EuROSTAR: Europe's Space Program (RSS/RO/RP-1)

[jimmymcgoochie]

As preparations for the big Moon landing mission accelerate, Algol Jupiter is also accelerating as it falls into Jupiter's vast gravity well. A course correction to align its trajectory with Ganymede's orbit should allow flybys of the four major moons- Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto- if the propellant margin allows.

As it continued its journey towards perijove(?), a new series of orbital imaging satellites were being prepared for launch on Empress rockets. The first Arcturus launch failed due to a significant lack of delta-V and the return capsule was destroyed after trajectory analysis showed it was going to land in North Korea, while the second launched on a significantly upgraded rocket and made it to its target orbit only to encounter severe power shortages that left it unable to run effectively. More work will be required to make the satellite operate effectively.

Back at Jupiter, the trajectory planners have really earnt their money with this one:

A double flyby in a single orbit!

More upgrades later, the newly improved Arcturus Mk2 launches on an Empress Mk2B. Upgrades include improved isogrid fuel tanks with reduced dry mass, solid rocket boosters with a 4+2 staggered staging pattern and lighter, more efficient solar panels to provide the necessary power for the camera array.

Each satellite has enough film for around a year of operation and there are another nine planned for launch over the next year or so.

Meanwhile, the construction works at Woomera have finally completed. The VAB was expanded and extended to allow three rockets to be built and integrated at once, while the Astronaut Complex was upgraded with new training and medical facilities to get the astronauts trained faster before each mission and recuperated sooner afterwards.

And now for the main event: Moonflight 1 is go for a Moon landing!

First, the Blitzar:

Then the Quasar tanker:

Meanwhile, Algol Jupiter approaches Ganymede and thanks to Gas Giants Enhanced new image enhancement techniques gets even better images of Jupiter as it gets close. Less than a day later it also flies by Io at even closer range.

With all four astronauts fully trained for the lunar mission, the choice of who gets to go was decided by a random number generator picking names out of a hat. Damien and Lynda were the lucky duo chosen for Moonflight 1, while Olga and Rene will be the backup crew ready to help out if anything goes wrong.

Much careful manoeuvring later...

The lunar stack is assembled, fully fuelled and ready to depart.

Next stop: the Moon!

Spoiler

Full album: https://imgur.com/a/WZFlLnP

 

[jimmymcgoochie]

Spoiler

I might have forgotten about this save recently, got distracted with P&LC instead.

Moonflight 1 completed its voyage to the Moon and captured into orbit. 

Damien and Lynda still didn't know which of them would be landing on the Moon, but the decision would be made by fellow astronaut Olga flipping a coin in Mission Control- with the result going Damien's way. They both suited up, depressurised the capsule and Damien made his way down to the lander's hatch, boarded and started up all the systems that would be needed for the landing.

A short while later he undocked, performed a deorbit burn and headed for the surface.

The target area was the Sea of Serenity, chosen for its almost flat terrain and lack of obstacles, except for one crater right in the middle that Damien somehow managed to almost land in before adjusting his trajectory to avoid it. The reliable RZ.20 performed flawlessly and the terminal descent thrusters fired up to bring the lander to a soft touchdown.

With the landing systems off, RCS disengaged and cabin depressurised again, Damien was finally ready to take the first steps on the Moon's surface. The TV camera above the hatch captured every moment as he descended the ladder, poked at the surface with the toe of his boot and then stepped down to the ground. The images were broadcast live on TV throughout Europe, Australia and the rest of the world, even reaching an Antarctic research facility where the occupants were braving winter conditions only marginally more hospitable than space.

With the eyes of the world watching, Damien assembled and planted a ceremonial flag bearing a modified version of EuROSTAR's logo with a star in the centre and a plaque on the base with the date of the landing: 14 July 1966.

The stay on the surface was relatively short so Damien had a lot more work to do: gathering samples of the lunar surface was high on the list, though getting a core containing both the fine lunar dust and the material underneath proved challenging without the benefit of Earth's gravity to force the core drill down into the surface or to provide the necessary anchorage to crank the handle; some experiment time was dedicated to investigating how to walk in low gravity, which led to Damien tripping and falling flat on his face in front of several hundred million people on live TV, while more time was spent deploying small experiment packages on the surface including retroreflectors, seismometers and micrometeor detectors,

With the science done, Damien boarded the Europa once again and prepared to lift off to rendezvous with Lynda in orbit. Due in part to the course correction to avoid landing in that crater, the landing site was slightly north of the Penguin Mk2's orbit and during the time spent on the surface the Moon's slow rotation had brought the lander back underneath that orbit, allowing a direct launch into the same orbital plane and inclination. Better still, the ideal launch window was at a point where the orbiter was about to fly overhead, meaning the two spacecraft were in close proximity when the Europa reached orbit again and a rendezvous could be performed within an hour of liftoff and within one orbit of the Moon.

The lander's automatic docking system brought it in close to the capsule before advancing to dock.

Once docked, everything useful from the lander- propellants, supplies and those precious samples* - was moved over to the capsule. With ample fuel remaining, the decision was made to keep the lander attached for the return burn so its engine could be used if the orbiter's failed; it didn't, but it's still better to have and not need than need and not have.

Spoiler

* I had to reload a save and refly the ascent to keep the surface samples instead of a fraction of a gram of that stupid blood experiment due to a lack of sample storage on the Gemini capsule pushing some samples into the lander can, which also had limited storage slots.

The return to Earth was uneventful and soon it was time to say goodbye to the lander and prepare for re-entry.

Re-entry was fierce at such a high velocity but the heatshield was up to the task and the parachutes deployed over the eastern Atlantic, bringing the lunar duo safely to a splashdown between Cape Verde and the Canaries where a flotilla of European naval vessels were waiting to pick them up.

There would be parades, ceremonies and interviews galore in the weeks and months to come, but with the capsule lifted aboard HMS Ark Royal, Damien and Lynda, safely ensconced in their quarantine pods, could enjoy a well-earnt good night's sleep.

Spoiler

Full album: https://imgur.com/a/WRVNf0E

And so concludes this report. It took a fair amount of config bashing and a little bit of suspension of disbelief regarding HTP's long term degradation to get this far, future tech options are very limited and there won't be a better place to end it unless I tried to go all the way to a Mars landing, which isn't something I want to try with such limited tech.