Long-term Laythe Mission (pic heavy) - ^_^ With Part 45 ^_^

[Brotoro]

Many of my craft depend on the heavy-duty landing legs. My Reusable Rocket, the core launch vehicle of my space program, uses them to safely recover the parts of the rocket for re-use (or so I imagine).

I did some test launches and found that the side boosters landed OK...although they ended up sitting on the engine bell of their Mainsails...but they did not hit hard enough to damage the engines.

The sustainer seemed to land fine as well...

...but after a few seconds I noticed the slow, relentless, ponderous tipping...

...and it broke into three pieces. No explosions, surprisingly enough for KSP, so I guess the parts are mostly reusable...but not the desired result. Maybe if I had watched the Boosters long enough, they would have tipped over, too.

I suppose I could use longer girders to mount the gear on, which could stop the stages from landing on their engine bells, but unless I build the girder structures wider (like permanently-open landing legs) the sustainer will tip over anyway. Oh, these "improved" landing legs make me very unhappy.

Edited October 19, 2013 by Brotoro

[SpaceSphereOfDeath]

Add reaction wheels to your boosters, just to make sure.

[Deddly]

I have built and tested an upgraded version of the GasStation:

<snip>

I also had to add girders on top to place the refueling booms high enough. So, six extra parts and their extra weight.

Could you not forego the extra upper girders by angling the refuelling girders up slightly? You'd need a corresponding angle down on the docking port too, of course. That saves you three parts.

--

Ed

[Exovian]

I'm loving this! I am definitely using the gear setup on the BirdDogs in my upcoming mission.

[Patupi]

A long time ago (shortly after 0.19 and wheels came out) I used something similar, but I didn't do as well as Brotoro did. Mine used four landing gears and four wheels (this wasn't an aircraft, but a rover to transfer Kethane stuff around a base), but the height difference was rather higher. With that much variance it tended to jump a bit, and wasn't reliable at matching the docking port. I gave up at that point. Brotoro's way seems much better. With only two landing gear hinging on the rover wheels it's more stable and he has the difference between wheels and gear set less than I did. Less bounce At the time I just figured I needed the distance to make sure the docking port magnets didn't mess me up. Seems not.

One of these days I'm going to try this again and refine it... if I can stay away from SCIENCE long enough

(EDIT: Actually, if I remember right, my first attempts used large landing legs instead of landing gear. Imagine the bounce from that! Definitely didn't work well Though I did get a connect... sideways, on occasion. IE docking ports front and rear instead of above and below)

Edited October 22, 2013 by Patupi

[Brotoro]

Long-term Laythe - Part 18

Vall Venture - Part 5

Vall

On Vall, Hellou continues to study the Vallhenge while Emilynn takes some R&R back in the crew module.

Hellou: "I'm setting some explosive charges, Emi. I'll need you suited before I can blow them. Regulations."

Emilynn: "Are you going to try blasting one of those monoliths? Cool."

Hellou: "No. These are small explosives for seismic imaging the area under the henge. I'm not allowed to do anything destructive to the Vallhenge. General Bob Kerman's orders were very specific on that. I think maybe he's some kind of henge worshiper."

Emilynn: "Whaat? Like some kind of space druid?"

Hellou: "I don't know. But I noticed he wears a weird medallion with a Vallhenge-looking symbol on it. But he wouldn't talk about it."

Emilynn: "Oh. Jebediah wears one of those. He said it was his 'curse'...and some kind of ancient artifact. He said there were only three like it. Of course, we had been drinking all night before that, so maybe he was talking nonsense."

Hellou: "Huh. Let me know when you are suited up."

Hellou: "Hey, Emi... did you do something to the high gain antenna?"

Emilynn: "The antenna? No. Hold on, I'm coming out. Is it broken?"

Hellou: "No... It looks...bigger. And...less umbrella-like."

Emilynn: "Let's see. No. It has always looked like that. A standard Communotron model 88-88."

Hellou: "Are you sure? It looks different to me."

Emilynn: "Different? No. It's always looked like that. This isn't going to be another one of those things like when you said the Mün suddenly had a lot more craters, is it? Because the psych-boys thought you were going a bit goofy with that claim. They almost pulled you from the mission."

Hellou: "Don't remind me. But, yeah...it's that same kind of feeling. Like...no. No. The antenna was always like this, you're right. OK...fire in the hole!"

After another day of studying the Vallhenge, our heroines prepare for the long drive back to their lander near the equator. Another epic drive, but just more of the same. So I decided to experiment with MechJeb's rover autopilot (or whatever it's called) that allows you to set a heading and speed that MechJeb will attempt to keep. But right away I ran into some problems because the route out of Hecate Basin toward the northeast has some slopes that the Fido can't take very fast going head on... so I had to keep manually adjusting the direction of the Fido to keep it moving around ridges.

Below, the Fido rover heads up the long slope out of Hecate Basin.

Hellou: "Hmmm. That's strange."

Emilynn: "What's up, Chickadee?"

Hellou: "You remember we measured the magnetic field strength around the Vallhenge a couple days ago, right?"

Emilynn: "Sure. Why ask?...don't you trust your memory?"

Hellou: "No... I have notes. But the magnetic field appears to have expanded over the last couple days. It's covering a much larger area in the basin now."

Emilynn: "Is that bad?"

Hellou: "No. It's just mysterious."

Emilynn: "This whole Vallhenge thing is mysterious. I can't say I'm unhappy to be leaving the place."

Below, Emilynn does some more wild driving down the slopes. Actually, the MechJeb autopilot doesn't seem to do very well at maintaining the set speed. The Fido would always pick up speed beyond the set limit going down slopes. Maybe MechJeb is trying to control the speed by only changing the forward throttle setting, and not using the brakes at all. So it turned out that I had to constantly monitor the rover anyway and apply brakes on the downslopes to keep from going too fast.

Another example of exciting driving is shown below. It's amazing how far this thing can 'fly' without smashing (as long as it an all downhill slope...don't try this if there are any sharp inclines immediately after flying over a downslope. I always brake to slow down before that kind of terrain.

Hellou got a bit tired of being bumped around by Emilynn's driving, so she took her turn at driving the Fido...and Emilynn sat on top.

MechJeb was more useful on the long relatively level stretch of driving back up along Eve Basin, but I still had to watch its speed and apply brakes if any 'interesting' terrain was coming up. Below, the Fido approaches the Vall Lander base area.

Hellou: "I must admit, it's going to be nice to get back in the lander and be able to stretch out more. Help me get all the samples stowed, please, Emi."

Emilynn: "Sure. Say...does it look like the landing legs on the lander are sagging more than before?"

Hellou: "The legs? Hmmm. No. They look the same. Now who's imagining things?"

Emilynn: "Well...OK. I'll check the hydraulic system anyway after we transfer the samples."

Hellou: "Hmmmm..."

Emilynn: "Problem?"

Hellou: "No. Just looking at the high gain antenna on the lander. Never mind. It's always been that way. Just like the Mün has always been covered with craters. Let's not mention it again."

Aldner

We left Aldner having a nice nap by Dragon Eye Lake on Thompbles Island (affectionately known as DracoDuck Island by some). He began another day of exploration by heading east.

Over the ridge, Aldner drove down to the seashore to check out its suitability as a potential base area. The southwest shore of the bay is not too bad -- a nice smooth area, but not very large. So Aldner drove the BirdDog around the north side of the bay, along the side of the high ridge seen in the bottom picture below.

