Reaching for the Stars, and searching for a new Home

[Scarecrow71]

Good morning, this is Ron Kerburgundy with Kerb 5 News.  In breaking news today, famed astrophysicist Werner von Kerman has discovered that our home planet of Kerbin is in fact dying.  Dr. von Kerman has indicated to us that our planet can no longer support life as we know it, and that at some point in the future she won't be able to sustain life at all.  As proof, here is a picture of me alongside one of Dr. von Kerman's many complicated math equations:

 

In an interview with Dr. von Kerman, he stated that the Las Kerbas Space Agency has formulated a plan based on this information, and we warn you that what I'm about to say may be too graphic for some of our younger viewers.  The LKSA has determined that we need to find a new home for ourselves and our future generations, and so, to that end, the engineers and astrophysicists and the really smart guys and gals over there are working on expanding our horizons.  A new program is underway as we speak, whereby they will get us started on reaching for the stars.

We realize that this news may come as a shock or surprise to many of our viewers, and we asked Dr. von Kerman about his "math" and whether or not this was "true".  He has assured us that yes, our planet is in fact dying, but that it won't die for multiple generations yet.

Hang on - multiple generations?  How long do we have before the planet dies?  He said WHAT?  Hundreds, if not thousands, of years?  Well, what the frak?!  This isn't a major news story; this is simply the LKSA trying to get more money.  AGAIN.

Erm...

Ahem.  We apologize for the interruption, and we send you back now to your regularly scheduled programming.  For Kerb 5 News, I'm Ron Kerburgundy.

===MISSION STATEMENT===

Although KSP2 is out, and I do in fact own it, I have realized that there are so many things in KSP1 that I have not yet done.  Colonies will be a large part of KSP2 (eventually), and I will need to get up to speed on those at some point.  I've also not landed on several celestial bodies in KSP1 (most of Jool's moons, to be precise), and I need the practice doing that.  So I decided today to dust off 1.12.5 of KSP1 and add a few more mods to it in an attempt to send Kerbals permanently off their home of Kerbin.  The goal of this particular career is to find a suitable new home for Kerbals on one of the other celestial bodies, colonize that space, then create a new self-sustaining launchpad/VAB-like-entity so as to continue colonization of the Kerbolar system.  Game statistics/parameters:

• Kerbal Space Program 1.12.5
  • Interestingly enough, no DLC.  I was gifted the DLC for my copy of 1.8.3, but 1.12.5 is through Epic and so I don't have the DLC for KSP1 in this build of the game.
• Science career.
  • Kerbal experience is in play.
  • Kerbals level up immediately.
  • Must have a signal to retain control of probes.
  • Reversion of flights is allowed.
  • Tech tree must be unlocked in Kerpollo fashion (must unlock all nodes in a given tier before moving on to the next tier).
• A boatload of mods are installed.
  • B9 Part Switch
  • Community Resource Pack
  • Community Tech Tree
  • Deployable Engines Plugin
  • Diamond Grid Trusses
  • Dynamic Battery Storage
  • Extraplanetary Launchpads
  • Harmony 2
  • Kerbal Actuators
  • KAC
  • KAS
  • KER
  • KIS
  • Kerbal Stats
  • Kethane Mining
  • MJ
  • Module Manager
  • Near Future
    • Aeronautics
    • Construction
    • Electrical
    • Electrical Core
    • Exploration
    • IVA Props
    • Launch Vehicles
    • Propulsion
    • Solar
    • Solar Core
    • Spacecraft
  • ReStock
  • ReStock+
  • TAC Fuel Balancer
  • TriggerAu Flags
  • Waterfall Core

===PHASE I===

The goal of Phase I is to generate enough science by running around the KSC to get access to the first probe available, the Stayputnik.  This will require 108 science points due to the Kerpollar nature of how I'm running the tech tree.

Note 1:  As this is a Science career, I don't have to upgrade buildings.  This makes extraplanetary EVA and surface sample collection possible from the start.  This may end up shortening the start of the game.
Note 2:  I may have forgotten to turn off the extra launch sites during game setup.  This is inconsequential, however, as I will be restricting myself to launching only from the KSC until I have either an orbital launch site OR a ground launch site on another planet/moon.

