The progression of the Zeta Aerospace Initiative

[aeroz]

After the successful launch of that last Munar rocket, the KSC engineers removed a bit of weight and made the launch process more user friendly. The crew this time would be Scott - a veteran of the initiative; Gusford - another veteran; and Fredlin - a rookie. Fred's mission would be to man the orbiter while the other two descended to the surface to explore.

Transfer Motor

On the way

Starting the descent

Planting the flag

Scott exploring

Preparing to leave

Return to Munar orbit

Farewell, Mun

Back to Kerbin

Making it home

Jeb has given the whole crew the next week off for their dedication and bravery.

Edited September 15, 2013 by aeroz

[aeroz]

Because they hadn't actually landed on the Mun, Jeb, Bill, and Bob took to the skies once again. They went up in their Jool V-b Rocket as they had before, and made it to the Mun safely. There they circularized an orbit at around 65 km. The crew - this time Bill and Jeb - entered the lander, which they named the Karstana, and began their descent.

Munar Orbit

Descent

Touchdown

Setting up

The Karstana

Playing around

Kerbin rising

Homeward bound

Reentry - 3100 m/s

Chutes deploying

Exactly as it was meant to be. Jeb has also convinced the KSC engineers to construct a Munar mapping satellite to make the Kerbinauts aware of the terrain on which they would be landing.

[aeroz]

The Kerbinauts had gone to the Mun many times and had surveyed its surface for anomalies. They decided to send one more mission to visit this site, hopefully to find something incredible. They certainly did indeed.

Upon their landing, the crew described their amazement at the views from the giant natural archway.

Jeb decided that their next quest would be to create a semi-permanent living environment in space. The KSC engineers modified their massive Jool rocket which they'd taken to the Mun, rigging up a payload attached to the 3rd stage - a station for the Kerbinauts to live in and conduct experiments. The station would also serve as a remote command post should the KSC science crew decide to send out a probe to the next planet.

[aeroz]

Jeb decided after a while that it was time for another crew to visit Space Lab, their orbiting home. He radio-ed up to the current crew and told them to prepare for company. The crew tidied up the place, and went back to sleep while waiting for their fellows to join them. Once their replacements arrived, they went back to their ship, and waved goodbye to Space Lab.

Some time after they arrived back, it was decided that the whole constellation would be rebuilt - their GeoStar constellation had begun to drift too much out of alignment. The second mission to Space Lab, would be the last. The current crew would deorbit the station and return home after their mission was complete.

[aeroz]

Deciding that it was high time for an upgraded communications system to orbit Kerbin, Jeb asked the KSC engineers to design a more functional communications satellite. The constellation's architecture was going to be similar its predecessor, GeoStar, having 4 satellites equally spaced about the equator at GEO altitude. However, unlike the previous satellites, each of these would carry 6 dishes as opposed to 3. They would also each have onboard fuel for orbital adjustments should they become necessary. Additionally, the constellation would be expandable to enable longer range missions. The engineers upgraded the launch system as well, making it more weight efficient.

Pre-launch

Cleared the tower

Booster engine cutoff

Main engine 1 ignition

Gravity turn

Shroud ejection

Main engine 1 re-ignition

Main engine 2 ignition

Transfer staging

Satellite on orbit

Dish deployment

Constellation complete

Edited October 3, 2013 by aeroz

[aeroz]

Since their first orbiting home had been deorbited, Jeb, Bill, and Bob had been hard at work trying to decide what the best approach to a new station would be. That's when Scott and Lomon jumped in and suggested making a larger, more permanent habitat for the Kerbinauts. Because they spoke up, they were tasked with the next design.

They designed a new launch system for the station's main core and crew support module first and then figured out a way to contain all they wanted onboard in their limited space.

[aeroz]

As Scott and Lomon began their quest to design the space station which would serve as their home in space, new discussions were arising about the possibility of plane that could go into space. Something that they could use over and over again would be cheaper than continually sending up rockets. With that in mind, the KSC engineers were tasked with developing a proof of concept - an aircraft which could fly at near-orbital speeds at high altitudes. Thus the The Needle was born.