There is a larger, if not flatter, area on the northeast corner of the small bay that is in the back of the dragon's head. Below is a map showing the location, and an overview image of the area looking from the northeast.

Aldner: "Yo, Cap'n Late-Sleeper! Are you awake yet?"

Thompbles: "I read you, Aldner. Just because the sun rises earlier for you does not mean we are sleeping in here."

Aldner: "Sure thing, Cap'n. I'm at the back of your head now. A fairly large and fairly flat base area."

Thompbles: "My head? I told you before, I'm not a dragon!"

Aldner: "Hey, no need to breathe fire about it. I'm going to do some surface sampling. Call you back later."

Below, the next stage of Aldner's drive is along the long, curving neck of the dragon. It's mostly a long, rounded ridge, but Aldner has lots of experience driving crosswise along slopes.

There turned out to be a wide flat area where the dragon' neck makes a sharp curve, so Aldner drove in there to check it out. A surprisingly nice area, well above sea level, broad and flat.

Aldner: "Yo, Cap'n T. Do you copy?"

Thompbles: "I hear you. What's up, Aldner?"

Aldner: "I'm at the big bend in your neck now. Nice higher base area. I'll get out and sample. I hope it won't tickle you, sir."

Thompbles: (scratching noises) "What is this, Aldner? Some kind of space voodoo?"

Aldner: "Just keeping in touch, sir, as per regulations."

Below, Aldner's travels so far today are shown by the thick dotted line. The thinner lines mark the previous and upcoming legs of the trip.

Heading down the neck, Aldner got as high as 1940 meters passing over the high point of the neck ridge.

Heading down from the high ridge, Aldner found a fairly nice area along the west coast of the lower neck. The overview shot below, looking from the south-southeast, shows that it is a large useful area -- not all smooth, but many smooth area separated by low sloping ridges...more promising than it looked from orbital photos, anyway.

Aldner headed down to the large lake at the base of the dragon's neck. There is a nice area on its north shore, and Aldner stopped to do a kerbal-hydrometer test. He floated very high in the water of the lake. What *is* the mystery of Laythe's lakes that makes Aldner float at different levels?

Below, the overview of the Lake area looking south. After exploring around the lake shore, Aldner headed east toward the Big Bay In The Belly Of The Beast to check out some promising-looking areas there.

At first Aldner planned to drive across the narrow isthmus connecting to the small island, but it didn't look nearly as promising as the flat areas he found to the south of the isthmus. Below is an overview of that area looking from the south. A quite nice area. Aldner decided he had done enough driving for the day and set up camp on the large "landing strip" area.

Kurt

As you might recall, we left Kurt at the recently-landed Laythe Base 3 in the highland basin on Fredoly Island. His mission was to check out the equipment for use in future exploration. After determining that all the Base equipment was in good working order, he got out to check out the Compact Fido with a test drive.

Kurt drove the Fido the couple kilometers to the impact location of the debris from the heat shield that the Base dropped on its way in. Five large plates survived the impact, along with the fuel tank and decouplers. If he had Nelemy and Aldner here to help (and the cutting/bonding equipment), he could make another shed for the supplies that currently are filling most of the free space inside the Base modules and Fido cockpits. In any case, the Fido handles beautifully, and is quite stable despite its slightly shorter wheelbase (of course, having the torque of two cockpits and an ASAS unit help a lot with that). So Kurt headed back to Base 3.

Kurt: "Kurt to Laythe Base. Come in, Thompbles."

Thompbles: "I read you, Kurt. All is well?"

Kurt: "All is great. I've completed the primary mission, and I packed a selection of supplies in my BirdDog to bring back. Now I'm going to drive on over and check out the east coast of this island to see if it's really as steep as it looked when I was flying in."

Thompbles: "Roger. Drive carefully."

Below, Kurt has driven up out of the basin (which was fairly steep in places, requiring some switchback turns). The large indicator in the basin are the base/rover, and the small indicator is the heat shield debris. As he topped a ridge at an elevation of over 5 kilometers, he could see Jool poking above the horizon.

Kurt bypassed the first peak and chose the second peak along the shore because it looked slightly higher, then began a winding drive around and up the peak.

Things got pretty steep along the southwest slope of the peak. The driving required constant attention to keep adjusting the direction a little upslope...and time warp couldn't be used, or the plane would slide sideways. There was a flat shelf high on the south side of the peak where Kurt was able to rest for a while (and grab some surface samples).

After coming around to the east side of the peak, the slope got even worse, steeper than 45 degrees at times. Even Aldner hasn't drive along anything this steep. After coming around a particularly heart-stoppingly steep turn, Kurt came to a less-steep area. Ahead it looked like it was going to get even steeper again... So even though he was still a couple hundred meters from the peak, he decided not to risk it further. So he carefully turned the BirdDog to face down the eastern slope of the mountain, fired up the engine, and did his take-off run.

Kurt dived the BirdDog down along the slope for about 2,000 meters, then pulled up and away from the mountainside, then gained altitude and headed back to Laythe Base at Fido Bay.

Below, Kurt approaches the west coast of Dansen Island. Flying at almost 10 kilometers, Jool was well above the horizon even though it's only half up at Laythe Base further east.

Kurt set the BirdDog down gently and drove over to GasStation 1 to refuel. He completely drained the jet fuel tanks of GasStation 1, then drove a little ways over to GasStation 2 to get another 30 units of fuel to top off his tanks. Then he drove over to Laythe Base and parked his BirdDog, and he and Thompbles had a supper that couldn't be beat.

This Part Did Not Happen

Because GasStation 1 was now out of jet fuel, I thought it might be nice if it could be removed from the Laythe Base area (just for purposes of reducing lag). It still had some fuel/oxidizer in the gold torroidal tanks on top (this is the fuel source used for its deorbit burn, and for hopping the station a little if its refueling ports are not at the right height for docking), and I wondered if it had enough fuel to fly it out of the area. So I made a Save and gave it a few tries. Unfortunately, it only had sufficient fuel to send it less than 2 km away. Plus, if you allow it to crash, it doesn't all get destroyed, and it leaves a large debris field. Crashing the station into Fido Bay results in more destruction of parts, but the girder segments and large plate survive the splashdown and come bouncing back up. So I guess that could reduce lag somewhat (fewer parts left, further away)... but it's not something the boys would do, so I'll just leave the empty GasStation 1 sitting there.

Nelemy

And what of Nelemy, sitting partway around Laythe on Aldner Island? His first exploration plan is shown on the map below. He'll fly south-southeast and explore the islands there (and possibly the ice island) until he runs low on fuel, then return to Aldner Island. After takeoff, he headed up at a steep angle at 2/3 throttle to get to 10 km as fast as possible for the cruise phase. I'm not sure if it's more fuel efficient to fly upward at a more leisurely pace at 1/3 throttle, or if the quicker boost at 2/3 throttle (then reduce to 1/3 throttle at 10K) is better. But Nelemy likes the quicker boost.

At the first island, Nelemy decided that the peninsula area he came to first looked like a good landing spot, and he put the BirdDog down with no problem.

Nelemy: "Calling Base. Yo, Thombles Dude!"

Thompbles: "I hear you, Nelemy. How is it going?"

Nelemy: "Great, Dude! I have landed on a new island, and I'd like to name it Nova. It means New!"

Thompbles: "Yes, I know. I'll file the name with KSC. What are you going to do next?"

Nelemy: "I'll drive over to a lake I saw coming in. Talk to you later, Dude!"

