To the Mün and Back! A KSP story in 60 pictures

[Nimelrian]

Reddit post: http://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/1exhrj/i_finally_did_what_my_kerturn_v_was_designed_for/

The Kerturn V will be our friends' Vehicle for this mission

The whole rocket weighs 783 tons

Ignition!

Liftoff!

We have cleared the tower

The target of our mission waiting in the background

Initiating gravity turn at 10km

Turning....

Stage 1 separation

Ignition of Stage 2

Escape Tower jettisoned

Stage 2 separation, Stage 3 burning

Stage 2 drifting to the ground, ending up in the ocean

Preparing our circularization burn

Burning

Done

Planning the TMI (Trans Münar Injection)

TMI being executed on the dark side of Kerbin

Stage 3 empty, time to get our Münar Lander out

Closer

Closer....

Capture!

Pulling it out

Going for another burn, since Stage 3 didn't have enough dV to complete our maneuver

Another correction burn to allow a free-return trajectory in case something goes wrong

Burning

Done!

Closing in

Circularizing our Münar orbit

Orbit is stable at 20km

Bringing Bob and Phileny over to the lander

Burning retrograde to get on a sub-orbit trajectory

Extending landing gear

Shadow is coming in!

Touchdown!

Bob and Phileny, the first Kerbals of our space program to set their foot on the Mün

Planting the flag

The plaque left on the Mün

Back in orbit, just 10m/s of dV left, was quite an act to get it into this orbit

After some burns with the CSM, we are close to our lander again

Docking

Closer

Almost done!

Capture!

Bob and Phileny return to the CSM

Time to get us back home, Münar orbit ejection is planned...

...and executed

Preparing to get a good landing site

Looking good

Bye lander, you did your part

After rethinking the entry angle, KSC decides it's better to go for a flatter one, no problem, since we still have 1000m/s of dV

CM/SM separation

We're coming in hot at 3000m/s

Like... very hot

Our Kerbals have to endure 16G, good that their suits are filled with fluids to help them live through these seconds

Deploying chutes!

Chutes fully deployed

Touchdown!

Phileny, Bob and Loddorf made it. To the Mün and Back!

Their journey won't be forgotten.

Thanks for watching! Leave a comment if you like to and/or upvote the Reddit post!

[The Error]

Nicely done!

Very well executed. Be glad Jeb wasn't flying.

[Sᴄɪɴᴛɪʟʟᴀᴛᴏʀ]

Nice job

[jonfl1]

Well done!

[Henri von Braun]

16Gs? They obviously have the right stuff. * entering atmosphere. 1G ! 2G ! 3G ! 4G ! 5G ! 6G ! 7G ! 8G ! 9G ! Something's wrong ! 10 G ! 11 G ! 12G ! 13G ! 14G ! 15G ! 16G! Uh, flight, we see we might have messed up our reentry by, uh, 75.6 degrees ( ! ) *

[128MB]

Cool, too bad some pics are dark.

I should try a mun landing like.