(Feb 9) Jool V - the hardest mission I've ever done...

FTLparachute · January 26

16 hours ago, Kerbalsaurus said:

The Tardigrades are so goofy looking, I love them.

Just wait until you see how I reset the science experiments - that is much stupider.

FTLparachute · January 26

Y3 D170ish - Laythe, Part 2

Spoiler

Waited a couple of orbits until we were aligned with Feynman Base again - annoyingly this put us in an eclipse.

T1a undocks from the J6 - every Laythe module has been detached now, and the J6 can now commence more detailed studies of Laythe's surface.

Descent took a few attempts, as I needed to do a precision landing on the north side of the island - the T1s cannot go uphill very easily.

Landed successfully, but a drive is needed to reach Feynman Base. Shortish, though.

Eclipse now over and J6 in range, the journey can commence.

The rover is (big shocker) very top heavy at speed, very prone to flipping at speed and goes down hill very fast. The brakes are needed to stop the craft from breaking itself.

Interesting geological feature.

Soon, the T1a was at Feynman Base. However, Bill needed to readjust the Scanning Arm, as it was bent too far down to properly scan any features.

No luck, as Laythe's gravity is too high to reorient it. This is a solvable problem - it just means a second landing will be needed.

As for the J6, it stays in orbit for a few more days surveying for the Tripoint between Crater Bay, the Shallows and the Sagen Sea. Once this is done, an orbit is set for better Comnet linkage with the T1a.

However, once reaching this orbit, I realized that I only had 1 set of deployables on the GTT. This meant I could only get their science from 1 of Vall, Pol or Bop. While this is the first science loss of the mission, it also means that Bill is not needed for the Pol and Bop landings. Therefore, the J6 begins to set out for Pol refuelling, with Bob doing a solo run of Bop, then Pol, with the GTT.

But the T1a is ready for its expedition...

FTLparachute · January 27

Y3, D173 - Laythe, Part 3

Spoiler

After the incident last time, I took off with the T1a. Originally the plan was to drive directly to the Southern Tripoint, but as the craft is very slow underwater I made the decision to drive the rest of the island, without properly packing up the science equipment. No worries - this just means that the mission profile is going to be even funkier than before...

T1a departs. The way in which the Sci Jr and the Goo will be reset is by Kirk, holding on to a ladder at the back of the craft. Perfectly safe.

First rest stop, at the southern edge of Mt. Tardigrade, named as it was the landing site of the T1a.

Second point, further down the coast. No notable features present.

Long drive followed by some smaller hops to ascend a hill. Kirk also finds this island sticking out of the ice sheet, which he names after himself.

First sighting of Scott Point.

And arrival - this is the furthest the T1a can go on land.

After some time, Piper packs as much equipment as possible, before ascending from the surface.

Passing over the summit of Mt Tardigrade.

Scott Point visible. The craft is flying low to land as close to the tripoint as possible.

Splashdown, very close to the tripoint. The T1a only has... 16km to drive. Uh oh...

FTLparachute · January 27

On 1/26/2025 at 9:45 PM, FTLparachute said:

However, once reaching this orbit, I realized that I only had 1 set of deployables on the GTT. This meant I could only get their science from 1 of Vall, Pol or Bop. While this is the first science loss of the mission, it also means that Bill is not needed for the Pol and Bop landings. Therefore, the J6 begins to set out for Pol refuelling, with Bob doing a solo run of Bop, then Pol, with the GTT.

Very quickly doing an addendum on this - when I wrote this I assumed that the science in the Deployable was carried inside the part even when picked up by a Kerbal. However, I am now aware this is incorrect - the science is gathered by the Kerbal as a report. This means that I will simply be landing the J6 on Pol, with no antics on Bop or Pol, though Pasted may have to fly solo to fit Jeb level's crew requirements.

DennisB · January 28

On 1/25/2025 at 10:41 PM, FTLparachute said:

some funky techniques are use to get 4 copies of the split value experiments, with Buzz having to externally carry some up to the surface.

Will you tell us the details, how you collect the 4 copies? I'm curious.

FTLparachute · January 28

2 hours ago, DennisB said:

Will you tell us the details, how you collect the 4 copies? I'm curious.

I do an experiment, then transfer the data. For most of the craft, they have enough probe cores/ESUs/cabins for this, but for the T0 I did not fit it properly so the main set was held in the ESU (under the chute array), then the copies of the split-value experiments (atmo analysis, sci jr, goo, seismometer, gravioli and surface sample) were held in the pod, externally by Buzz and in the experiment parts themselves.

Pretty sure I could recover copies at the same time, if so I can do it separate.

...