Thompbles: "Roger. Drive safely."

Nelemy drove over to the lake and got out to look around and have a snack. He didn't find much that interested him, and he managed to drop his Fruity Oaty Bar in the sand. So he climbed back on board and flew off to the south-southwest.

Nelemy: "Yo, Thompbles Dude! I'm heading off to the next island!"

Thompbles: "Already? Did you remember to get soil samples?"

Nelemy: "Umm... Sure, Dude! No problemo!"

*Nelemy stops eating the dirt-encrusted Fruity Oaty Bar and sticks it into a sample bag*

Thompbles: "Did the island look promising?"

Nelemy: "Umm... Not too great, Dude. Well, it's actually all not too rough. I'm passing over another smaller lake now."

Thompbles: "OK, Nelemy. Remember to do a good survey of each island."

The next island was only a short hop away (since Nova is part of a group of three islands). Nelemy likes the technique of landing on the shore of a lake, so he used that here.

Nelemy: "Thompbles Dude! I'm safe on the next island! I'd like to name it after my Uncle Silisko Kerman! He's a famous computer programmer, so it should be fine! And there is a nice flat area near this lake. Best spot on the island!"

Thompbles: "Another relative? OK...I'll send it in."

After a brief examination of the site (long enough to finish a snack), Nelemy headed south-southwest again, ignoring the small third island in the group (since it didn't look too interesting).

The next island had a peninsula off to the right that looked like a good landing spot, so Nelemy made a seashore approach. He pulled his turnn too tight and ended up pitching up the plane fairly low and had to kick it up to full throttle to recover, then come back around...and made a safe landing.

Nelemy: "Thompbles Dude! Do you read me?"

Thompbles: "Five by five, Nelemy. Safe on the next island?"

Nelemy: "Sure am, Dude. I'd like to name it Chad Island after my famous Uncle Chad C. 7. Kerman!"

Thompbles: "Your Uncle Chad has both a middle initial AND a middle number? Wait...Is this the Chad Kerman whose company developed our stability augmentation system software?"

Nelemy: "That's him!"

Thompbles: "You really do have famous relatives."

Nelemy: "So do they! The spot I landed wasn't that good of an area, so I drove to a little bay on the south shore of the island that looks like a good place."

Not one to stay in place much longer than it takes to have a good meal, Nelemy once again took off and headed south-southwest. At the next island, he originally was aiming to land on a peninsula jutting out to the right, but once it got closer it looked rougher than he liked, so he flew just beyond it and landed just south of where that peninsula connects to the island.

Nelemy: "Yo, Thompbles Dude! I'm on another island, down here at almost 64 degrees south latitude! I'd like to name this island after Felipe Kerman, the patron saint of spaceflight."

Thompbles: "Good choice."

Nelemy: "Dude, they say that when he touched the monolith at the present site of Kerbal Space Center, all sorts of knowledge appeared in his head about how to make explosives and rockets. And he started the great cause of sending kerbalkind into space!"

Thompbles: "Some say that he only uncovered a chest full of scrolls and mysterious artifacts under the monolith that contained that information."

Nelemy: "Dude, that's heresy. I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."

After a thoroughly cursory examination of Felipe Island, which looked too rough to Nelemy, he fired up the jet engine again and headed south.

Nelemy: "Thompbles! I'm on my way to check out the next island!"

Thompbles: "That next island is probably just an ice sheet."

Nelemy: "We'll see, Dude. Whoa! Something weird is on the horizon!"

Thompbles: "Say again? Something weird? Is it the island?"

Nelemy: "No, Dude! It's like a smooth bump."

Thompbles: "Umm...Is it green?"

Nelemy: "Yeah! Dude, it's kind of green!"

Thompbles: "Is it Jool?"

Nelemy: "What? Oh. Dude...yeah, now that it's a little higher up...yeah, it's Jool. But what's Jool doing here, Dude? It's supposed to be over on your side of the planet."

Thompbles: "Nelemy...you're so far south now that you can see Jool over the South Pole."

Nelemy: "Whoa. South Pole."

Nelemy: "Thompbles Dude! I'm over that next island. Yeah...it's just ice. Boring, Dude."

Thompbles: "I copy you, Nelemy. Are you going to land on it or just head back?"

Nelemy: "Neither, Dude! I'm going to the South Pole! You were right. It's not too far from here!"

Thompbles: "What's your fuel status?"

Nelemy: "Dude, no problem...I'm a long way from Bingo! And the Pole would be cool! Aldner went to the North Pole, but nobody has been to the South Pole!"

Thompbles: "OK, Nelemy. Watch your fuel. Remember, it's easy to drive on the polar cap, so you can land anytime and drive to save fuel."

So Nelemy flew on to the south until he thought he could glide the rest of the way to the Pole from 10,000 meters, at which point he cut his engine. It turned out that he couldn't stretch the glide far enough, and he landed about a degree and a half north of the Pole, then drove the rest of the way.

Nelemy: "Yo, Thompbles! Polar Explorer Nelemy Kerman here, Dude! I am at the South Pole!"

Thompbles: "Good job, Nelemy. Be careful walking around the pole. Aldner said there were strange effects that made him fall down at the North Pole."

Nelemy: "Dude, maybe Aldner is just not as graceful as heWHOAH! Ow."

Thompbles: "Nelemy? Are you OK?"

Nelemy: "Dude...yeah, I'm fine. That was weird. I just just walking, and suddenly I ended up sideways. I don't thiWHOAH! Ow! OK. Ow. OK...I'll just stand back a bit and plant a flag, Dude."

The drive back was easy, but dull. Because of the low angle of the sunlight, it was necessary to stop a few times to let the batteries recharge. Also, Nelemy did not drive back in the direction that he came down from...he set the GasStation on Aldner Island as his target and drove straight north toward that to minimize the distance he'd have to fly once he got to the edge of the ice sheet. Below, Nelemy approached the edge of the ice cap, but stayed clear of the slippery slanted ice that Aldner reported was found there. After a snack and a quick nap, Nelemy took off and headed north.

Nelemy: "Yo, Thompbles Dude! Nelemy calling Laythe Base. Yo! Dude? Hello?"

Thompbles: "Yeah, Nelemy, I hear you. It's the middle of the night here."

Nelemy: "Oh, sorry, Dude. I've left the polar ice cap and I'm heading back to Aldner Island."

Thompbles: "Nelemy, do you know what time it is on Aldner Island?"

Nelemy: "Um... Well, I guess it's late, Dude?"

Thompbles: "It's about sunset there now. By the time you get there, it will be dark."

Nelemy: "Oh. Yeah...I wasn't thinking of that. The sun was doing weird things on the polar cap. But no problemo, Dude! I can land in the dark!

So Nelemy continued north, and it got dark, and I found it was not as easy to fly when you can't see the plane. Thank Felipe for the NavBall. But Nelemy made good time, flying at almost 12,000 meters, following the pink target marker on the NavBall. Finally the marker for the GasStation 4 showed up, and based on the distance readouts from that, Nelemy cut engines at about 20 km out and glided down. He was trying to land short of the GasStation (where he knew the landing area was good), but he overflew it and came down higher up the slope...and went airborne again as he bumped over the top of a ridge...but settle back down OK about 4 km beyond the GasStation, with 68 units of fuel left (out of the 300 he started with). He drove back down to the GasStation, but decided to put off refueling until morning. Dude.

