Meltdowns 2023 career

[Duke MelTdoWn]

I started a new career game at the beginning of 2023, normal difficulty, stock + Breaking Ground.
Here is an overview of the current status, you join me at the end of day 49.

Y001D049H5M29
Funds: 9,081,558 (all building upgrades unlocked)
Science: 4269 (everything researched)
Reputation: 846 (148 contracts completed)
Flights: 99
Assigned Kerbals: 58

Mun

MunStation I

Currently 768 parts, 248 tons, 7 crew. 55x56km equatorial Mun orbit. This was my first Station. First module was launched on day 7 (16.02.23).

Spoiler

Many modules were added to it over time. The old OXSTAT  panels were upgraded in a futile attempt to get the part count down.

Two Mun Landers (CarLa class) are also stationed here. MunMiner III can be seen in the picture at the far left, but is currently not docked. 

The latest addition was a Ottar Refinery and Reginn Ore Miner. I used it to complete a contract to have 5000 ore on board the station.

Reginn is currently on its way to rendezvous with Pannychis in low Kerbin orbit (next contract to have ore there). Also, the two crew with Mun experience will relieve some rookies for the trip to Gilly.

MunStation II

Currently 485 parts, 163 tons, 2 crew.  55x56km equatorial Mun orbit on opposite side of MunStation I. This was split off from MunStation I on day 34 (02.04.23) in another attempt to get the frame rate back up.

Spoiler

The latest addition was Billy-Bobos Lab, which was salvaged by a Giraffa Rover from low Mun orbit.

CarLa 7 and MunLab I are docked here.

Mun Station 'Freia'

Currently 361 parts, 119 tons, 4 crew.  56x53km polar Mun orbit. This is a prototype of Moho Exploration Stack 'Maia' being tested. Launched on day 30.

Spoiler

Loki is a prototype of the Icarus Lander (without the rover deployment feature). It ran out of fuel when I attempted two landings in one go and had to be rescued by a Samaritan Rover.

Sindri is a prototype of Hephaistos (without the telescoping grip pads).

MunMiner II

126 parts, 75 tons, 7 crew. Currently landed near Mun Arc to show 5 tourists the sights. Launched on day 19.

Spoiler

MunMiner III

129 parts, 70 tons, 3 crew. Currently landed in Soutwest Crater on rover repair contract. This is much more stable when landed than MunMiner I or II. Launched on day 22.

Spoiler

'Samaritan' Refueling Rover

78 parts, 26 tons, 1 crew. The Samaritan design came in handy twice already to refuel Giraffa and Loki.  Currently landed in Highlands to gather scans from large Mun craters. Launched on day 38.

Spoiler

'Teardrop 11' Shuttle

57 parts, 25 tons, 4 crew. Teardrop 11  is currently inbound from Minmus to MunStation I. On board is part of the original crew of MinmusBase I and a tourist. This was originally launched to Minmus on day 33.

Spoiler

 

Edited September 20, 2023 by Duke MelTdoWn

[Duke MelTdoWn]

Minmus

MinmusBase I

204 parts, 63 tons, 4 crew. Landed in Lowlands on 14.39% ore. I used this Mentha class base to explore the entirety of Minmus. The detachable pods came in very handy for biome hopping and contracts. One of my most efficient designs. Launched on day 17, arrived on day 24.

Spoiler

I recently constructed a small sat from spare parts to complete the "Return a vessel from surface of Minmus" criterion.

MinmusStation I

189 parts, 52 tons, 4 crew. 36x35 km equatorial Minmus orbit. Launched on day 27. Arrived at Minmus on day 37.

Spoiler

MinmusMiner I

149 parts, 70 tons. Currently docked at MinmusStation I. This was originally destined the be the fourth Miner on the Mun, but due to navigation error ended up here. Launched on day 31.

Spoiler

MunMiner I

137 parts, 65 tons. Currently docked at MinmusStation I. This was transferred from the Mun because it was too unstable when landed. Launched on day 17 to the Mun. Transferred to Minmus on day 29, arrived on day 36.

Spoiler

'Icarus II' Minmus Lander

85 parts, 12 tons. Currently docked at MinmusStation I after a Sat repair contract and trip to the North Pole. This is a flight spare of Icarus as flown on the Maia stack to Moho. An Antlion and Scarab rover are also available for deployment by Icarus II. The grabbing unit of Antlion comes in real handy. Launched on day 33, arrived on day 40.

Spoiler

'Sandworm' Rover Prototype

123 parts, 49 tons, 2 crew. Recently landed in Lowlands for testing. This is the prototype of the Sandworm en route to Moho. Very compact for its capabilities (Lab, large ISRU, long range). Launched on day 39.

Spoiler

I burst a tire, should have picked a flatter spot for landing. Or not landed with the 'Piggyback' Range Extender attached.