Phase I Completion Date/Time:  Year 1, Day 1, 0h, 7m.  Being able to collect surface samples and go EVA in flight helped.  I earned 36 science from surface samples (12 at the launchpad, 12 at the runway, and 12 in the water), as well as 7 from EVA while the first actual rocket launch was parachuting into the water (I was traveling 6.0 m/s, so I thought "What could go wrong"; I gambled and won on that one).

Images:  None at this time.  I won't bore people with the initial "I gotta get science" KSC run-around photos.  We've all been there before, and you don't need to see this.  Yeah, um, thank you, drive through.  I promise to have images once I start getting things up into space.

Edited April 28, 2023 by Scarecrow71

[Scarecrow71]

===PHASE II===

Goal:  To put a series of satellites into HKO so as to form a basic communications network over Kerbin

In order to do much of anything from this point on, especially where probes are going to be concerned, I'll need to establish a communications network.  This will require a minimum of 3 satellites in HKO in a triangularish fashion around the planet.  I'd like them to be keo-synched, which means getting them at a (rough) orbit of 2,863 km and a speed of (again, roughly) 1,009 m/s.  This is all relative and easy enough to do...until you realize that the only probe I have access to right now is the Stayputnik, which has no SAS controls.  I also have no fairings, which makes this thing about as aerodynamic as an aircraft carrier.  Thankfully, I was able to rely upon MJ to help me with the flight of thing into LKO; I spent several hours trying to fly this thing manually which, upon looking back, was a really dumb decision on my part.  But once I got the first of the three into HKO, I just pretty much copied the flight plan and sent the other 2 up.  Images!

Spoiler

I had to make 1 heliocentric (not the best word, I know, but should give an idea of what I'm describing here) orbit around Kerbin with the KeoSynch II to allow KeoSynch I to pass far enough ahead so they wouldn't interfere with one another.  I had to make multiple passes with KeoSynch III for the same reason, but this time pushing both I and II far enough ahead.  But I got it done, and that's not a bad triangle there.  Could be better, and I know they aren't perfectly in keo-synch orbit, but this will certainly suffice.

One thing I know that will be an issue is electricity.  No solar panels yet, and I know all 3 of those chunks of metal are running low.  At some point I'll have to either replace them with better models, or send an engineer up to put panels on all 3 of them.  I did put capacitors on them (4, one for each battery), but that's really a short-term solution here.

Completion Date/Time:  Year 1, Day 5, 4h, 7m.

Edited April 30, 2023 by Scarecrow71

[Scarecrow71]

===PHASE III===

Goal:  To get enough science to gain access to Solar Panels.

We could, in theory, head to the Mun right now.  Unfortunately, we’d probably run out of power before we got there and back, so it’s not a good idea to do that right now.  So what we need to do is to do a bunch of science experiments in LKO and HKO so we can finish off the current tier and, hopefully, get to solar panels.  Now, I’ve already done a bunch of science in LKO; I had to in order to get to Flight Control and General Construction.  But, I can still do the Materials Study there, and then I can do all the science stuff in HKO.  This means I get to send poor Bob up again; I need his ability to reset the Materials experiment.  So I send him up.

Spoiler

I was able to earn enough science points to get Aviation and Electrics, which now gives me access to solar panels.  That is a big step forward with this program as I can now add solar panels to the existing satellites, as well as put satellites in orbit of both Mun and Minmus.

I should state that there is a node on the tech tree that I skipped – Enhanced Survivability.  It has no parts, and it is not a required node for anything beyond it.  I could cheat to the 45 science points and just unlock it, but it isn’t needed.  Therefore, I didn’t unlock it.  I also need to state that I was fortunate enough to remember to collect the science points from the respective experiments/parts because, during re-entry, I came in a little hot.  Which made the parts overheat and explode.

Completion Date/Time:  Year 1, Day 6, 1h, 10m

 

===PHASE IV===

Goal:  Continue setting up a communications network in Kerbin's SOI by putting a pair of satellites in orbit around the Mun.

 

We have a small network of satellites established in HKO, and that’s a great start.  However, I need to continue setting up the rest of the communications network, which involves a pair of satellites around the MunI plan on having the satellites around Mun be on opposite sides of the bodies, equidistant from the surface and traveling at the same speed so that there will always be at least one of them with line-of-sight back to Kerbin.  At least, that’s the plan for now; I may change that up as I start launching them.