[aeroz]

Seeing the success of their first design for a high-speed ship, the engineers at KSC rethought their choice of fuel. By switching out their previous choice, just liquid fuel, with liquid fuel and some oxidizer, they would be able to get the ship up to orbital altitudes using rocket power. The flight began normally, but at 30 km, things took turn toward "boost". The ship rocketed upward to 80 km, where its apogee was again boosted to 140 km. The orbit was circularized and there the ship stayed for a few orbits. They even tried an EVA on the first time up. After the crafts orbits were deemed complete, they brought the ship down for re-entry. While it was hard to control at first, eventually it was brought to a steady flight and a picture perfect landing was completed. They had completed their first SSTO flight. The engineers were proud of their work and began designing a future SSTO plane: one that would be able to carry a payload into orbit.

[wminsing]

VERY nice little AAR, exactly the sort of program I'm trying to do. Great designs and good writing. Thanks for posting!

-Will

[aeroz]

Given their recent success with a simple SSTO design, the KSC engineers, along with Scott and Lomon, and with Jeb's approval, designed a new SSTO craft capable of carrying a small payload in its cargo bay. While this would be tested at a later time, the concept flight was scheduled and Scott would be the pilot. During the orbit around Kerbin he would conduct a short EVA, going into the cargo bay and around the ship. He and his copilot would then reenter and land back at the KSC runway.

[aeroz]

Though the shuttle program was coming along nicely, it was decided that exploration needed to continue. Jeb pulled a small crew off of the shuttle design project and tasked them with designing a more effective orbital mapping satellite than the previous attempts. What they came up with was was likely to be the new standard for mapping systems out of the initiative.

Several days after the probe's launch it was in it's final orbit around Minimus and starting its mapping mission with fuel to spare, should orbital adjustments become necessary.

[aeroz]

Due to slight delays in the shuttle program, Jeb decided that the best course would be to continue work on the station using minimally staged rockets, recovering as much of them as possible for reuse to save money. The next modules needed were a habitation module and then the main solar array to generate more power than the future crews could ever ask for.

Habitation Module Launch

Main Array Tower and Tug

Array 1 Attached

Array 2

They used tug modules to dock the station parts and were able to recover the majority of them. So far, the station was coming along just as planned. Except for a minor hiccup in the launch of the habitation module. Its power was so closely matched with the delta v required for orbit that the RCS system was used as propulsion for the last part of the journey to the station. Its tug was not recovered.

[aeroz]

The crew was continually running into a problem - they didn't have enough dishes to control their future missions. Jeb, regretting the cost greatly, agreed to sign off on 4 more local communications arrays to lighten the load on GloboStars 1 and 3. After they finished putting the other 4 up though, he was glad he did. GloboStars 5 through 8 would allow the initiative to control upwards of 15 new unmanned missions throughout the solar system.

All 8 GloboStars

[aeroz]

Seeking to gather more information about Minimus, a command was sent to Observer I - the mapping satellite - to fire its thrusters so it would impact the surface. In doing so, it was determined that there was no atmosphere on their smallest moon. Another exploration satellite was sent, this time to conduct a science mission. Its transfer vehicle would also serve as another impact device, creating a plume for the KSC scientists to study using instruments on the new Observer I. Among other things, the satellite would carry a gravity detection device and a thermometer to study the moon's gravitational effects and the general temperature that far from Kerbin.

A glance homeward

Impact away

For Science!

[The Error]

Very cool! Can't wait to see the shuttle program start up again.

[aeroz]

For those who are interested, i am currently going through the career mode. after getting to a point far enough along, i intend to go through the mods i use and assign them a technology going along with what should be their place in the tech tree.

the biggest issue right now is with remote tech. the antenna part needs to have its .cfg file edited to be included in the same section as the stayputnik system.

i haven't done it yet, but i'll get to it.

On the plus side, FAR has no issues whatsoever.

Also, here's some of my work so far in Career, obviously only stock parts:

Soyuz I

Science probe to Mun

Munar Sunrise

Edited October 21, 2013 by aeroz