To Terraform Duna! {[Mission Failure 11-3-13]}

[KeithStone]

Unfortunately this mission was a failure. The fact that I was using the dev build of Ioncross without playtesting the new version much means that all of mission 2 and 3 crumbled, which had a good chunk of the parts for a base going in. Without having the scrubbers on the command pod/hab modules stay active when the ship isnt focused, a lot of my crew perished during a simultaneous launch scenario. I even thought of hyper-editing them back in, but they wouldnt survive planetside without constant attention. Sorry folks, I failed )

Hello everyone. Today I present to you my current in-progress mission report on my attempt to Terraform and colonize Duna!

Backstory: KeithStone Kerman, head of the Keithstone Kethane Mining Corp, has had a moderate level of success mining Kethane on the Mun and establishing his credentials working for the Kerbal Space Center as a mining and geology engineer. Looking to further his fame, he has teamed up with the famous (and more environmentally conscious) Nikoly Kesla Kerman, who has started making a big name for himself in the realms of engineering and inventing many forms of power generation and propulsion only thought to be science-fiction fantasies just years before. Now the two of them have set their eyes on Duna, hoping to not only colonize it, but to establish a full-fledged terraforming operation in hopes of giving kerbals everywhere a second home, close to home.

Why I'm doing it?: I've attempted several runs at Duna, both on and off the forums, but I've usually put harsh restrictions on myself to try to make things a little more realistic and/or challenging. This time, I'm doing things mostly for the narrative and the aesthetic, foregoing realism. I'm not afraid to quicksave, use MechJeb, or have fun with mods, or use completely unrealistic pseudo-science (and in some cases flat out BS) as I play this one out. After all, it IS KSP

Mods Used (in whole or part):

Aies

B9

Biofuels

Quantum Struts

Editor Extensions

Kerbal Engineer

Ioncross Crew Support

Ion Hybrid Engine pack

KAS

Procedural Fairings

Kerbal Alarm Clock

Kethane

MechJeb

Toroidal/Spherical fuel tanks

NovaPunch 2

Lack Luster Labs

Proceedural Wings

Select Root

TAC Fuel Balancer

UDK's large station stockalike parts

KSP Interstellar pack

Z_Thing Sciency Dome Part

Texture reduction packs for B9, NovaPunch, and Aies (iirc)

Edited November 3, 2013 by KeithStone

[KeithStone]

Pre-Mission Notes and progress

⦠Use of the "unrealistic" power-to-size drives from the Hybrid Ion Pack will only be used when an excess of additional parts (Tesla Coils, antennae etc) are used to make the device or ship appear to be capable of such power generation.

⦠Pre-mission operations include the launching of the Calladrius Mk4 Space Station to establish the reults of long-term experiements on a large number of space-born kerbals as well as experiment with the new bio-fuels concepts.

⦠An additional pre-mission flight to bring up the AC-Pidgeon, Nikoly's personal interplanetary flagship, and dock it with the Calladrius for future use.

Mission 1-Establish initial polar ionization bases in an attempt to strengthen Duna's Ionosphere and make it capable of sustaining an atmosphere safe from solar radiation

⦠With the oversight of Nikoly, two gigantic "Kesla Coils" were constructed with the idea that an "ionization network" could be established, making Duna safer from the threat of having any attempts at strengthening its atmosphere from being "blown away in the (solar) wind"

⦠Keithstone Kerman oversaw the construction of a satellite network to aid in this process. Three monitoring satellites were constructed (without any testing of their capabilities) and ended up being horribly off-balanced. Luckily, Nikoly foresaw issues with the satellite network and ensured that the ITV was loaded with extra delta-v, and drained the fuel tanks of the satellites so that the main vehicle could help establish their new orbits once the Kesla Coils were deployed.

⦠A Single "Tuning Rod" (diffusing rod?) was constructed to help give readouts on pockets of ionization and to help keep the ebb and flow of the new ionosphere in check. Keithstone decided that since it would be in a low polar orbit, it would be a great place to slap on a few kethane detectors!

⦠The mission was deemed a moderate success. Putting the 180+ ton beast in to orbit was a challenge, but once there the vessel was releatively easy to control. However, once in Duna orbit several key issues became apparent. Namely, that there was a giant mountain on the north pole and a huge crevace on the south pole. This made landing the two coils perfectly a challenge, and it was opted that they be landed NEAR the poles in hopes that they still worked in a slightly off configuration. All three satellites were deployed in to their orbits, and the tuning rod's lower polar orbit was established. Kethane scanning revealed several decent pockets for further use.

Post Mission launches

⦠Additional oxygen was brought up to the Calladrius. Unfortunately it seems that there is a slight issue keeping the scrubbers online, since they appear to have been wired to the light switches and toilets, causing interesting results. Ground control is investigating this issue and a possible resolution.

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[Rhyunix]

Nice! I will want to see the growth of this mission

[Captain_Party]

So are ypu you actually terraforming Duna? Or is it just roleplay? (Thought this might be publicity for an amazing new mod)

[KeithStone]

I wish I had that kind of coding skills lol. No, mostly roleplay, though I have looked at using the universe replacer but i dont think i could get away with it without it destroying everything I have landed. So for now I will be role-playing it out, since it takes some time to terraform anyway.

[suzin.felipe]

Dude, that is awesome.

Love the creative use of mods and can only feel impressed by the size of what you are trying to do.

Do you have some SS of the "Ion Net"? Will be looking forward for the next mission.

[KeithStone]

So the "ion net" is merely the best use I could come up with for the LackLusterLabs docking lights. I always loved em, but never saw much use, just potential. After experimenting with them in some other sandboxes, I figured they worked really well as relays, shield walls, and other high-tech bits. The only thing is they aren't very photogenic lol.

Here's a couple shots on the pad to try to show them off more.

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