Edited September 20, 2023 by Duke MelTdoWn

[Duke MelTdoWn]

Moho

... if they can make their capture burns.

'Maia' Moho Exploration Stack

"We have come to stay, and we brought toys." Maia was the first interplanetary stack launched in this career. I hope I packed everything I need. Launched on day 32; VeHeReLau recovered day 33; day 33 - 40 periapsis kicks; Kerbin escape burn day 43

From left to right: VeHeReLau Launcher, Icarus Lander, Hermes Station, Hephaistos Miner, Nabu Depot with Antlion and Scarab Rovers attached, Phaethon Relay Carrier

Spoiler

'Sandworm' Exploration Rover

"The best part is no part and the less parts the better." Sandworm was flown as an insurance policy if Maia runs into trouble. Prototype is currently at Minmus.

'Sancus' Long Range Shuttle

"I did not read the fine print." Sancus was flown as an insurance policy if one of the Kerbals gets homesick.

Edited September 21, 2023 by Duke MelTdoWn

[Duke MelTdoWn]

Gilly

'Pannychis' Gilly Exploration Stack

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."
509 parts, 120 tons, 5 crew.  'Pannychis' is currently doing periapsis kicks to transfer from Kerbin orbit to Eve.

Edited January 17 by Duke MelTdoWn

[Duke MelTdoWn]

I returned to the game after a year. We are now on day 59.

Y001D059H1M23
Funds: 11,720,970 (all building upgrades unlocked)
Science: 5223 (everything researched)
Reputation: 867
Flights: 109
Assigned Kerbals: 70

Some of the updates from previous days were posted in the "What did you do today" thread.
Day 50-52
Day 50-52 continued
Day 52-55
Day 55-57
Day 55-57 continued
Day 57-58

Edited January 14 by Duke MelTdoWn

[Duke MelTdoWn]

Career day 58 - 59

'Gege II' Miner + 'Runabout' orbital shuttle arrived with their crew of rookies at MunStation I. 

'Pannychis' did its second split burn and is ready to escape to Eve on the next periapsis. 

'Gege' Miner left 'MunStation II' and landed in Canyons. After finding very little ore there, it relocated to East Farside Crater.

'Gege II' left 'MunStation I' and also landed in East Farside Crater to meet up with 'Gege'. 'Gege' took on two crew from 'MunStation I' to bring up to 'MunStation II' so they can catch a ride on 'Teardrop II' to Minmus. 

 
'Gege II' also brought a new Experiment Station from Kerbin which was set up by the experts from 'Gege'. The landing side was pretty steep. Don't try to place experiment stations while your lander is sliding downhill! 

With both Miners down on the surface, I got lucky and received an "Extract 1150 ore from the Mun" contract, which was finished in less than two hours. East Farside Crater has 13.8% ore in my campaign.
Landing 'Gege II' also completed a "Land a base for 5 on the Mun" contract.
'Gege' then returned to 'MunStation II' with 1500 ore. I will need bigger ore and LF tanks on 'MunStation II' if I don't want to wait for ISRU conversion after every landing.

Meanwhile on 'MunStation II', the partial disassembly of 'MunMiner II' continued. I moved over some batteries, docking ports and ladders to the station. I mounted parachutes brought up in the 'Gege' launch so I can recover 'MunMiner II' on Kerbin.

I had taken on a contract to do seismic scans near 'CareerRover 08' close to KSC. 

After driving to the first four sites, each about 5 km appart, I had enough. I designed the 'La Bomba' research drone to fly to Epsilon site.

I continued to refine this design in Sandbox to be easier to fly and land. By strapping on two more Junos, I was even able to go supersonic with it (Mach 2).

'La Bomba II'
Research Drone
3x Juno
Launch mass: 2.9 tons
Price: 13,185
Max speed: Mach 2 at 8000 m
Service ceiling: 18,000 m
Endurance: ~ 30 minutes

Also in Sandbox, I designed the 'Bird of Prey' shuttle to take up the challenge of Lyra to make "the most beautiful-looking SSTO I have ever constructed so far".

I think I failed because I got carried away with practicality and range concerns

'Bird of Prey'
Passenger SSTO
1x Rapier
Launch mass: 20.0 tons (without passengers)
Price: 36,233
Delta-V: ~ 1500 m/s left after insertion into 75x75 km Kerbin Orbit (with 4 passengers)
TWR: 1.4 in Low Kerbin Orbit (with 4 passengers)
Crew capacity: 4

Edited January 17 by Duke MelTdoWn

[Duke MelTdoWn]

Career day 59 - 60

'SatContract BA' launched - position a sat in keosynchronous orbit. Used a 'Gler' launcher and got into the target orbit quickly without trouble. I launched when the ascending node was nearly overhead and could get to final orbit without circularizing first.
'Gler' will reenter Kerbins atmosphere tomorrow and I will try to get back close to KSC for recovery.