Vall

Back on Vall, after a day of rest and relaxation at their lander, Emilynn and Hellou headed off north for a relatively short (compared to driving to Vallhenge, anyway) expedition to the next basin to the north. Hellou wanted to gather samples from the lowest point on the surface of Vall, which is located in that basin. A substantial mountain range separates the two basins, but there is a pass through the mountains.

Hellou: "Emi, I'd like to name this Aldner Pass. He named an island after me on Laythe, so I'd like to return the favor."

Emilynn: "Sounds good! Even I have been the recipient of one of Aldner's passes."

Hellou: "So has every other female kerbal in a 50 mile radius of KSC."

Hellou got out to take surface and core samples at the high point of Aldner Pass. The view below is looking toward the west. The elevation of the pass is 3,035 meters where they crossed.

Below, we see the Fido heading away from Aldner Pass (in the background) into the smooth bottom of Artemis Basin. Driving in Artemis Basin was a breeze (other than watching to keep the speed from getting too high). The drive was uneventful until...

Emilynn: "Whoah! What the hell?"

Hellou: "Emi? Is there a problem?"

Emilynn: "It suddenly got completely dark outside. I'm stopping the rover."

Hellou: "Dark? Is there an eclipse?"

Emilynn: "No. This is weird as hell. No...I can see Kerbol and Jool in the sky...and the stars, too. But the surface is dark."

Hellou: "Did we drive over a dark area of the surface?"

Emilynn: "No, no. Even the distant mountains have vanished. The rover's lights are lighting up the surface, but it's like the sunlight has no effect on the surface."

Hellou: "Hold on... I'm getting my helmet on. I have to see what you're talking about."

Indeed. Very weird stuff happened soon after the Fido drove below zero elevation. Suddenly, the surface went black, and the rover was no longer illuminated (except by its own lights), and my view got shifted to looking down over the rover (see below). I tried changing the camera angles and dragging the view around with all combinations of mouse buttons pressed, but to no effect. I could switch to the IVA of the cockpit and see that Jool and Kerbol were in the sky...they just weren't lighting anything up.

Hellou: "OK, I'm outside. .....You're right. This is weird as hell. My helmet lamps illuminate the Fido and the surface, but I'm not seeing anything near here by reflected sunlight."

Emilynn: "Is there some sort of mysterious force field blocking the sunlight?"

Hellou: "Umm... No. We can see Kerbol. We just can't see anything by reflected sunlight. Well...except for Jool, I guess. But we can't see anything here on Vall by reflected sunlight."

Emilynn: "Umm... A force field that keeps sunlight from reflecting off of the surface?"

Hellou: "No! We can see this area from space. And you could see the surface ahead until you drove into the area, right?"

Emilynn: "Yes. So...a force field that keeps our eyes from sensing sunlight reflected from anything on Vall...while we are inside the field?"

Hellou: "Um. Maybe. This is making my brain hurt. I'm walking around in front of the rover. Let me know if you can see me."

Emilynn: "Yes, I see you fine by the rovers lamps. *click* *click* And when the lights are turned off I can't see you at all. Wow...and I thought Vallhenge was freaky. Wait! I have an idea. I'm coming out."

Emilynn exited the rover and used her rocket pack to fly straight up. At about 70 meters above the Fido (which was sitting at about 60 meters below zero elevation...although the altimeter shows no negative sign...just the absolute value of the elevation), the view of the ground and rover reappeared. (In fact, I found out that if I zoomed my view out far enough that the "camera view point" was up above zero elevation, I could see the surface. So...yeah. Whenever the view point is below zero elevation, you can't see any sunlight reflected from Vall or anything on Vall. Now MY brain hurts.

Hellou: "OK, let's continue on."

Emilynn: "Driving in the dark? Do you want to get eaten by a Grue?"

Hellou: "There are no Grues on Vall. Besides, you have your rover lights. And we know the surface is smooth up ahead. And I want samples from the low point!"

Emilynn: "OK. We drive."

So our heroines bravely continued on into the dark and made it to the lowest elevation point on Vall (minus 392.6 meters) so that Hellou could get her surface and core samples. Let this be a lesson to you: never get between a geek-girl and the object of her desire -- she will not be thwarted!

After that bit of weirdness, the trip back was uneventful...even the part where the light suddenly returned when their elevation passed zero meters was just as expected. The part about Emilynn jumping the Fido over the summit of Aldner Pass like a freaking Duke of Hazzard was a bit exciting, but not unexpected. The view below is looking toward the east.

Below, Emilynn and Hellou roll up to the Vall Lander at the end of their successful trip.

In fact, this concludes the first phase of the Vall Expedition, with all of the objectives accomplished (long distance rover test; study of Vallhenge; samples from the lowest point on Vall). For the next phase of Vall exploration, our plucky heroines will be shifting their base to a new location on the other side of Vall, with a new rover to use for exploration.

Edited October 26, 2013 by Brotoro

[Scotius]

Very busy day(s?) in Jool system And the aftermatch on Kerbin: *In the laboratory,after opening Nelemy's sample containers and analysing the contents* Dude! There are natural chocolate deposits on Laythe! Sweet!

Edited October 26, 2013 by Scotius

[Deddly]

Aldner stopped to do a kerbal-hydrometer test. He floated very high in the water of the lake. What *is* the mystery of Laythe's lakes that makes Aldner float at different levels?

Fascinating. Is it related in any way to elevation?

Edited October 27, 2013 by Deddly
Removed title from quote

[Brotoro]

Fascinating. Is it related in any way to elevation?

I don't think so. All lake surfaces in KSP are at sea level.

[Exovian]

Excellent post! Now that I'm planning my own mission, what is your opinion on the two different jet engines on Laythe? What made you choose the basic jet?

[Brotoro]

Excellent post! Now that I'm planning my own mission, what is your opinion on the two different jet engines on Laythe? What made you choose the basic jet?

I think a turbojet is likely to be most efficient for most purposes on Laythe, such as high altitude trips between islands.

I chose the regular jet engine for a couple reasons:

1) I thought I would be doing a lot more flying around at low altitude trying to locate suitable landing spots on the islands. But this turned out not to be the case. I found out very quickly what kinds of landing areas work well and how to spot them, and I mostly just come gliding in to a landing from my high cruise altitude, with little loitering around at low altitude..

2) Because the BirdDog is a ROVER, I chose the shorter regular jet engine so I'd be less likely to knock the engine off while roving around. When I was testing BirdDog prototypes in rough terrain back on Kerbin, I knocked a couple turbojets off the backs of the planes (and this happened to a BirdDog with a regular jet engine on Laythe as well). But one can design around this by making sure the turbojet doesn't stick too far out the back, or by adding I-beams or girders or plates that protect the engine from striking the ground. And, of course, always avoid driving along the top of sharp ridge lines!

Edited October 29, 2013 by Brotoro

[Exovian]

Thank you very much; I appreciate the advice!

[piiscool]

Awesome

(10 chars)

[Patupi]

I wonder if doing SCIENCE below the zero altitude mark will uncover any freaky new energy fields to explore? Maybe Tri-polarized, Multi-heterodyning, cross phasic shielding! Or just a really good sunscreen recipe.

[TheBadAstronomer]

Awesome! I've been setting up a Laythe base myself. Of course, it isn't nearly as extensive as yours.

[Commander Zoom]

More great stories and fascinating discoveries. But mostly I'm just glad you were able to get your landing-leg issues sorted out.

[Brotoro]

More great stories and fascinating discoveries. But mostly I'm just glad you were able to get your landing-leg issues sorted out.