We are going to be sending up this satellite prototype:

Spoiler

It's effectively nothing more than a few solar panels and some antennae strapped to an OKTO probe core.  But it will suffice, and so after sending up 2 satellites, we get this:

Spoiler

Now there should always be at least 1 satellite in Mun orbit that has line of sight to Kerbin.  Again, I may end up changing that at some point in the future.

Completion Date/Time:  Year 1, Day 9, 4h, 46m

[Scarecrow71]

===PHASE V===

With a network of satellites in HKO and in High Munar Orbit, it’s time to test how well this works.  I need some science so I can get to Advanced Flight Control, as well as, hopefully, getting some better rocket parts, like upgraded command modules and better engines.  This requires science, which requires me to go get some.  So we are going to do a Mun landing…and hope that it doesn’t go too badly.

Now, Bob has to go up.  Why?  So we can reset a few experiments along the way (Goo canister and Materials).  But with a single-seat command module, he has to go by himself.  I could use the crew cabin here, but without docking ports, it would make the landing really hard.  So I’m putting Bob in the command module by himself, and attaching an OKTO probe onto it for SAS control.  We then hurtle him through the cosmos.  Or, well, to the Mun!  And so begins the Spes program (Latin for Hope, which sounds distinctly like Space).

At this point, I don’t have ladders.  Like, even the most basic ladder isn’t unlocked yet.  So this will be done in 2 launches:  one to get science in high and low Mun orbit, and then a second one to land and get science on the surface.  I could do a landing and never put Bob on the surface, but then I couldn’t plant a flag.  Which I really want to do.  But, the first and second launches!

Spoiler

Launch I

Bob earned enough science here for me to unlock Advanced Flight Control, Fuel Systems, Heavy Rocketry, and Space Exploration.  Got me pretty much all the parts I need to do a Mun landing.  And because I won’t need to reset any experiments this time, I can actually send up a pilot. 

Spoiler

Launch II

I earned enough science points to unlock Advanced Construction, Aerodynamics, Landing, Miniaturization, and Propulsion Systems, which finishes this tier off.  There are, once again, a few nodes that have no parts in them that I don’t need to unlock (Recycling, Storage Technology, and Subsonic Flight).  Recycling and Storage Technology are required for several nodes down the line, but none of those nodes have any parts, and so I wouldn’t need to unlock those.  Subsonic Flight, while it has no parts, is a direct requirement of both Efficient Flight Systems and Specialized Flight Systems, and both of those nodes have parts in them.  Although there are no parts associated with Subsonic Flight, the fact that it has nodes that require it that do have parts means I have to unlock that node.  But because it has no parts itself, I did grant myself the 90 points through the Alt+F12 menu and unlocked the node.

One thing I noticed on this flight is that the satellites I put around the Mun in Phase IV are catching up to one another.  One is moving faster than the other, and due to this, their orbits are no longer locked into being on the other side of the Mun from one another.  It didn’t cause any issues with this flight, but it may in the future.  Which means I may have to put a third satellite up there at some point.

Completion Date/Time:  Year 1, Day 21, 5h, 18m

Edited May 2, 2023 by Scarecrow71

[Scarecrow71]

===PHASE VI===

Now that we have satellites around Mun, and now that we’ve landed on said body, it’s time to turn our attention to the next rock in the sky:  Minmus.  We will need to put satellites in orbit of the mint-flavored stone, as well as land on it and bring back all kinds of science.  And now that we have fairings and struts and docking ports, we can take advantage of the applied physics in the game and build something really out-of-this-world.  Or, we can try to build something monstrous and hope it doesn’t blow up.

We will start, as we always do, with the primary command module and the fuel we’ll need to get back to Kerbin after orbiting Minmus.  We will need ~1000 m/s of dV to make the return trip and brake and land and such.  But we should remember here that we will be able to take advantage of any fuel remaining in our (upcoming) lander, which should give us a nice boost.  And because we don’t have to worry about funds, we don’t need to worry about wasting fuel or parts.  Nice!  And so we end up with a return module that looks like this:

Spoiler

Pretty basic.  It’s got a TWR of 3.58 and 1268 m/s of dV in a vacuum.  It doesn’t need any fancy parts or pieces; it’s got capacity for 2 Kerbals, enough fuel to get home, and parachutes to land safely.  (Snacks sold separately.)  Now we have to build a lander…and this is where things get really interesting.  Just bear with me on this.

