The adventures of BW Aerospace and the lives of the brave Kerbanauts who work there.

[BubbaWilkins]

Meta-goal: Full exploration....of EVERYTHING!

Meta Progress:

Kerbin Exploration - COMPLETE!

Mission #1: Examine an unknown object near the KSP.

Background: Jeb noticed an object in the distance while flying a prototype chopper. Mission control sees nothing on radar, so once the issues with the prototype helicopter were corrected, it was dispatched to investigate.

Results: It appears to defy gravity, but otherwise is harmless and should not interfere with on going operations and the pending shuttle launch.

Mission #2: Insertion of Kerbsat #1 on polar orbit.

Background: After the completion of Mission #1, Management was horrified to learn that they didn't already know everything about their home planet. After a lengthy meeting and one food fight which left several of the lesser board members incapacitated, it was decided that a Kerbsat should be deployed to fully map Kerban. This would also be an opportunity to utilize the new Atlas Mark II Shuttle which had recently came through out of testing.

Launch was "Go" and the lifter performed flawlessly. This was largely due to the huge number of warning post-its all over the controls warning the pilots not to exceed 300 m/s before 10,000m or perform a gravity turn before the solid boosters were exhausted and jettisoned.

The shuttle reached a near perfect 125km orbit only a few degrees off of a near perfect polar orbit. Mission controlled deemed it "Close enough" and Kerbsat #1 was released from the cargo hold. The shuttles manipulator placed it at arms length away from the shuttle.

Mission control confirmed that they had a live data feed from the Kerbsat, so the arm was retracted and the necessary course changes were calculated for re-entry. Due to the near perfect launch vector, a navigation node was placed which would allow a single burn to bring the shuttle into the lower atmosphere near KSP. Re-entry went well and the shuttle set into a cruising speed of 260 m/s just around 11,000 meters of altitude.

Turns out that the re-entry vector was just a little off, but KSP was well within range of the little remaining fuel. Notes were made in the mission file to include a KSP home base beacon for future flights instead of just eye-balling it. The Shuttle was able to line up with the runway and touched down.

Safe Landing!

After 53 minutes, mission complete!

Kerbsat #1 was activated with all solar panels deployed and surveying is in progress.

A meeting has been scheduled two days from now to determine the next mission objective. It would have been tomorrow, but it was determined that everyone would be too hung over from the mission after-party.

Edited June 20, 2013 by BubbaWilkins

[BubbaWilkins]

Kerbsat #1 has finished surveying the planet with a number of anomalies having been detected.

The current mission on the table is to investigate these locations and report back. Jeb was dispatched to cover several of the sites utilizing whatever crafts were available. Naturally, Jeb elected to take a prototype Lancer for a spin and roll flight testing it into the mission as well.

Located at the North Pole, Jeb discovered that there are alien pilots less skillful than himself:

The Lancer prototype worked well, but needs some refinement as the wing configuration appeared to be under-performing.

After returning to the Space Center, he decided the change crafts and got a smaller VTOL jet for the next run. There was an anomaly located due west of the space center which needed investigation.

Jeb discovered another monolith similar to the one near the Space Center, but this particular one was suspended high in the air. Still, the location had been verified so Jeb stuck a flag on the top of the hill and returned to base.

[BubbaWilkins]

With the ongoing mission objective to investigate all detected anomalies on Kerbin, Jeb and the crew proceeded to hit a couple more.

Early morning helicopter flight to check out the island near the KSP:

Nothing is known of this apparently abandoned airbase other than some craft wreckage remains in one of the hangers.

After returning to base, Jeb grabbed the large Herculiner Cargo with his new toy in the hold and set out west towards the desert

Pyramids!

Jeb's weekend ride:

[BubbaWilkins]

One more day and the current mission objective will be complete!

Jeb decided that the Grasshopper VTOL offered the quickest and most versatile platform to hit the last two known anomaly locations.