The issue is not really sorted out... I'm just using the old cfg file for the heavy-duty landing legs from 0.21.1 in version 0.22. This makes the landing legs rigid (and the save file does not open with all the legs retracted on my bases and gasStations), but the feet of the landing gear do strangely poke further into the ground for some reason in 0.22, so some of the refueling ports on my GasStations that used to work are no longer at the correct height.

What we REALLY need is for the developers to allow our kerbals to figure out the extremely complex technology of HOSES so that they can just run a line from one ship to another on surface EVA and transfer fuel. It would give kerbals something useful to do on EVA, and it would eliminate the need for unrealistic and fiddling mucking about doing surface docking.

Edited October 29, 2013 by Brotoro

[Commander Zoom]

That's what I use Kerbal Attachment System for, personally (in fact, that was a good part of my evening - refueling a mun shuttle*), but I understand if you don't want to open that particular container.

* This actually turned into a bit of an adventure, as it wasn't quite level where I set it down, and by the time I'd filled it up, it was doing a fair impression of the Leaning Tower of Pisa... a quicksave confirmed that the fuel pipe itself was the only thing keeping it from falling over at that point, so I'd have to move fast. Sent out a kerbal from the other hopper to unlink the pipe at the next junction upstream, just clear of the backblast; counted down, hit the release, and then quickly switched to the shuttle and lifted off.

[TehDarkNoob]

Wow! This is really well thought out!

[mic_e]

Nice series; you are an awesome writer.

[Brotoro]

Long-term Laythe - Part 19

Vall Venture - Part 6

Vall

With Phase One of the Vall Expedition completed, it was time to move our heroines to a new location on Vall for Phase Two. After that, the plan is to return them to Kerbin. Perhaps a more permanent base will be set up on Vall if some indication is discovered of resources that could be mined and processed into rocket fuel.

The first step of Phase Two is to land the second Fido rover at the new location. It has been waiting in Vall orbit all this while in case it needed to be sent down to Emilynn and Hellou if they got stranded away from their lander by crashing their first Fido...which, happily, did not happen. The Vall Lander won't be moved to the new location until the Fido 2 successfully lands -- if the Fido crashes, Phase Two of the mission will continue from the current location. Below, the Fido 2 rover and its lander stage separate from the Tug, and then the two LV-909 engines perform the de-orbit burn.

No plane-change maneuver was needed, since the Fido 2 was targeted to an equatorial landing in a large basin about 150 degrees around Vall from the current location of the Lander base. As seen below, the landing area was fairly smooth, and the Fido 2 landed without a problem.

Emilynn: "OK, Chickadee! The Fido 2 has landed and all systems report green. Now is your last chance to get anything you forgot in the old rover."

Hellou: "I have everything. And the Fido 1 systems are set for remote operation and continued data collection."

Emilynn: "You sure you don't want a few more rocks?"

Hellou: "Nah...no good rocks here, anyway. It's all ice."

Emilynn: "Are you and all the toys in the hab module strapped down properly?"

Hellou: "Everything is secure and ready for acceleration and zero-G. Let's go, Emi!"

Emilynn: "Roger. Liftoff in 5-4-3-2-1..."

The liftoff on the six Rockomax 48-7S engines was sedate, and there was even time to remember to close the landing legs and fold up the ladder.

Below, the Vall Lander approaches the Vall Station after a routine rendezvous. I love Romfarer's docking camera... I only wish Squad would have him implement it in the stock game now that he's on board. After the rendezvous and docking, the Lander had a bit over 10% of its original fuel load remaining.

The main reason for returning to the Station was to refuel the Lander for Phase Two. The surface samples collected so far were also transferred from the Lander to the main habitat module (which looks a lot like the Lander, since the main station modules constitute an emergency lander that could be used to pick up the crew from the surface in case of some catastrophe). This was also a chance for our girls to stock up on some snacks or hair-care products that they might be running low on in the Lander.

After the refueling, transferring, and restocking was complete, the Lander separated from the Station and headsed down to the new landing site. A pin-point landing was not necessary because the Fido could drive over to meet the Lander, and Emilynn set the Vall Lander down about two kilometers from the rover.

Emilynn: "Vall Lander calling Laythe Base. Wake up, boys, kerbals have made another historic landing on Vall!"

Thompbles: "We copy you down, Commander Emilynn. Good flying."

Hellou: "Hi, Thompbles! Greetings from beautiful Athena Basin. Be sure to catch our big EVA TV show later."

Thompbles: "We will. Don't forget to take a flag with you this time."

Hellou: "Yeah. Thanks for the reminder -- I have it propped up against the hatch so I can't forget it this time."

Below is map view showing the location of Vall Site 2. Athena Basin was chosen for Phase Two operations because it straddles the equator and extends a good distance north/south and east/west, and has fairly easy access to some other basins as well as a tall mountain.

First order of business was to remotely drive the Fido 2 over to the Lander. This was done slowly because the landing stage is still attached...but the fairly level terrain makes it an easy drive. Emilynn drove the rover up a moderate distance away from the Lander where she could get a good view of it for the next operation.

The Fido's landing stage was separated and gently set down onto the surface a short distance in front of the rover. Then the side decouplers were fired to separate the end pods from the rest of the stage. The empty center tanks settled peacefully to the ground.

Of course, when I switched away to the Tracking Station, and then switched my view back to the Fido 2 rover, the empty tanks took it into their heads to explode violently. Crazy tanks. But at least I was ready to snap a picture this time. There was a tense moment as I watched the two large decoupler rings fly high into the sky and fall back down...lucky not hitting anything valuable when they struck the surface and exploded. Crazy decouplers.

Emilynn got out to check over the end pods, which are over half full of fuel and can be used as emergency surface-escape pods for returning to the Station in orbit. Emilynn pushed the small decouplers away from the pods -- they rolled off a ways and fell over and seemed like they couldn't decide if they wanted to sink into the surface or not.......and later exploded. Crazy.

Emilynn and Hellou then put on a nice TV show for the viewers back on Kerbin, showing off their new landing site and planting a flag. The location actually looked flatter and duller than their previous site...but having Jool nicely up above the western horizon, rather than only partially up, was an exciting selling point for Hellou. After the broadcast, Emilynn did a complete test of the rover systems and Hellou drilled several core samples from the area.

But let's check up on the boys on Laythe...

Aldner

Having spend enought time enjoying the scenery on Thompbles (DracoDuck) Island, Aldner headed off to the south. Below we see the BirdDog climbing upward over the large bay in the center of the island.

Aldner: "Aldner to Base. Come in, Cap'n Thombles, sir!"

Thompbles: "I'm here, Aldner. What's up?"

Aldner: "I'm heading south to the next island. I know it's kind of late in the day, but I wanted to make sure you guys were awake."

Thompbles: "We've been up for hours and hours, Aldner. We're analyzing rock samples Kurt brought back from Fredoly Island."

Aldner: "I've just passed over your giant duck foot, sir. It doesn't look very inviting."

Thompbles: "Yes. Thank you, Aldner."

The next island to the south was moderately sized (we're rapidly running out of large and moderate-size islands to explore) and the best real estate looked like it might be on the opposite side of the island, but Aldner decided to land on the north side shore and drive across the island. It was indeed getting to be a bit late in the day, plus the low sun angle this far south did not provide a lot of illumination to begin with. But the landing was no problem. Aldner then drove the BirdDog across the island (which was fairly low elevation) to a lake area on the south side.

Aldner: "Yo, Fearless Leader."