I’m going with a really odd design choice here.  I need a lander and 3 satellites, and I’d like to get all of them to Minmus on the same launch.  Which means I need a way to store payload.  Now, we don’t have cargo bays yet, so we have to wrap things in fairings.  So we’ll need one for the lander, and then one for the three satellites.  We’ll start like this for the lander:

Spoiler

This has 1999 m/s of dV and a TWR of 2.43, which is more than enough to do a landing and then get back to the mothership in orbit.  All we do now is attach it to the ship and add a fairing.  Like so:

Spoiler

And we aren’t done yet.  We have to design 3 satellites now…and get them inside a fairing.  But the satellites aren’t anything major, they’ll just have to be stacked properly.  Basically some solar panels and antenna attached to a probe.  Like this:

Spoiler

That…is ugly.  Hopefully it works.  But now we need a lifter stage, and a partial transfer stage (that tank inside has like 1300 m/s of dV and might work a bit).  So we get this:

Spoiler

And away we go.

Spoiler

I cannot believe that worked.  That was the weirdest ship I’ve ever built, and it worked.  Dang.  Anyhow, I earned enough science to unlock Advanced Electrics, Advanced Fuel Systems, Command Modules, Heavier Rocketry, Precision Engineering, and Specialized Construction.  Scanning Tech, unfortunately, is a tier away, and I stated at the beginning that I’d go Kerpollo style with the tech tree.  So I’m going to have to do a few more launches and earn some more science before I can start scanning and planning extra-Kerbin launchpads.  But we are on the way!

I have 3 satellites around Minmus, at 20,000/50,000/100,000 meters.  They aren’t synched or anything, but I figure they will do for now.  At some point I will be replacing all of the satellites anyhow, so it is no big deal.

Completion Date/Time:  Year 1, Day 44, 4h, 5m

[Scarecrow71]

===PHASE VII - THE KERBIN-3 CHALLENGE===

Things have been progressing nicely here, and we’ve gotten pretty far with the tech tree to this point.  But we need more and more science to get to Scanning Tech so we can start a mining operation, but that’s quite a ways off yet.  And I’m not quite ready to head out of Kerbin’s SOI, so I’m going to collect science while going through a really old challenge from the KSP1 forums:  The Kerbin 3.  This challenge requires you to launch from Kerbin, land on the Mun, then land on Minmus, and then return to Kerbin.

The first thing we need to do is to create the return ship.  Just like the last mission, it has to have enough dV to get home from Minmus.  The kicker this time is that it also needs to have enough dV to get from Mun to Minmus, potentially (and hopefully) without having to come back to Kerbin first).  We will assume we need to get from Kerbin to Mun to Kerbin to Minmus in our calculations though, just to make sure we have enough.  This means the ship needs:

• 800 dV to get from LKO to Mun orbit
• 1000 dV to get from Mun orbit back to LKO (circularized)
• 1300 dV to get from LKO to Mimus orbit
• 1000 dV to get from Minmus orbit back to Kerbin

That’s 4100 m/s of dV just in the return module.  Which is easy to craft, really.  It’s just gonna be ugly (as in, it won’t be aesthetically pleasing, at least not to my eyes).  So we craft this puppy here:

Spoiler

That’s just under 4100 m/s of dV, which should be enough…even if that’s without the lander attached to it (which will impact overall dV).  It’s designed to handle the Kerbin-Mun-Kerbin-Minmus-Kerbin circuit, but I’m going to try to go from Mun directly to Minmus.  We shall see if that actually happens!

Anyhow, the lander.  We need a ton of dV to land on Mun, get back into orbit, dock, land on Minmus, get back into orbit, and dock.  I’m thinking somewhere in the neighborhood of about 3000 m/s of dV.  Minimum.  So we have to craft a lander capable of holding this much fuel, as well as carrying all of our geeky science nodes so we can collect those sweet, sweet science points.  The design here should be familiar enough.

Spoiler

That has 3500 m/s of dV, which should be more than enough to do all the maneuvers it needs to.  Without having to refuel, I might add.  So let’s put the 2 together and see where we are at here.

Spoiler

You can see that the dV of the return ship is cut nearly in half by adding the lander.  That’s…not good.  This means we will have to seriously over-engineer the lift-off stage to maximize the fuel we have.  But, away we go!

