(7th Jan) Jool V - the hardest mission I've ever done...

[FTLparachute]

(this was taken during testing)

I think the title speaks for itself, but in this thread I'll be attempting the Jool V, landing on every moon of the green boi, and returning.

Why do this?

I have done technically complicated missions before, such as returning from New Horizons' Titanus, and a decent SSTO to Beyond Jool's Moach. However, this mission is going to be very challenging, a cut above the others in terms of sheer difficulty.

I also have previously done a Jool V, but despite being quite proud of the launch vehicle it was very barebones, something that I have certainly not done this time.

Mission Objectives

- Collect surface science from all of Jool's moons

- Deep-sea exploration of Laythe

- Return a Kerbal from Jool's sea level

Components

Tardigrades

Spoiler

The Tardigrades are the simplest parts of the mission, and are designed to sink in Laythe's ocean. The T1 models (pictured) will drive in and out of Crater and Crescent Bay, while the T0 has no wheels and will go to the Degrasse Basin, before being recovered by the Sea Hawk.

Hawk family

Spoiler

The Hawks are a set of 3 planes being used in this mission, and my best looking SSTO to date. The base Hawk is for ascent from Laythe. A second Hawk will ferry the crew from KSC to the mothership in LKO.

As neither can take off from water, and water landing is needed to recover T0, a derivative, named 'Sea Hawk', will also join the main mission. It will fly around Laythe, performing science in the poles before being ditched on the surface.

GTT

Spoiler

This lander is an evolution of the workhorse lander for a Grand Tour I did a while back. Nothing to really comment on, as this is easily capable of landing on Vall, Bop and Pol.

Potatus2

Spoiler

A vast improvement over the original Potatus, this is for Tylo. The rover has a lot of RTGs, enough that at high speeds the batteries will recharge. (NB - added extra ESU after pic taken)

Tribute

Spoiler

If you've seen my Titanus post, you'll recognize this, as it's the exact same rotorcraft, minus the legs and 2 Vectors. This lander is being used as it is recycled hardware from a previous mission, which did exactly the same.

J6 (Mothership)

Spoiler

Yet more recycled Tribute hardware, this is two of its transfer stages stacked on top of one another. The top one will detach to ferry the Tribute to Jool, while the lower section will carry the rest of the mission and has ISRU. The name is an abbreviation of Jool 6, the designation of the mission (1,2,3,4,5 being my previous big expeditions to Jool). It's shortened to keep this clear.

Now, all of these modules can be launched separately. However, I thought it would be quicker if I launched the entire J6 stack in one go. Just to keep things interesting, I used a Hawk to ferry the crew.

Y1, D1 - Hawk SSTO Launch

Spoiler

This is going up first, as the KSC is going to be a biohazard after the J6 launches.

A good scale for that rocket - though that's not the version actually being launched.

After levelling off at 4km, the true ascent begins.

Rapiers switch a little later than intended.

Flameout. Luckily, the NERVs are powerful enough to push the Hawk the rest of the way.

Final orbit until intercept with J6

Y1, D1 (10 mins later) - J6 launch

Spoiler

Needed to add fins to keep it from tumbling. Thanks to the launch vehicle, the total part count stands at 925.

This smoke cloud, scaled to Earth, would be a kilometer in radius. Then again, I'm surprised the KSC hasn't been flattened by the decibels of 28 Mammoths. Or Jeb, who is the sole pilot of this thing.

Even with the fins, the rocket still likes to wobble at Max Q.

Staging the lower boosters. Very explosive, I'm hoping nothing was damaged.

12 Rhinos push the J6 to orbit. that debris cloud though...

Engine cutoff. By now the debris is splashing down, presumably causing a local tsunami.

Orbital insertion, leaving J6 in a 120x136km orbit.

I'll pick up next time with the intercept of the Hawk and the J6, introduce the crew, and prepare to leave for Jool.

(I'll edit the date for the title so you know if it is an update or not)

Edited 19 hours ago by FTLparachute
polish

[DennisB]

Where are the pictures gone?

Luckily, I was able to see them earlier. This ship is really massive. I've got to hear, that my spaceships were huge, but this one has more mass in Kerbin orbit, than mine on the launchpad. I wish you good luck for the mission, and enough patience to deal with the lag .

[FTLparachute]

40 minutes ago, DennisB said:

Where are the pictures gone?

Pictures are still up on my end, but if they're not working I upload them through Imgur, so they should be here.

NVM, I might have deleted everything. (ill sort it out now)

40 minutes ago, DennisB said:

I wish you good luck for the mission, and enough patience to deal with the lag .

The funny thing is this isn't even the first time this has happened. The GT I mentioned earlier was also single launch. I do this to avoid doing dockings, as at this scale the lag can be very contentious, so it's usually just quicker to do single launch.

Edited 19 hours ago by FTLparachute

[FTLparachute]

Ok @DennisB, I've re-uploaded and then reinserted the images. Hope they're visible now.