Thompbles: "Thompbles here. What can I do for you, Aldner?"

Aldner: "I'd like to name this island after my little buddy Nelemy. I mean, even YOU have an island, so I suppose he should have one as well."

Thompbles: "Very thoughtful of you. I'll radio in the name to KSC."

Aldner: "I've driven across the island to a nice lake area on the underside. I'll set up camp here for the night and get some samples in the morning."

Thompbles: "Roger. No comments about how Nelemy has a wet spot on his bottom?"

Aldner: "What? Certainly not. I don't know where you would get such an idea, sir."

Thompbles: "OK, Aldner. Laythe base out."

The next morning, Aldner did a traditional floatation test to check the density of the lake water.

Aldner drove around the lake and found that the gap separating the two parts of the lake was very narrow, and the water level was very shallow there...so he drove the BirdDog across the gap. It's good to clean the tires every once in a while.

Aldner eventually left Nelemy Island and headed northwest. He flew over a few small lakes on the way.

The next island on Aldner's itinerary was a moderately small one located south of Dansen Island (where the main Laythe is located). The terrain of the island did not look particularly inviting, so Aldner decided to fly over to check out a lower area on the other side of the island. That part of the island also did not look very inviting, but Aldner was determined to give it a try, so he aimed for the lowest part of the isthmus ridge connecting the two parts of the island.

Aldner has gotten quite good at putting the BirdDog down in difficult spots, and he was able to land OK. He got out to do some sampling of the landing location, but the terrain was not conducive to driving anywhere else on the island.

Aldner: "Aldner to Base."

Thompbles: "I read you, Aldner."

Aldner: "I'd like to name this island after Emilynn Kerman, famous astronaut-explorer of Vall...since the ladies were so kind as to name a pass on Vall in my honor, I'd like to return the favor."

Thompbles: "So noted. Are you going to do some roving?"

Aldner: "No. The terrain is difficult. I'll just head back to Fido Bay now."

Thompbles: "Roger. See you in a while."

Below, Aldner headed back to Fido Bay, landed, and refueled the BirdDog at GasStation 2, then drove over to Laythe Base 2 (their new large base vehicle) where he, Thompbles, and Kurt had a dinner that couldn't be beat.

Nelemy

Nelemy, still stationed on Aldner Island, headed southwest in BirdDog 3 to grab the last big island yet to be explored.

The island is located on the southeast rim of the Big-Ass Impact Feature that dominates Laythe's trailing hemisphere.

Thompbles has filed the name "Baif Ocean" for that area, claiming it is in honor of Baif Kerman, a relatively obscure poet from the 4th century. Below, Nelemy was a little over halfway to his target. He passed over several smaller islands that he would visit on his return trip.

The island is quite long and narrow, and is mostly a long ridge. There may be some lowland areas way on the other end of the island, but the eastern end didn't have a lot to offer, so Nelemy had to attempt an up-slope landing on the north-facing shore. Remember to bring in some extra speed for these up-slope landings so your plane doesn't stall out when you have to pull up a lot to follow the slope before touching down.

Nelemy: "Yo, Captain Thombles Dude!"

Thompbles: "I hear you, Nelemy. All is well?"

Nelemy: "All is fine, Dude! I have landed on the big island, and I'd like to name it after my great uncle Romfarer Kerman."

Thompbles: "Romfarer Kerman, the inventer of the docking camera? Oh, I really love that piece of equipment. Good choice."

Nelemy drove his BirdDog up over the ridge, then down to a area on the eastern end of the island that had some folds in the slope that might be the best area to set up a base on this end of the island. But it's not a great spot. Nelemy collected several rock samples because the geologists are particularly interested in these islands around the Baif Ocean.

After exhausting all of the entertainment value of the eastern tip of Romfarer Island, Nelemy took off and headed back to the northeast to explore the smaller islands he overflew on the way down. The first one he came to had a larger eastern part that was mostly a ridge (not very inviting to land on), and a smaller west part that was low and flat. Nelemy came in from the east on the shallow beach. He drove over to a lake and got out to eat a snack.

Nelemy: "Nelemy to Base...Pick up, Dude!"

Thompbles: "I hear you, Nelemy. Do you have a report?"

Nelemy: "I've landed on the smaller part of the next island. I'd like to name it West Mu after my uncle Mu Kerman."

Thompbles: "Ah. And by implication the other part of the island would be known as East Mu, even though you aren't going to land there and officially name it?"

Nelemy: "Oh hey, that would work, too. But I wanted to call it that because I also have another uncle Mu who lives on the east coast, but I'm not naming it after him. He hasn't been talking to my Mom for a couple years now, and..."

Thompbles: "OK, Nelemy. I don't need the family backstory. I'll call in the name."

Below, Nelemy took off heading north and rapidly climbed to 10,000 meters, leaving West Mu (and, by implication, East Mu) behind.

Nelemy's next stop was another relatively small island. It had a small lake, so Nelemy used his favored "swoop in over the lake and land on the far shore" landing method.

Nelemy: "Thompbles Dude! I have arrived at the next island! I'd like to name it Artyom Island."

Thompbles: "After Artyom Kerman, the architect who was designing all those new buildings for the Kerbal Space Center back when we left Kerbin? Another uncle?"

Nelemy: "No, Dude! He's a cousin."

Below, the next hop was a relatively short one, from Artyom Island to the smaller island northeast of it. Nelemy targeted his landing for a low peninsula on its southeast shore. The end of the peninsula had a bit of a ridge to it, so Nelemy flew just over the top of that and landed beyond it. Nelemy drove in to the island from the peninsula and over to the east to a nice flat area along the bay.

Nelemy: "Thompbles, Dude!"

Kurt: "Thompbles is taking a break, Nelemy. How's it going?"

Nelemy: "Kurt! Dude, I miss you! I can't wait to get home! Maybe we can do some more rover driving."

Kurt: "Maaaaybe."

Nelemy: "Dude, I'm on a new island. A nice beach on a bay. I'd like to name it Ted Island after Ted Kerman."

Kurt: "Another uncle?"

Nelemy: "No."

Kurt: "Cousin?"

Nelemy: "No. Dude, he's my nephew, and I promised I'd name something after him. Do you think that will be a problem? I'm sure he'll be famous some day."

Kurt: "I'll just put down 'Another relative of Nelemy'...I expect the boys at KSC aren't paying that much attention by now."

After a brief snack on Ted Island, Nelemy got back in the plane. Then he got back out when he remembered to get some soil samples. Then he got back in and took off for the northwest.

Nelemy: "Laythe Base Dudes!"

Kurt: "How's it going, Nelemy?"

Nelemy: "Going great! I'm having a Fruity Oaty Bar right now."

Kurt: "That's nice. I meant how's the exploring going."

Nelemy: "I've taken off from Ted Island and I'm heading back toward Aldner Island, but I'll stop off at one more small island on the way. It's not too big, but its near the equator so it's worth checking out. It's a long leg of the trip, so I'm heading up to 11,000 meters in order to..."

***SPARKS!***

Nelemy: "Whoah! Flameout!"

Kurt: "Flameout? How high are you?"

Nelemy: "Dude, only ten five. The engine just went out."

Kurt: "Are you still close to Ted Island? Can you glide back?"

Nelemy: "Oh! Ah!" *flick* *roar* "Hey, no problem, Dude... I just ran out of fuel in the rear tank and I had the fuel feed from the front tank disabled to keep my CG forward. It's all good now, dude."

