, keep it going

@Uuky Welcome to the thread! Nice mission reports, and you're the first to utilize Molniya orbits for satellites. I imagine executing it was a pain. Kudos

@ChromeDome Another newcomer, welcome! Solid mission reports aswell, but I would ask you to post some more Kerbin screenshots for future missions, that being the launch vehicle, parking orbits etc. Otherwise looks good

As always, all posted missions will be added into the lists

[OJT]

As for me, you've probably noticed that I wasn't participating much in my own challenge thread. IRL stuff doesn't leave much time for games lately, and the times I did have time to play I usually played something else (caught a bit of a GoW: Ragnarök bug ). The few occasions I did play KSP2 I got hit with various gameplay/Kraken issues that didn't let me complete the missions I had planned, and seeing that there's an update planned to be released next Thursday, I decided to wait out its release

With that being said, I did manage to complete Mission 2. And here's the report for it

Ascent was nominal. As you can also see, the Satellite already has a Relay antenna, which will save me some work for Mission 3

  Reveal hidden contents

Escaping Kerbin

  Reveal hidden contents

As in Fly-By mission, I wasn't entering Duna optimally due to trajectory lines not showing inside Duna's SoI, but the Satellite had extra fuel just for this situation

  Reveal hidden contents

After another burn at periapsis, I entered the Duna orbit

  Reveal hidden contents

Some eye-candy

  Reveal hidden contents

 

[Alex76]

Guys, could you upload a file of a ship capable of flying and landing on Dune? With a description of the lander. Thank you very much.

[Uuky]

  On 3/12/2023 at 10:55 PM, OJT said:

@Uuky Welcome to the thread! Nice mission reports, and you're the first to utilize Molniya orbits for satellites. I imagine executing it was a pain. Kudos

Expand  

Many  thanks,

Actually it is only "Molniya-like" i.e. highly elliptical  orbit very low over one pole, very high over the other. Not that hard at all to make.

[Scarecrow71]

Well, I keep trying to get to and from Duna, but I simply can't get the return trip.  Due to the resource/fuel consumption issues, I can't get to Duna with enough remaining fuel to get back; I need the asparagus staging and fuel leakage problems resolved first.  I'm going to see if I can build a spaceplane, but I am going to wait on the patch tomorrow to see if either of these is fixed enough to allow me to do this.  I know - people out there are doing this with the problems.  I'm not them.