Adventures of an ion probe! Picture Heavy.

[Rage097]

This is Surron I. Surron I is a (supposedly) interplanetary Ion probe That is currently in a Highly elliptical orbit around Kerbin.

Today Surron extended it's apoapsis past the Muns orbit and caught a glimpse of a solar eclipse en route.

It's first destination will (or should) be Minmus so it can send back images of the frozen ball of who knows what. Next destination after that'll be Duna!

I'll update when I've completed this.

I apologize for any boredom sustained while reading this.

[Rage097]

Minmus View:

The Kerbin system from Minmus.

Going interplanetary.

Burning in the void.

[Rage097]

Well After a long set of burns and A single post-burn adjustment I finally encountered Duna. I also will note I had slightly less than a quarter tank of Xenon left: take note of this.

I then began to slow myself down in order to be captured by Duna. It was not pretty at all. I had to bleed off 832 m/s of Delta-V...Using only three Ion engines. The burn must've lasted for twenty to thirty minutes before I even achieved a stable orbit, but eventually:

I made it into a Nice, circular, somewhat polar orbit.

But, that is also the end of Surron Is journey as the burn left me with less than a quarter tank of fuel because the burn to get into Duna orbit was done without the help of the Oberth effect and was much less inefficient.

The last act of this probe will be a LDO flyby and eventually a impact test onto Duna's surface.

Moral: Do not overestimate the efficiency of Ion engines.

Thankfully, Surron II is already being planned and is going to be exploring the inner planets next!

[Rage097]

Another picture from Duna by Surron I in a 6 kilometer periapsis.