Spoiler

Now, after getting into LKO, I have 1000 m/s of dV on my lifter stage, which might be enough when combined with the return vehicle to do the Kerbin 3.  But I decided to try something a bit funky here.  I am sending only the lander to Mun, and then I’ll bring that back to LKO to dock and refuel before sending it to Minmus.  I quick-saved here before doing it so I can revert if necessary.  So let’s get to the Mun with the lander.  Say good-bye, Bob!

Spoiler

And the Kerbin-3 is complete.  I was able to do this just by sending the lander on its own, but man was that fuel cost from Mun back to LKO heavy.  Took more fuel there than it did when I went to and from Minmus.  Dang.  Anyhow, I earned enough science to unlock Actuators, Advanced Exploration, Advanced Landing, Precision Propulsion, and Specialized Control.

Completion Date/Time:  Year 1, Day 67, 0h, 51m

[Scarecrow71]

===PHASE VIII - DUNA, HERE WE COME===

Interior, LKSA Administration Offices.  Dr. Werner von Kerman and Jessica Kerman, a Kerb 5 News reporter, are having a conversation about the space program.

 Jessica Kerman:  Phase?  Why are we saying Phase?  Isn’t that just a step?

 Verner Von Kerman:  Because it sounds much more cool and awesome.

 JK:  Cool and awesome?

 WVK:  Say “Step”.

 JK:  Step.

 WVK:  Now say “Phase”.

 JK:  Phase.

 WVK:  No, no, no.  You’re doing it wrong.  Say “Phase”, but with meaning and purpose.  And wave your hand out in front of you like you’re Harry Kerpotter on your first day at Kerbwarts casting a spell.

 JK (with awe in her voice):  Phase!  Ooh, that does sound cooler!

 With the Kerbin-3 behind us, we still find that we need a lot of science to get to Scanning Tech.  Yes, I self-imposed the Kerpollo tech tree unlock thing, and that’s a good thing.  I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself technologically speaking, and there is nothing wrong with slowing down a bit at times.  But I gotta get that sweet Science, and I don’t want to grind too much to do it.  So it’s time to expand our horizons a bit with the Votum program (Votum is a synonym, Latin for Hope).

The LKSA has determined that we need to get out of Kerbin’s SOI and head for what may be the best option to colonize:  Duna.  Getting into Kerbolar orbit will generate some science, and then both high and low over Duna will get us some.  Heck, we could even get into the upper atmosphere or Duna and collect science without too many issues.  But we also want to make this trip really worth it, so we’re going to shoot for a major list of things to accomplish here:

• Science in Kerbolar orbit
• Deploy a satellite into Kerbolar orbit
• Science in high Duna orbit
• Science in low Duna orbit
• Science in high Ike orbit
• Science in low Ike orbit
• A satellite in Duna orbit
• A satellite in Ike orbit

That’s quite the list.  We aren’t dropping a lander anywhere, which is ok.  But we’ll need enough fuel to:

• Get into LKO
• Transfer to Duna
• Get into Duna orbit
• Transfer to Ike
• Get into Ike orbit
• Transfer to Duna
• Transfer to Kerbin
• Land on Kerbin

And we’ll need to bring along at least a Scientist (Bob is really getting experience here) and a pilot.  And our payload is going to include 3 satellites, which I did previously with an ugly design to drop them into Minmus orbit.  Shouldn’t be too hard, but it is going to require a bit of forethought regarding the build.  We will start with the following command capsule, which is built with only the return trip from Duna and Science collection in mind:

Spoiler

In a vacuum, this thing has 4163 m/s of dV and a TWR of 1.12.  Unfortunately, we’re about to cut some of that out of here.  Remember when I said we had 3 satellites to put out there?  Well, we are going to put them on top of this rocket, which will add to the weight this thing has to push around out in space.  Like so:

Spoiler

We didn’t lose all that much, perhaps 200 m/s of dV.  And considering we’ll lose one of those satellites in Kerbolar orbit, we won’t really end up losing all that much dV overall.  Now we have to wrap this in a fairing, add the lifter and transfer stages, and we’re off!

Spoiler

Wow.  Once again, I am just stunned that something I planned worked.  I know I’m better than I give myself credit for, but to run a multi-body mission with satellites?  The only thing more impressive than that accomplishment is the size of the ego in the LKSA’s administrative department.  A few notes on how I did this.