It is Mun to Minmus transfer season. 32 crew and tourists are currently inbound for MinmusStation I.
'Runabout' left 'MunStation I' today with 8 crew

'Munair' had already undocked from 'MunStation II' the previous day and left today, also with 8 onboard.

'Teardrop II' took another 8 from 'MunStation II' today.


'Valkyrie' was in Kerbin parking orbit after picking up crew from 'Freia' in polar Mun orbit. Also burned for Minmus today with 8.

'Sandworm' was busy grinding out contracts on Minmus. 
First it flew some hundred kilometers north to do some seismic scans.

Then it salvaged another rover and dragged its picked over corpse to the target aera. I'll keep that RTG, thanks.



Afterwards it extracted 600 ore. I had to dump ore and LF because it only has 75 ore capacity.

'Pannychis' did its final ejection burn for Eve. 774 m/s, burn time 4:40. Eve Arrival in 178 days.

'Gege II' dumped already mined ore to complete another 'Extract 550 ore from the Mun' contract. Then it returned to MunStation I. This was the best "return to station" maneuver I have flown yet, 25 minutes from liftoff to rendezvous. I took off when the Station was flying overhead and slightly before me (distance 60km on a 55x55km orbit).

Initiated 'Operation Thors Hammmer' to get Seismic Sensor readings from the Mun. The plan is to use 'Gege' to mine 1500 ore and then impact the full tank into the surface.

On 'MunStation II' the EVA construction continued, I started to dismantle 'Module 8' and created some new docking opportunities. This is in anticipation of 'Thors Hammer' arriving with a new module which will make 'Module 8' obsolete.

Edited January 17 by Duke MelTdoWn

[Duke MelTdoWn]

Career day 60 - 61

'Gege II' docked at MunStation I, its belly full of ore from East Farside Crater. The orphaned labs are working again, now manned with fresh crew.

'Gler' reentered the atmosphere after delivering SatContract BA to keosynchronous orbit. Because the orbit was inclined, it was about 150 kilometers north of KSC when it went subsonic. I flew back to KSC and had to glide the last 20 kilometers because I went out of fuel. Touched down successfully, but there is some pitch/roll coupling when gliding while empty.

 

'MunMiner II' left 'MunStation II' with 6 veteran crew and one tourist to be recovered at Kerbin.

Launched a 'Bird of Prey' (stylish coupe version) to rescue Lagerbree from LKO. I needed three tries to judge the time for takeoff just right so I do not need to wait around for a rendezvous. Distance of 190km for an ~ 85x85 km orbit worked. My periapsis was slightly inside the atmosphere (67km) to catch up quickly. Landing back at KSC went smoothly. Total mission took 1H 12M.

Spoiler

Launched a 'La Bomba II' to make pressure scans near CareerRover 08. This was much faster than driving and what 'La Bomba' was designed for. But I crashed 3 times, good that I play easy mode.

Flew back 'Baobab BA' drone from the tree it had scanned 10 km to KSC runway and recovered it.

Then launched 'Baobab DA' to scan a Giant Quartz. Found one after about half an hour of flying through the Mountains. Landing near it worked on second try, but then I crashed many times while driving the last 500 meters. Drone is still parked near the crystal.

I continued to design the stack to be sent to 'MunStation II' for Operation Thors Hammer. Will consist of 'SatContract CA' probe, 'Module 10' ore/LF storage for MunStation II, 'Thors Hammer' Impactor and 'Runabout II' Lander. All brought to orbit by a 'Light Reusable Launcher' augmented with Kickbacks. Recruited 5 fresh crew and 3 tourists for this upcoming launch.

Edited January 16 by Duke MelTdoWn

[Duke MelTdoWn]

Career Day 61 continued

'Thors Hammer' launched and executed its trans-munar injection. 

'SatContract CA' undocked from the top of the stack and did an additional burn to arrive in retrograde Mun orbit. Contract completed.

'MunStation II' prepared for the arrival of 'Thors Hammer' by modifying 'Module V Storage' with additional docking ports and moving it over to 'MunLab I'.

The 'Light Reusable Launcher' of 'Cerulean' Base was recovered 3.2 km from KSC.

The 'Medium Reusable Launcher II' of 'Gege II' + 'Runabout' was recovered 39.1 km from KSC. Landed on the side of a mountain, lost a Lightstrip Mk1.

A VIP booked a trip to Mun orbit. But he is stingy with the money, so he only gets to fly on a 'RyanAir'. Lost the nosecone during ascent at about 15km due to overheating, which slowed me down. I should have barely enough delta-v left to get to Mun orbit and back.

'MunMiner II' did its first aerobraking pass at Kerbin. Do not put storage containers on the windward side if you want to keep their contents!