Also IMPORTANT NOTICE - The T1s are (big shocker) not very fast underwater. As in it would take days to reach the Tripoint by driving underwater. Note of advice to trying to get Landed in this area - use a submarine. This is the first major science loss for the mission, though not one I'm particularly annoyed about.

Edited January 28 by FTLparachute
thx for 2k views

FTLparachute · January 29

Okay. This is absolutely terrible.

Despite it being able to do a water takeoff during testing on Laythe, even with infinite fuel turned on just to check, the Sea Hawk is completely incapable of doing so.

I will probably launch the whole thing again.

I am very sorry to have wasted the time of anyone reading the prior posts, but keep in mind that I have wasted far longer on this.

Stay tuned.

DennisB · January 30

Did you set the gliding coefficient in the cheat menu to 1 during the tests? The best way to eliminate this type of issue is, to start the test flight from orbit, but it takes longer. But there will be always a risk of undetected structural issues, if you change the structure of your vessels during the mission.

FTLparachute · January 30

1 hour ago, DennisB said:

Did you set the gliding coefficient in the cheat menu to 1 during the tests? The best way to eliminate this type of issue is, to start the test flight from orbit, but it takes longer. But there will be always a risk of undetected structural issues, if you change the structure of your vessels during the mission.

nope - tested it on kerbin, then laythe. didn't work.

besides, this has allowed me to build a working submarine so its not too bad

ill probably only post again once ive gotten everything back on laythe tho

FTLparachute · Saturday at 12:41 AM

Been a month since I started this thread, and on the 4th attempt too. I am 2 days later than I said I would be (disgraceful I know), so as a consolation this post has so much content that it could be a scapegoat for the next forum outage.

Anyway, before this mission I took on two new hires - Kirby Kerman (Scientist) and Scott Kerman (Engineer).

Y1, D174 - Launch of Jool VI

Spoiler

Launch is standard by this point.

I have made revisions to the Sea Hawk and replaced the T1 with the T2, and much like the real T2 have 'streamlined the pipeline' of the rocket, eliminating a whopping 8 of the 1170 parts previously on it.

Yet more 'pipeline streamlining', though much truer to life as the T2 is damaged in the process.

Orbit achieved.

Now, the procedure here is to burn as far as I can with the bottom stage. However, since a FRT presented itself, I thought it would be funny to do a cheeky Mun encounter.

Detaching the lower stage, while witnessing an eclipse.

Beginning the ejection burn...

...and ending it.

Following this are a series of MCCs to put us on a TGA, which then sets us up for an LGA further down.

Y4 - Jool Arrival

Spoiler

Jool looming. It's Y4 as I did not check the date upon entry.

TGA, with some scanning in prep for [REDACTED]

First science of the run. Trust me, there's a lot more to follow...

Setting up the LGA. Tribute will take the path down to Jool, while the Jool VI mothership will capture.

Bill moving the ISRU tanks off the relay, for later.

The J6 captures around Laythe,

Before the Tribute captures into LJO.

Y4, D49 - Jool Descent

Spoiler

During this mission I got hit with the 'Robotic parts malforming for no reason' bug glitch. So, to prevent any extra aero stress...

The transfer stage was used to decel during entry. Very annoyed I didn't wait to do this - would've looked sick with Firefly.

Descent was smooth, minus a misclick firing the Mites. Not that they're really needed anyway.

Jeb gets science, but his suit broke. Texturewise - it got overwritten by TR, not as in a puncture.

Ascent was wobbly due to the rotors and the craft's general design.

Orbit achieved! And with enough dV...

To capture around Laythe.

Y4, D51- Laythe, Part 1

Spoiler

First order of business is waypointing Crescent, Degrasse, Crater Tripoint and [REDACTED]. Moved orbits for this.

Tardigrade 2 deorbits, with Kirk onboard.

Kirk splashes down into Crater Bay, and becomes the first Kerbal to discover extraterrestrial life.

A quick sail? to the Sagen Sea.

Shallows now, and here you see how I'm getting as much science as I can - storing copies of experiments that don't give you the full science value.

A quick surfacing and tank depletion later, and the T2 is back above the waves.

Y4, D51 but later - Laythe, Part 2

Spoiler

Next up is bringing down the T0s, unchanged from the start (ono). First up is Kirby in Crescent Bay.

He collects only 3 copies, as the craft is registered as Splashed after he EVAs

Then comes Buzz to the Degrasse Sea. Much of the same.

Finally, the big event - the deorbit of the Sea Hawk - now capable of VTOL after I stuck two Darts to the bottom.

Picking up Kirby first - we need him to reset experiments.