1. I actually ejected from Kerbin into Kerbolar orbit without transferring directly to Duna.  I then circularized half-way from Kerbin to Duna and ejected the first satellite.  This was a bit expensive in terms of dV, but I had to do that as I didn’t want to eject the satellite and have it on a semi-heliocentric orbit.
2. I ended up getting an encounter with Ike as I hurtled towards Duna, which allowed me to get into Ike orbit and gather science and drop a satellite, and then go to Duna.  Far cheaper than having to go Duna-Ike-Duna.
3. I had like 1800 m/s of dV remaining in the return stage after getting the Kerbin return encounter.  And I dropped slightly into the upper atmosphere to help aerobrake to save as much fuel as possible.  Tremendous help there.

All told, I gathered 1936 science points and was unable to unlock Advanced Aerodynamics, Efficient Flight Systems, Electronics, High-Power Electrics, Large Volume Containment, Scanning Tech, and Supersonic Flight.  Now the real fun begins as I can send up satellites to start scanning celestial bodies for ore, metals, kethane, and whatever else all those mods might give me!

Completion Date/Time:  Year 6, Day 162, 2h, 34m

[Scarecrow71]

We have now reached the portion of this particular career game that I am not very good at, nor have I done a lot of:  resource hunting.

===PHASE IX:  LOOKING FOR RESOURCES===

At this point, we have enough science and have unlocked enough nodes where we can start looking for resources on other celestial bodies.  We need to be able to mine for resources, and I’m still a bit confused as to what we need.  I believe we need, in no particular order, both Kethane and MetalOre.  Kethane is used to create rocket fuel (Liquid Fuel + Oxidizer), while MetalOre is going to be used to create metal, and then rocket parts and a construction pad.  This is my first time using the EPL mod, so this may end up taking longer than I would like, as well as probably taking multiple trips to get what I am looking to get.  And I’m quite sure I’ll get it wrong a lot as the documentation talks about both scanning and prospecting, so it’s going to be a ride and a half to get there.  But I’ll get it sorted at some point!

Anyhow, we need to at least send a satellite up so we can start scanning the Mun and Minmus.  We will send up the following and see where that gets us:

Spoiler

This has several scanning implements on it, such as:

• BG-MGN Magnetometer
• KE-S110 Medium Survey Unit
• Magnetometer Boom
• M700 Survey Scanner

In addition to all that, it has a couple of antenna and some solar panels, as well as fuel and a Poodle engine.  It is designed to look for Kethane, MetalOre, and Ore from orbit.  This in turn will help me to design ships and rovers specifically for landing and mining once I find decent pockets of the resources.  So we strap this thing to some go-go juice and send it skyward!

Spoiler

Now that we are in LKO, we are going to head first to the Mun and do some scanning there.  Let’s see what data we get!

Spoiler

Interestingly enough, there is one pocket of MetalOre in a crater (red in the first shot) near a pocket of Ore just outside the crater (orange in the second shot).  Unfortunately, the best shot at Kethane I’ve found so far (and I’d have to leave the satellite in orbit for a whole lot longer than I’m going to on this trip) is in a crater on the other side of the rock…right in the middle of a pocket of MetalOre.  This of course assumes I’m reading the colors correctly, which I could very well not be.  Anyhow, I’ve at least got a couple of spots to do some surveying and prospecting on the Mun, which is what I wanted to start with here.

I was originally intending to send this one probe on its way to Minmus after the Mun, but I realized that the Kethane scanning isn’t the whole body at once, but rather a section of it as the probe passes over that section.  Therefore, I should leave this probe in orbit so that it can continue to scan the surface for Kethane deposits, and send a second one up to Minmus.  So let’s do that!  I’m going to put this satellite in an orbital inclination of 135 degrees so as to scan as much surface area as possible in as little time as possible, and then send a second satellite to Minmus.  And let’s not forget that leaving this satellite here gives me another relay/communications satellite around the Mun, which is a good thing.  Anyhow, on to Minmus!

Spoiler

we have some good pockets of Ore, but no MetalOre.  Not yet, anyhow.  I’m leaving the satellite in polar orbit so it can continue to scan in the background whilst I do other things.

Completion Date/Time:  Year 6, Day 173, 2h, 8m

Note:  I put a completion date/time on here even though the scanning is still happening.  Why?  Because I’ll be moving on to the next phase of this, which is surveying and prospecting the sites I’ve identified.