Because We Kan: A Semi-realistic Quest to Interstellar!

[Watermel00n]

hi everyone i'm finally back after a near-fatal addiction to gregtech. So recently I've been working on a new save involving MKS and KSPIE. I will make a mission report-like updates here and when I finally stop procrastinating I will post these to my youtube channel. Without further ado...

Because We Kan!

Modlist:

Chapters:

1. Going up and staying there

2a. Mun time

2b. Minmus Probed

3a. Minmus Mission in Style! Part 1

3b. Minmus Mission in Style! Part 2

4. Expand the Station!

5.To the Mun!

Will Update!

 

Edited July 12, 2023 by Watermel00n

[Watermel00n]

1. Going up and staying there

Notes from me:

Spoiler

For some reason I used KCT to torture myself. Worst. Idea. Ever. But I'm keeping it anyways.

Hopper 1 [Year 1 Day 16]:

Spoiler

Hopper 1 at rollout. Beginning of my hatred of KCT (why does it take so long?) Obligatorily Jeb sits in the first vessel we launch.

Launch goes as planned. I usually angle my flea towards the sea to get science from that biome.

and a good amount of science is recorded. 44 science, not too shabby. It's enough to unlock engineering 101, basic and general rocketry. And thanks to KCT generating 3 science points in the R&D, I can also unlock survivability.

Hopper 2 [Year 1 Day 52]

Spoiler

All on liquid fuel this time! I was hoping I could make orbit. It's Val's turn, too bad Jeb!

However, due to low TWR and skill issue on my part, the rocket ended up a few m/s short of orbit. No big deal, we can still grab our much needed science. And thanks to our Astronaut Complex upgrade, we can also do EVAs for even more science.

This mission  brought up our total science count to 120 which is pretty good. Now I could get Basic Science, Stability and Advanced Rocketry, unlocking the Terrier (which pretty much made it easy to get into orbit) and other science thingamabobs, like barometers and Science Jr.

Funny Car [Year 1 Day 78]

Spoiler

Bob is at the wheel of this Biplane-engine driven car which has a few science thingys on it. After driving around some of the KSC (it's so hard to turn), I recovered it to the SPH (KCT feature where the vessel is stored instead of turned into funds) and got some useful 45 science, which I used for general construction. A second flight gave me 56 more science, which was used for Flight Control.

Hopper 3 [Year 1 Day 83]

Spoiler

Hopper 3 rises with the sun. I know that the unaerodynamic boosters probably enrage you as much as I felt, but I had to keep to part limit. Lucky Jeb gets to be the first kerbal into orbit!

Bit a splodey separation...

Booster separation, luckily, had no further difficulties.

Waiting for a while to suit out the apoapsis and periapsis. Also, the little light over near the horizon is Grannus, a red dwarf orbiting Kerbol.

I had enough fuel to get to High Space to get even more science.

Landing proceeded uneventfully. I got 112 science, bringing the science total to a whopping 161 science! Some of this was promptly used to unlock Space Exploration, giving me the Hitchhiker which would be useful for habitation on longer term missions, since I'm using USI-LS.

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by Watermel00n

[kurgut]

Sweet, happy beginnings and launchings ! Can't wait until this gets into the exploration / big missions, and near future bits  

Cheers

[Watermel00n]

Just now, kurgut said:

Sweet, happy beginnings and launchings ! Can't wait until this gets into the exploration / big missions, and near future bits  

Cheers

In fact I already have an interplanetary mission and a colony almost self-sufficient, but that will be later...

[Watermel00n]

2. Mun time

Notes from me:

Spoiler

I added scatterer for better visuals

Hopper 4 [Year 1 Day 107]

Spoiler

Hopper 4 is a conventional Sounding Rocket design carrying some Science Jrs and a thermometer. To keep the mass down I decided to use a stayputnik since I didn't need any SAS or reaction wheels for this mission. The rocket reached a height of 196 km before landing safely in the ocean with all that science.

The mission netted me 66 science, not bad. I also used the opportunity to send an ant engine to space to do a contract for some extra bucks.

Hopper 5 [Year 1 Day 109]

Spoiler

Jeb and Bob launch in Kerbalkind's first rocket to the Mun! The pod configuration is more practical than aesthetic but hey, it works.

Non-splodey booster separation.

Firing up the terrier!

After getting into orbit, the crew transfers into a free return trajectory to the Mun, using up all their fuel in the process. Hopefully nothing goes wrong...

What a nice view. Sadly, the crew weren't able to get into low space. Boo hoo.

Besides the scary reentry, nothing actually went wrong! The crew brought back 151, bringing the total science count to 340! I wonder what we could do with it...

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by Watermel00n

[KerballingSmasher]

Sick. That’s a follow from me!