 

[Duke MelTdoWn]

Career Day 62

'Thors Hammer' arrived at 'MunStation II'. 'Module 10' was attached at the large docking port, then the Ore Impactor was moved over to 'Gege'. Finally, 'Runabout II' also docked. Now waiting for sunrise above East Farside Crater to execute the seismic impact.

Also prepared 'MunStation II' for the undocking of 'MunLab I' and 'Module V'. These will form the core of a new Minmus station. I installed some freshly arrived Experiment Storage and moving over some data to 'MunLab I'.

'RyanAir' executed its transfer burn and arrived with its VIP in Mun orbit. Will return to Kerbin after going around once.

'MunAir' did two correction burns to speed up its arrival at Minmus by 10 days. Must have messed up the original Mun - Minmus transfer maneuver.

'MunMiner II' did its 2nd and 3rd aerobrake passes at Kerbin. No parts flew off this time.

Recovered 'SkyLift 12' on Runway. This SSTO was launched 50 days ago to deliver relays into Kerbin orbit. Cut it very close with the fuel, reentry periapsis 52 km instead of 42 km when I ran out. Could compensate by creating additional drag by flying radial out until 55km.

Recovered the 'Light Reusable Launcher' of 'Thors Hammer' from 150x150 km orbit. Landed in the sea 45 km from KSC.

Started development of 'Draupnir' Advanced Miner. Will run 2x Nerva, 2x drills and have ISRU on board so it can mine at night using fuel cells.

[Duke MelTdoWn]

Career Day 63

'MunMiner II' did its 4th, 5th and 6th areobraking passes. After the 6th pass, it became suborbital. I fired the engines to get closer to KSC and barely made it to the west coast. On touchdown under chutes, the Rockomax-64 exploded. Jeb and the rest of the veteran crew are fine. Recovered 46,000 Kerbucks and even got 94 science.

'Gege' undocked from 'MunStation II' and landed to conduct the 'Thors Hammer' experiment. East Farside Crater was chosen as site because there are already 3 existing Grand Slam Seismometers in close vicinity and ore concentration is high. I think with the Ore Impactor attached 'Gege' looks like a bacteriophage. Debbro and Harly showed the rookies how to set up an experiment station.

'Teardrop II' and Runabout did their plane correction burns on the way to Minmus. 

Jendous and Errigh are my first Kerbals to achieve 3 stars after entering orbit around the Sun on 'Pannychis'. 'Pannychis' did a short correction burn to set Eve periapsis at 75 km.

 

Derald is stranded in retrograde orbit, after his ill fated attempt to repair a Sat for a contractor. Time to mount a rescue mission!
I found flying a SSTO into retrograde orbit is much harder because the mountains are in the way. While developing 'Naga II' in Sandbox, Agadock took the "keep as flat as possible" very seriously. The challenge when flying these designs is that you need to get the apoapsis high enough to execute the flip maneuver.

With some veteran engineers recovered from 'MunMiner II', I sent Gembin in a 'Naga II' to grab Derald and repair that cursed Sat. 

I then started to fiddle around with 'Naga III'. It will embrace the two stage design more and feature impressive range, once I get it working. I found that the Big-S wings create too much drag for this size of plane (~20 tons) and went back to wing strakes.

[Duke MelTdoWn]

Career Day 64

The 'Thors Hammer' experiment was concluded successfully. 'Gege' mined the 15 tons of ore to fill the Impactor in about 2 hours. Then 'Gege' ascended back to orbit and released the Impactor on a suborbital trajectory. As it turns out this trajectory was too flat (I tried to save fuel by releasing the Impactor early). The Impactor hit the crater rim of East Farside Crater instead of the middle. Nevertheless, the impact energy was high enough (182%) to register across 7 seismometers scattered around the Mun, yielding about 310 science points. The probe core of the Impactor survived the initial crash and bounced back to 12 km altidude before coming down 18 minutes later 363 km from the primary impact site. 'Gege' is now back en route to MunStation II.

 

'Naga II' made its way to Derald stuck in retrograde Kerbin orbit on 'Naga I'. Gembin showed him how to properly repair a broken solar panel. After dividing up the fuel of 'Naga II', there should be enough to bring both Nagas home.

The crew of MinmusBase I took one of their Pods to improve a Sat with an additional battery. They then will make their way to MinmusStation I for a crew and data exchange.

I began some EVA construction on MinmusStation I so the armada of shuttles that will arrive beginning tomorrow can be properly welcomed. The 'Piggyback' range extender of 'Sandworm' will be reconfigured into a LF storage tank and docking ports for the station.

Started development of 'Humpback' SSTO with MK3 cargo bay to salvage/deorbit old satellites, but I don't like how it flies.

I also investigated whether adding the inline shock cone like that of 'Naga III' to 'Bird of Prey' would be beneficial. But this only drives up cost and increases the range by only a little bit. Maybe on MunAir II to add better docking?