Kurt: "OK, Nelemy. Maybe a little less snacking and a little more piloting would help."

After a long flight, as Nelemy approached the small island, he noticed that the southeast end of the island looked a bit odd...like it was cut off. Nelemy decided to investigate and landed near that part of the island and drove over.

Nelemy: "Hey, Dudes! There's a really steep cliff on the end of this island! I'm going to drive off of it...it will be cool!"

Kurt: "Cooler than the 4 kilometer drop I made off of the east mountainside of Fredoly Island?"

Nelemy: "Well, it's only 277 meters, but it's a lot steeper than a mountainside."

Kurt: "Well, be careful when you drive off of it."

Nelemy: "I'm always careful!"

Kurt: "..."

Nelemy: "Oh, Dude, I've named this island after Bsalis Kerman the famous designer of VTOL aircraft."

Kurt: "OK. Thanks for sharing that before you drive over the edge of a cliff."

Nelemy: "OK...I'm going to back up the BirdDog a few plane lengths to get a little running start."

Below, Nelemy dropped off the edge of the clif, but pulled up in plenty of time. After that bit of excitement (a Leap of Laythe that Aldner has only ever dreamed of doing), Nelemy headed east back to Aldner Island.

Nelemy returned to Aldner Island and landed late in the day (but not in the DARK again, thankfully), and refueled his BirdDog in preparation for his trip back to Laythe Base. After that refueling, the GasStation on Aldner Island had approximately 507 units of jet fuel left on board (and 65 more units of fuel in the gold torroidal tanks on top)... so almost enough for two complete refuelings of a BirdDog.

And that pretty much wraps up the initial exploration of all the large islands and many of the smaller islands of Laythe. Below is a thumbnail to a larger map with the various island names labeled. Click to Embiggen.

Vall

Back on Vall, Emilynn and Hellou were making their first big foray out from Vall Base Site 2. The plan was to drive south and climb the large mountain there...then probably down and over to the basin to the west. Then eventually swing around back to Athena basin and explore the area north of the Lander. Below, Emilynn was driving the Fido while Hellou rode in the rear habitat module.

Emilynn: "Hey, Hellou... there are boulders up ahead. Want to stop for a look?"

Hellou: "Boulders? I like boulders. Pull over, Emi."

Hellou got out of the rover and did some sampling.

Emilynn: "So...Nice boulder?"

Hellou: "Ice. Just ice. I'm getting a little bored with ice. There are a whole lot of these things strewn around here... probably ejecta that came rolling to a stop here from some impact far in the past."

Hellou got back on board and Emilynn continued the drive up the foothills.

Below, things started getting steep as they began to ascend the mountain proper. With the older-style medium wheels, the Fido hasn't got enough traction to go straight up the slope, so this was an exercise in contour driving, following along the slope pointed enough uphill to keep the rover's speed at about 10 m/s. This gave a vertical ascent speed of about 2 meters per second. The markers off in the distance show that the Fido was 28 km away from the Lander. There were occasionally boulders to stop at and sample. But ice. Just ice.

Below, our heroines cross the 5,000 meter elevation mark. The going was a bit slower, vertically. They were rounding a smaller mountain peak toward the shoulder up at the right, from which they would drive to the top of the tall peak seen at the top center of the image.

A wonderful resource to have when driving around on Vall is the contour map that was made by Charles Magnuson. You can Google it up if you want the whole map. but below is a section of the map showing the region of Athena Basin. The X marks the location of the Vall Lander, and the tall mountain near the center of the image is the first target of this expedition. Once Emilynn got the Fido up to the shoulder, she still had to contour-drive partway around the west side of the big peak before it flattened out enough that they could just drive straight up to the summit.

Below, Emilynn and Hellou reach the summit at 7,914 meters. The highest point on Vall is at an elevation of 7,989 meters, but that's at a location quite a distance away, so this handy mountain peak was just fine at only 76 meters less. A flag was planted. A lot of core samples were drilled. Hellou ran off to sample a boulder...just more of the same stuff found lower down. They spent a day at the summit so that Hellou could do some immediate analysis of the samples.

Hellou: "OK, I think I've figured out how the basins on Vall formed."

Emilynn: "Aren't they just impact features, like the craters on the Mün?"

Hellou: "No. You know that there's a big ocean under this ice crust, kept liquid by tidal heating of the mantle, right?"

Emilynn: "Umm...Yeah...We know that because of...something about the way Vall affects Jool's magnetic field? Like a conducting shell?"

Hellou: "Emi! You actually listen to me at times! Yeah. OK...these mountain ranges are like chains of giant icebergs floating on that ocean, with most of their volume underneath...or possibly they even reach deep enough to ground out on the rock mantle. The basins are thinner sheets of ice floating on the ocean. What I've found is that the ice here on the mountain lacks the sulfur compounds I found in the ice of the basins. The basins must be located over volcanic hotspots in the underlying rock mantle."

Emilynn: "So...the basins are areas where the ice crust melted from underneath?"

Hellou: "Yes. The tidal heating of the rock mantle must be uneven. I wish I knew why. Inhomogeneities. But the lack of volcanic heating under this area if why this mountain is here...and why there is less sulfur in the ice here... except for that boulder over there, which is more of that ejecta from some impact that threw a lot of basin ice boulders around this part of Vall."

Emilynn: "Great. So now we head back down?"

Hellou: "Yeah, I'm done here."

Emilynn: "Well hop in! I'll drive."

Hellou: "Emi...You know our agreement: You drive UP the mountains. I drive DOWN the mountains. I shudder to think how fast you'd get this Fido going on a steep slope."

Below, an overview of the mountain (which Hellou named Athena Peak) looking toward the north where the distant marker notes the location of the Vall Lander. The route down that Hellou planned to follow roughly paralled the ridge line that curves along toward the upper left in the image. This gave the minimum slope. Once beyond the steepest slopes, the plan was to veer left and head down into the other basin there.

As they drove down the slope, even Hellou managed to get the rover airborne at several points, much to Emilynn's delight. The ride was pretty fast and smooth, but constant vigilance was needed because the rover would sometimes start to fishtail a bit, and it had to be pointed back forward. This is the place where having the older-style medium wheels (instead of the newer "gripper" medium wheels) saved the day: In "simulation tests" that I'd done when designing the Fido for Vall, I found that the gripper wheels had a tendency to suddenly "snag" the ground at times...and if that happened when coming downslope at speed, it could cause the rover to wipe out. But the older medium wheels would slide more than snag, so the rover could be driven downhill faster without wiping out...as long as it was kept pointed forward.

Emilynn: "Say, Hellou... This VanAllen detector back here keeps beeping. Is it doing that because we are at a higher altitude?"

Hellou: "No. That happens on Kerbin where you get more cosmic ray exposure when you are higher in the atmosphere, but Vall has no atmosphere, so we wouldn't see that effect here. But KSC sent a report that Kerbol got a little more active a couple days ago. Some of the high energy particles ejected by Kerbol work their way into Jool's magnetic field, buzzing back and forth between the magnetic poles like angry bees. What is the detector reading?"

Emilynn: "Mmmm...270. Isn't it normally around 100?"

Hellou: "Hm. Yeah, that's even up some from yesterday. Still not high enough to worry about...but let's keep an eye on it."

At around 3000 meters elevation, the slope got less hectic, and Hellou was able to point more downhill and head for the new basin, which she named Ishtar Basin. Once they got out onto the more-or-less flats, Hellou let Emilynn take over driving again so that she could examine the samples that she collected at occasional stops as they drove across the basin.