Flying to the Peaks.

Taking science from the Peaks.

Flying to the Poles.

Taking science from the Poles.

Y4, D55 - Laythe, Part 3

Spoiler

Heading over to Buzz now.

Collecting Buzz from Degrasse Sea.

Orbital shenanigans - prepping the Hawk and disposing of the Relay, so I can collect deployable science instead of it transmitting.

Now over to the Tripoint, picking up Kirk.

Some shenanigans as I collect science around the Tripoint. It was here that I learned that grabbing the craft gives you splashed, after fighting the Scatterer oceans with Kirby for what felt like an hour.

Heading now to Crater Island.

Same trick as before, now with 'Ice'.

Y4, D56 - Laythe, Part 4

Spoiler

Quick look at the crater peak before going to the South Island.

Dune stuff, idk I'm running out of ways to describe this.

Heading to the Shores.

You know the drill.

Quick jaunt up to the peak of Mount Tardigrade, where the T1 landed on my last attempt.

It was during this eclipse that the orbit lined up for the Hawk. Due to me forgetting to add a probe core and now needing 6 Kerbals to fly in this plane, Felipe boarded the seat and got a bit warm. Landing was a nightmare, as the eclipse blocked out the light from the wheels, meaning it took several attempts to properly land. But, I did it eventually.

Bringing over the Kerbals and setting up the deployables. Unfortunately, the seismometer would not accept me sacrificing the Sea Hawk, so it was useless and the first major science loss.

Y4, D57 - Laythe, Part 5

Spoiler

Prepping the Hawk for launch, and saying farewell to the Sea Hawk.

Ascent to orbit - forgot to take the orbit picture tho lol.

Rendezvous with the Tribute, picking up Jeb.

Massive blunder - tried and failed to be smart with the Hawk and couldn't be bothered quickloading to fix.

Here comes the cavalry.

Transferring all the soft/hardware back from the Hawk-Tribute. Total science is now at 523.

(whew, that was long)

MSteele · Saturday at 12:54 AM

Woah! I've only skimmed the first bit, but plan on reading it all! This looks incredibly cool. And here I am just doing sounding rockets not even getting into orbit yet. This is super nice.

FTLparachute · 2025-02-09T23:49:02Z

Y4,D93 - Tylo, Prelude

Spoiler

A series of burns are done to get a Tylo encounter.

Using a Vall fly-by and correcting.

Capturing into a 35km orbit above Tylo.

Reattaching the GTT after the Potatus2 is undocked with Jeb, Dave and Bill onboard. This had consequences.

Landing the P2 at the south edge of Grissom Crater.

Dave's flag betrays it - the Potatus will do an Elcano circumnavigation on Tylo. Dave, and the crew, are told how this relates to the reason this mission exists - investigating several magnetic anomalies found in the Jool system.

Surface antics.

Y4, D125 - Pol, Part 1

Spoiler

Transferring to Pol.

While I was enamored with Parallax Pol, the consequence of playing KSP reared its head. The docking ports had broken. Luckily, I was able to fix it through changing the state of the port in the persistent.sfs file (edited the state of the port from 'disengage' to 'docked'.

Landed on Pol to refuel. Val and Bob stay in orbit - per the rules of Jeb Level, I need a unique Kerbal per moon, and they're needed for Vall and Bop.

Rendezvousing the two, and scanning for PMA-1. Felipe, Pasted and Scott will take the GTT down to the surface.

Collecting science from Pol space.

Approaching Poole Crater, PMA-1 is visible as a small black dot.

Landed on Pol, and scanning the Yellow Stone.

Felipe gets out to visit PMA-1, and discovers it to be a monolith, with a distinctive dark green colouring. Inscribed onto the structure is a logo, with the word that Felipe, as a Kerbal, reads as 'Qauds'. He gets a weird sense of deja vu, feeling as if he knows this mysterious entity.

And then SAF played Blue Danube, because of course it did.

Y4, D168 - Pol, Part 2

Spoiler

After being thoroughly spooked by the monolith, the rest of the biomes were scienced.

Midlands and Highlands, specifically.

Landing at the Poles, the deployable seismometer is readied.

Protocol is simple - the J6 accelerates at the GTT site, then at 250m/s detaches one of the pylons on the Cupola module.

Impact. Now to wait until the Ionographer is finished..

Packing up the modules.

Redocking with the J6. Now, onto Bop.

Y4, D241 - Bop, Part 1

Spoiler

Transfer goes well

Scanning goes well, not only picking up BMA-1 in the south, but also a strange seismic signal near the poles, which the GTT crew, now Piper, Bob and Scott, elect to investigate first.