[Watermel00n]

2b. Minmus Probed!

Notes from me:

Spoiler

This one is a little short because I'm going to leave for holiday soon.

Mun 1a [Year 1 Day 178]

Spoiler

Launch of Mun 1a, the first unmanned mission to another world!

Booster Separation.

Orbit Achieved

Plane changed.

Transfer burned.

Welcome to Minmus!

Orbit was achieved and science was captured. After that, I immediately set a course back to Kerbin.

Happy landings and 240 science is acquired!

 

[Watermel00n]

3a. Minmus Mission in Style! Part 1

Notes from me:

Spoiler

I'm back from holiday now! Also here is a picture of the tech tree at this point.

Sorry for the part 1/2 nonsense... I was about to post but I hit the undo key and couldn't redo it. Boo hoo.

Minmus Station [Year 1 Day 204]

Spoiler

In order to launch kerbals to Minmus, I would have to give them enough habitation points to want to continue working. This means lugging along extra seats or a habitation module. For this mission, I decided to add a Hitchhiker to keep the kerbals happy while at Minmus. To do this, I would need to build a large rocket to launch it all to Minmus. That would be far too expensive! So instead of doing that, I made a station with a lab and a habitation module. Now the science gathered on Minmus could be researched and multiplied without much work.

Liftoff!

Booster separation 1

Booster separation 2

And off goes the first stage! The second stage consists of 4 LV-909 "Terriers" and 1 Terrier tweakscaled to 2.5 meters. The 4 Terriers will also be used for the transfer to Minmus.

Second stage separation

In orbit! Now I just need to send up the crew.

Kerbin Shuttle Launch Vehicle -B [Year 1 Day 210]

Spoiler

Launch of the KSLV-B! This package contains a return pod and a lander for the station.

I'm just going to skip over to orbit.

Hi station!

Docked! The only thing I need to transfer the station to Minmus is fuel.

Tanker 1 [Year 1 Day 233]

Spoiler

And docked!

 

[Watermel00n]

3b. Minmus Mission in Style! Part 2

Notes from me:

Spoiler

Here's the second part. I'm pretty sure I could have posted the second part earlier but thanks for waiting!

Minmus Transfer [Year 1 Day 234 - 248]

Spoiler

After detaching the tanker, Jeb and Bill set a course for Minmus. The trip will take 14 days, which is no problem thanks to the habitation and supplies on the station.

Arrival at Minmus.

The return module was redocked to the back of the station so that the lander could used.

Minmus Landing [Year 1 Day 248]

Spoiler

Jeb EVAs to the lander. Fuel on the station is running really low so Jeb hopes he has enough for landing.

Oops! I meant to land in the flats! I sure hope the lander doesn't tip over!

Jeb: Oof! Did you have to send me flying into the ground at 12 m/s?

Me: You should be happy you made it down at all! I never tested this lander.

Jeb:

Me: Now hurry up and do the science.

After conducting all the science, Jeb plants a flag.

And he lifts off to dock with the station

All the science is now being researched by Bob.

We kame because why not? - Jeb Kerman [Year 1 Day 248]

[Watermel00n]

4. Expand the Station!

Notes from me:

Spoiler

Sorry for being away so long! Don't worry, the video's coming sooon!

Tanker 1b [Year 1 Day 269 - 280]

Spoiler

Night launch of a Tanker 1! This variant has more antennas, food supplies, and most importantly, reaction wheels! Docking will be much easier.

Off to Minmus!

Matching orbits with station.

I'll have to detach the return module due to not enough docking ports. When the krew get homesick, I'll just send Jeb to go get it back.

Annnnd docked! The tanker will stay docked until all the supplies on it are used up.

KSLV Derived Station Module [Year 1 Day 314 - 321]

Spoiler

Launch. This module, although it has KSLV in its name, only has the top half of it being the KSLV. The bottom half is a repurposed tanker launch vehicle.

Off to minmus!

Matching orbits...

Bill has brought a bunch of docking ports so he can dock this module to the station.

Right over here...

Docked!

 

 

[Watermel00n]

5. To the Mun!

Notes from me:

Spoiler

Can't remember when this happened, but I put the tanker with a scanner into a polar orbit to scan for resources

Mun 2 [Year 1 Day 360 - 367]

Spoiler

Launch of the Mun 2 on the largest rocket yet!

Massive boosters...

Yep this thing is definitely too OP

Off to the Mun!

Picking up a stranded kerbal...

Say hi to Catfel, who is, surprisingly, a level 4 pilot!

Mun descent...

Landed!

Flagged!

Now that I've done the science, it's time to leave!

And splashed!

 

[RevanX_LSR]

up next i would say duna which you do need a pretty big rocket for. Maybe try researching NERVs or something?