"Per Aspera Ad Astra - Redux"

[TheKrakenHerder]

I've decided to redo "Per Aspera Ad Astra" from my perspective, not the perspective of Kerbals. Without further ado...

Edited May 14, 2023 by TheKrakenHerder
Typos

[TheKrakenHerder]

Some of you may know me, some of you may not. I've been on these forums for a while, and I always wanted to do a mission report, but wasn't really sure what to do it on. At the same time, I always wanted to do a big Artemis-style "Mun-to-Duna" program, but I'd always run out of motivation. Putting them together, I decided that writing a mission report would give me the motivation I needed to do what I want. Without further ado, I give you

Per Aspera Ad Astra

So, first order of business is development of the spacecraft. I decided to do the lander first, and I wanted to do a HLS style contract for it. All of these craft are made by me, and I will let you guys vote to decide which one should be chosen. Here are the three bids:

National Space Consortium "Kerbal Landing System"
 

Large, heavy, and reliable, the Kerbal Landing System was designed by the National Space Consortium, an alliance between Green Origin, Kheed Martin, and Koeing.
Pros:
+Heavily derived from the Hyperion capsule, meaning it will take less time to design
+Large margin of error.
+Capable of being launched on existing LVs.
+Trusted supplier.
+Adequate mining infrastructure.
Cons:
-Quite pricey, at 21,000 funds per article.
-Landing on a hill = Loss of crew/Loss of vehicle due to its tall and thin shape.


KerbeX "Munar Clipper"

A lean, mean, new breed of rocketry, the Clipper fleet is KerbeX's vision of the future of space exploration.
Pros:
+Larger crew capacity than competitors, seating six.
+Reliable engines.
+Stable on descent and ascent.
+Good visibility from cockpit.
Cons:
-No mining gear to speak of.

-Unstable post-landing.

-Most expensive of the three, at 35,000 funds per article.

-"Split" propulsion system not fully tested.

Southrop Kermann "VICUNA"

From the company that built the original MEM, this innovative lander design could be the future.

Pros:
+By far the cheapest of the three, at 16,000 funds per article.

+Adequate mining gear.

+Small, nimble, yet flat design allows it to remain completely stable while still being maneuverable.

+Trusted supplier.

Cons:
-Unclear if it will have adequate fuel capacity.

-Only seats two, unacceptable in the long run.

 

Vote!
(I reserve the right to completely invalidate and ignore the result of this poll if the stupid knockoff Lunar Starship appears to win)

Edited April 22, 2023 by TheKrakenHerder
Fixed some typos.

[TheKrakenHerder]

While we await the results of the Totally Free and Democratic Poll™ with bated breath, it's time to talk about the crew vehicle.

I didn't want to go with a typical capsule, and I wanted to do something with the Hitchhiker, so I decided to make this interesting cylindrical design. I've named it "Hyperion", and it's capable of transporting four kerbals to the Mun and beyond. You'll notice just at first glance the similarities between it and the Kerbal Landing System. 

Now, I originally had plans for a monolithic liquid fuel rocket to launch this sucker, but it looked really bad and boring, so I instead decided to go for...

Death Corndog: Requiem

Four Kickbacks strapped together to form what is no doubt the most terrifying and unsafe launch vehicle in history. It has the working title of Krakatoa 1, and I would not want to be alone in a room with it.

Also I was too lazy to bind the abort tower on the first launch so good luck!

So, once I had finished this heinous affront to god safe and reliable launch vehicle, Death Corndog Krakatoa 1 took to the skies with a Hyperion on top to put them both through their paces.

Herakles 1: Hyperion/Krakatoa 1 Unmanned Orbital Flight Test

Miraculously, the launch vehicle performed perfectly, and Hyperion ended up in a nice stable orbit. After verifying that everything was fine, the spacecraft began boosting into a highly elliptical orbit, almost out to the Mun, to test reentry from that distance.

A few hours later, the spacecraft underwent its trial by fire, and totally passed with flying colors. The author made a boo-boo and aerobraked way too low so the crew module burned up No pictures were taken of the splashdown, but the craft was recovered safely off the coast of the Western Crater.

An image of Hyperion during reentry. Note the complete lack of a crew module due to it being metal rain over half the continent the unusual shapes formed by the airflow.

That's all for today, see you next time!

[TheKrakenHerder]

A query for you all: For The Big Boy™ (Krakatoa 5), should I paint it black and white, Saturn-style, or should I use bare, SLS-style orange foam? Reply with your opinion.

[ThE_aMaZInG_pOTatO]

30 minutes ago, TheKrakenHerder said:

A query for you all: For The Big Boy™ (Krakatoa 5), should I paint it black and white, Saturn-style, or should I use bare, SLS-style orange foam? Reply with your opinion.

Both can look good, but I think checkered white would look better.

[Kerbalsaurus]

I really like the orange color. It breathes more color into a rocket.

[TheKrakenHerder]

I’ll probably go with checkered white, it looks similar to Krakatoa 1. Thanks guys.

[TheKrakenHerder]

New post hopefully later today.

[TheKrakenHerder]

K-HAB/Horizon SM-1
(Yes I did promise to post this on Wednesday shut up)

And we're back!
The mission architecture for this program involves a Gateway-like station, which I've named Horizon Station. I decided to launch this and achieve Initial Operating Capacity before any landings. Without further ado.

With the Krakatoa V Heavy Cargo Launch Vehicle not yet ready, the K-HAB was launched on a Kolossus-122 definitely not a Titan IV 

Solids burn out and separate at about 40-50 kilometers.

The upper stage pushes it into parking orbit, shortly before beginning the TMI burn.

A few days later, the K-HAB arrived in a low Munar orbit.

So, the K-HAB is essentially a mini space station on its own. It can technically support Munar landings, but that's for later.

Now that the K-HAB's in position, the next step is installing the APB (Avionics and Propulsion Block).

(Bonus development photos!)

Jeb & Co. take the prototype Munar Terrain Vehicle for a little Sunday drive.

(The rear half/trailer is detachable)

(Sorry that this chapter is short and a little dry, I kind of rushed it because I didn't get it out on Wednesday.)
See you next time.
 

[TheKrakenHerder]

Also, the poll closes on Sunday and if it's still a tie I'm choosing, so if you don't want the Kerbal Landing System you better vote!

[Royalswissarmyknife]

VICUNA better win!

[TheKrakenHerder]

(please god someone vote for the Kerbal Landing System, refueling VICUNA is like atoning for my sins)

[Kerbalsaurus]

Maybe you could just take down the poll and make the KLS the lander? Or optimize the VICUNA?

[TheKrakenHerder]

(The polls will not close due to widespread voter fraud causing the illegal VICUNA to appear to win) Unfortunately, I'm too busy for the next while to announce the winner of the lander contract, but I'll get to it in no time!

[TheKrakenHerder]

An Update

Hey! Been a while.

So basically, in my infinite wisdom, I accidentally deleted the save file I was using for this, so I have to rebuild all the crafts yippee. The next update will be on the way soon.

On a better note, I’m pleased to announce that with the purging of all false and fraudulent votes closing of the polls, the lander has been selected!

*Drumroll*
 

It’s a tie!

Because of this, I’ll break the tie. Therefore, the winner is…

 

 

The Kerbal Landing System!

No picture because I wrote this on my phone 

That’s all for this post, see you next time!

[Royalswissarmyknife]

Just as in real life VICUNA lost to the large amount of lawyers at the National Space Consortium.