They also stopped to photograph Tylo passing behind Laythe. That's Manley Island visible on Laythe near the side of the reflection spot.

Hellou: "Ho, ho, my beauty! Come to me!"

Emilynn: "Um...Are you talking to me?"

Hellou: "No, I'm talking to this rock I found. A real rock! A lovely little piece of basalt."

Emilynn: "What is a rock doing sitting in the middle of this ice basin?"

Hellou: "Because, my dear Emi, this is a meteorite. Probably a piece of Tylo or Laythe."

Emilynn: "Wait... Rocks can travel from Tylo or Laythe to here?"

Hellou: "Certainly. The moons of the Jool system are quite close together and have low enough escape velocities that a meteorite impact on one of them could easily knock pieces of their crust out into space where they can wander over to other bodies. I'm just surprised I haven't found more of these. When I get a chance to do a more detailed analysis, I expect to find some of the Laythe cyanobacteria in these ice samples as well. The Kerbol system in general has such small separations and low planetary escape velocities that panspermia is an almost certainty."

Emilynn: "It is? That doesn't sound like fun to me."

The Fido finally reached the lowest point along its westerly path at an elevation of 711 meters, which Hellou celebrated by collecting some samples, as is her wont to do. The map view below shows the Fido's position at that time, having traveled 52.8 kilometers from Athena Peak, and located 55.2 kilometers from their Lander base.

Below is an overview of the northern end of Ishtar Basin, looking roughly east-northeast. The dotted trails show the path the Fido took down from Athena Peak to the low point where our heroines set up camp for a day, and the route they later took off to the northeast heading back to Athena Basin. The two basins are separated by a relatively low ridge line.

In fact, their route out of Ishtar Basin was the perfect kind of terrain on which to use MechJeb's rover autopilot. A smooth plain, gently sloping upward for many kilometers. So I let MechJeb do a little driving work for me.

The peak of the ridge separating Ishtar Basin from Athena Basin is not very dramatic, but Emilynn managed to make the Fido "fly" as little there anyway. The terrain on the other side of the ridge is rougher, but nothing the Fido couldn't handle easily. Hellou and Emilynn stopped about 26 kilometers north of their lander base. The plan was to do some sampling, and then continue on to the next basin to the northeast.

But Emilynn and Hellou's plans were interrupted by a message from Kerbal Space Center:

KSC: "KSC Mission Control to Vall Expedition. KSC Mission Control to Vall Expedition. Flare warning. Kerbol flare activity, predicting magnitude 5. Implement Shelter Plan A. Repeat: Kerbol flare activity, predicting magnitude 5. Implement Shelter Plan A.

Message repeats. KSC Mission Control to Vall Expedition..."

Emilynn: "Chickadee! Did you copy that transmission?"

Hellou: "I hear it. How far are we from the Lander?"

Emilynn: "About 26 klicks. You want to blast a shelter in the ice back at the Lander instead of here?"

Hellou: "Sure. I already have the bore holes made there. And there shouldn't be a big hurry...the ejection velocities of a typical magnitude 5 event should easily give us over a day to prepare. Help me get these samples packed up."

Emilynn: "OK. I can have you back at the Lander in no time driving over this flat terrain."

Hellou: "That won't be necessary. We will drive carefully."

*click*

Hellou: "Vall Expedition to KSC Mission Control. Acknowledging flare message. We will return to Lander and set up Shelter Plan A. Repeat: Acknowledging message. We will return to Lander and set up Shelter Plan A. Vall Expedition out."

So our heroines packed up equipment as the message from KSC continued to drone on for over six minutes before the light-speed lag allowed KSC to acknowledge Hellou's transmission. Then they headed south at a reasonable speed (for Emilynn).

Emilynn: "OK, we're here! What do you need me to do?"

Hellou: "First I want to transfer the sample cases and data packs to the Lander, just in case. Then I'll get the charges prepped and in place."

Emilynn: "Roger. Anything else?"

Hellou: "I'll need you to position the Fido between the blast holes and the Lander...but that can wait until I get everything set up."

Emilynn: "I'm on it. Play nice with the boom sticks."

Hellou worked with utmost diligence setting up the explosives, as she is always careful with the stuff. Then she double checked the connections and setup. In a little over an hour she was ready to blast.

Hellou: "OK, Emi. I've got everything ready. I need the Fido in place to screen the Lander, just in case."

Emilynn: "Hey, Hellou, I think you should look at this."

Hellou: "Where are you at?"

Emilynn: "I'm in the command pod. I've been trying to monitor the feed from KSC, but I'm not getting a clear signal anymore. I got an image of Kerbol that they sent out...I think you might want to see it."

Hellou: "OK, hold on."

Hellou hopped on over and into the command pod. She really has gotten much better at handling herself in low-G. Emilynn showed her an image on the computer screen.

Hellou: "I've never seen sunspot activity like that. I know that small mass stars like Kerbol often display huge flare activity, but Kerbol is usually comparatively quite. But there are the historical reports about the Great Auroras that haveblanketed the planet every couple centuries...we may be seeing one of those in the making. What's our phase angle with Kerbin?"

Emilynn: "Umm..." *punches buttons on the navi-comp* "We are 26 degrees ahead of them."

Hellou: "Good. Good. It will take that mess longer to rotate toward us. Any contact with KSC?"

Emilynn: "I'm getting nothing but hash now. None of the four comsats has a signal either."

Hellou: "OK, come on. We blast now. I may even set some other charges later to give us a bigger cave effect off to the side of the hole."

Hellou and Emilynn got out of the command pod and over to the Fido before another transmission managed to break through the static.

KSC: "KSC Mission Con*static* to Vall Expe*static* *static*trol to Vall Expedition. Urgent mes*static*static*static*is rapidly spreading. Predic*static*tude ten *static**static*zero. Repea*static* *static*zero. Implement Shel*static*lan C. Repeat: Plan C*static**static* any fuel necessary. Minimum ti*static* *static*ythe. Urgen*statc**static*pot area is rapidly spre*static**static* magnitude ten. One zero. *static**static**static*

Hellou: "...damn..."

Emilynn: "Magnitude 10? So twice as bad as they were predicting before?"

Hellou: "Emi, that's a logarithmic scale. So a hundred thousand times worse."

Emilynn: "OK...'damn.' But Plan C? We're heading to Laythe?"

Hellou: "As fast as you can get us there, Emi. Pull out all the stops. We may have a day, or we may have only hours."

Emilynn: "Roger. I'm on it."

Emilynn flew off via rocket pack directly to the command pod hatch. Hellou was about to follow, but stopped and returned to the Fido to set it for remote control access. Then she took one last look at Kerbol and headed for the Lander.

...

[Tw1]

I like your interpretation of the female kerbal.

That's what I use Kerbal Attachment System for, personally (in fact, that was a good part of my evening - refueling a mun shuttle*), but I understand if you don't want to open that particular container.

Yeah, KAS is the one mod out there that I'd say could become stock. It's very well made, looks the part, and works well.

Edited November 7, 2013 by Tw1

[Danish_Savage]

These writings on this forum is just amazing. Yours especially Brotoro.

[Commander Zoom]

I like your interpretation of the female kerbal.

I do too. And this particular one looks so forlorn.

[Geschosskopf]

Another great report of an amazing expedition. And great cliff-hanger ending. I'm left to wonder if you've got something cool up your sleeve so the Kerbals weather the storm or if this is the beginning of a clean slate restart .