Salvaging 2 parts from Minmus (JNSQ)

[Krazy1]

I took 2 contracts to salvage parts from the surface of Minmus. Recovering them separately would be sufficient but not acceptable.

A custom vehicle was designed to fold up into a normal fairing shape, along with a nuclear powered tug that would be reused for a later Moho probe mission. 

Bug #1: Attempting to dock with another ship in Minmus orbit to refuel the tug resulted in an negatively damped oscillation between docking

ports... Video:

Trying to undock while "tail wagging" caused explosions...

Tried again- same result... 3rd time I undocked the recovery vehicle from the tug first and that fixed the problem somehow. Tug refueled:

1st part secured. The 53 km drive to the second part took a little over an hour. 

This one is... big.

The arm was removed so it would fit better. Note the total mass is 16t.

Bug #2: After reloading, the mass doubled. Somehow the nosecone magically filled with fuel. Fortunately I had drain valves along to drain it. Perhaps this is supports the "dark fuel" theory?

Waited a few days for the tug to pass directly over. 

Re-docked with the tug, reconfigured for Kerbin reentry and tried to balance it better.

Did 3 burns at Kerbin PE to reach LKO

Launched the reentry vehicle 

Clawing went well. 

Engine placement could have been better. Used low thrust to avoid burning the payload.

Bug #3: Time warped and everything exploded. 

I'm sure this is was related to the deformed robotic parts and claw on the heli engine. Reloaded and it was OK.

Peak temperature was 81%

SAS struggling to keep it straight with extra drag from the nosecone sticking out past the shield

Drogues deployed

Parachutes were placed a bit too low and it landed sideways, destroying the top docking port... but the only thing that mattered was the contracts were complete and I made a lot of money... umm I mean...  our brave kerbal survived. Of course.

 

 

[TwoCalories]

What a turboshaft and shuttle ET nosecone was doing on Minmus, we may never know... and that's probably a good thing.

[Tony Swallow]

Really cool lander/rover! Way more so than my recovery landers which are basically a tug with a clampatron on the bottom of them. I land next to the part and then use a small amount of throttle and RCS to get into place for the touchdown grab. I really like the idea of putting wheels on the hinges to deploy and also using struts to secure the load. Thankyou for sharing! 

[Krazy1]

4 hours ago, Tony Swallow said:

Thankyou for sharing! 

Thanks. Here's another rover I made (in stock system then)

 

Edited February 8 by Krazy1
found pics