Long duration exploration of Duna (5 pics)

[Margaul]

Duna has been quite the adventure for the Kerbals. But, with several successful landings under their belts, they have started to wonder if Eve is really grape flavored and they have begun to dream about beach vacations on Laythe.

But before they make the next leap, it was important to put a rover on Duna. Why? Because there is still lots to see more than a few feet away from the landing site, and more importantly, the people of Kerbin need to know if the polar ice caps would make good ski resorts.

The Skystrider lander has been very successful on Duna. However, because of it's three engine configuration, there was uncertainty about how to use it to get a rover to Duna. Skystrider II was designed as a Moon/Minmus lander that delivered the Skyroller rover to both moons. The center Poodle engine was removed and the rover attached with a decoupler. Shortly before touchdown, the rover was decoupled and dropped like a small bomb onto the moon, much to the delight of the kerbals. The two engine configuration may have worked on Duna to put the kerbalnauts back in orbit, but it was uncertain. Why try with two engines when three worked? Then, in true kerbal fashion, the answer became obvious. Why three engines when you can use FOUR! Thus Skystrider IIA was born.

This is a long duration mission, so I'll probably post a few pictures when the kerbals make it to icecap. After a 93 day journey, an unexpected encounter with Ike and some quick recalculations of aerobraking (due to the Ike-altered velocity) I was just happy to get the kerbals into an (almost) equatorial orbit, a quick landing, and 22.7km in the rover.

As is typical of my journeys so far, I use only stock parts, and no mechjeb or any other mods at all. Just manual maneuvers and keyboard bashing.

Skycrosser/Skystrider making a close pass with Ike

Lander and Rover preparing to enter Duna's atmosphere

After a safe touchdown, the parachutes were repacked (Thanks DMagic for that little gem of an idea for the return to Kerbin) and the kerbals are ready to deploy the Skyroller rover

The flag is planted and the site named "The Sanguine Fields" A quick spin ensures the rover is functional and it's time to roll

After making an impressive start of 22.7km shortly after touchdown, the kerbalnauts pose.

I'll post more once the boys make it to the ice cap. But it could take awhile. Fortunately, it will be a few weeks/months before Kerbin is in the optimal position for a trip home.

Edited June 8, 2013 by Margaul

[Margaul]

Burlock and Anford Kerbin started the third morning on the early sunlight and watchful eye of Ike

The crisp morning started off well and the intrepid crew felt good about the prospect of reaching the icecap by midday.

Sure enough, as the Sun crept into the sky, the ice covered mountains of Northern Duna peaked out over the horizon.

The landscape of Duna the boys traversed was often treacherous. The largest mountains thousands of meters into the thin Duna atmosphere. Often these mountains ended at nearly sea level. Burlock carefully managed the drive trying to keep the rover creeping up the mountains and then keeping the speed of the rover around 20 m/s on the steep downward slopes.

As they traveled downward on the last slope, the crunch of ice could be heard beneath the tires, and the crew knew that the first major milestone of the rover journey was nearing completion.

Finally, the light ice was replaced by thick fields of snow and ice. The crew slowly headed up the first tall mountain of the icecap. When the batteries depleted, the crew radioed back to command that they were stopping to survey the area for the possibility of building what would perhaps be the most impressive ski resort in Kerbal history. Burlock planted the flag victoriously, naming the mountain "Mt. Kerbalhorn"

Space command radioed back congratulations. Burlock and Anford had travelled well over 200 kilometers from the landing site, marking them down in the history books for the longest rover drive on a celestial body. They told them to take a little time off and camp. Space command had a few other priorities to attend to. (It turns out a junior technician accidentally hit a button marked "End Flight" while checking on the status of a Minmus orbiter, stranding a crew on the north pole of the mint flavored moon).

[suzin.felipe]

Well done mate.

How many hours driving to get there?

[Spartwo]

I like the rover,good looking in it`s simplicity.

[Margaul]

I'm not really sure how many hours it took. I would just load it occasionally and get it rolling while I was watching something on TV. I also stopped halfway through to make an impromptu Mun landing to test a (failed) single seat flying vehicle. I do know that the game time recorded from deployment to arrival at the ice cap was 1 day 11 hours and 32 minutes. That includes nights when the kerbals had to "camp" while waiting for the sun to come out and charge the batteries.

@Spartwo - Thanks. I like the simplicity of the rover too. It is a 0.19 design that I just kept because it works well and is easy to deploy.