After taking off, he set course due east:

He discovered yet another floating monolith, this one even higher than the previous:

The VTOL is proving to be a very capable platform and sufficient fuel remained to continue to the next point and still return to KSC, so Jeb set course for the last remaining anomaly:

He noted that no lights are currently installed on the aircraft and that he would need to talk to engineering about correcting this. He arrived at the final location only to discover that it was in fact an almost complete Space Center. The radar station appeared to be operational, but no landing strip could be seen and there were no signs of activity otherwise. After placing a beacon/flag, Jeb hopscotched the VTOL to the top of the ridge to snap a few pictures for further analysis:

MISSION OBJECTIVES COMPLETE!

Now it's up to the management back at KSC to decide what the next mission series shall be. Rumors abound about the Mun and a substance called "Kethane"....

Edited June 20, 2013 by BubbaWilkins

[BubbaWilkins]

New Mission: After dispatching a satellite to the moon to scan the surface for anomalies and Kethane, Mission control has reported back that both processes are complete and it's time to do something about it.

So Mission control has setup the following objectives.

1) Establish a completely mobile Munar base with the ability to extract, store, and process Kethane.

2) Expand base to allow for Munar exploration craft and crews.

3) Investigate all known Munar anomolies.

4) Place a fuel station in orbit

In accordance with these objectives, a Drilling and extraction vehicle were launched.

Landing proved very difficult due to the sheer size and mass of the extraction platform, but after having practiced numerous attempts in the F9 simulator, Jeb as able to bring the unit down to the Munar surface. Since the unit is primarily powered by Kethane generators, the first order of business was to get to work extracting the stuff.

Mission control received the message that the unit had landed and subsequently launched the second vehicle. Since the first was primarily a drilling platform, the second would incorporate refining, storage, and refueling capabilities. Refinements were made to the platform using the flight data from the first mission, so deployment required far fewer sessions in the F9 simulator. Sadly, with the ballistic type trajectory utilized, the unit touched down some distance away from the drilling platform.

This unit is also Kethane powered, but fortunately all the chassis were designed with solar collection as a secondary power source. The panels were deployed and they set out in the general direction of the Drilling platform. Maximum sustainable speed over the Munar surface is 15m/s. The rendezvous was made and the units were temporarily mated together.

The next variant of the Munar truck chassis will incorporate expanded docking configurations, crew accommodations, and additional storage capacity. The unit is currently in design/testing and is expected to launch in the next couple of days.

[BubbaWilkins]

While design and testing was on going for the upcoming Munar missions, Jeb got some of the older toys out of the hanger....

Buzzing the tower in a biplane...

Taking the K-51 Kustang into the nearby mountain ranges...

And landing on the roof of the newly constructed VAB:

Just to show that Jeb was not all play and did some work as well, the new shuttle was launched for a test flight:

Re-entry went smoothly:

[BubbaWilkins]

With the testing and design phases complete, the Munar exploration missions were launched in ernest. Initial mission profile included three of the 2nd generation, Munar Explorer II's equiped with both enhanced Kethane processing services and crew accommodations. The platforms were deployed to separate Kethane fields to serve as refueling hubs. The Munar Hopper with belly slung truck was then launched.

Munar Hopper coming in for initial landing and refuel:

Landed near a buried monolith with truck deployed:

Due to the nature of the Munar surface and the limited fuel and range of the Munar Hopper, it was not always possible to land at the anomalies directly. In most cases, suitable landing areas had to be found in the general area which may have been some distance from the anomalies themselves. This did provide ample opportunity to observe the heavens...

Of course, no visit to the Mun would be complete without seeing the Armstrong Memorial. Although it was launched decades ago, this is the first time it's actually been seen since it was placed (crashed). Truly a feat of Kerbal engineering to have placed it on the surface using nothing more than high explosives and minimal guidance!

Landing near the Munar Arch.

[KMC]

Mods? I want to know what those wheel mods were.