[CLOSED] Kerbin and Beyond: a Maturing Space Program

Northstar1989 · February 8, 2014

Well, it turns out landing on a mountaintop is a LOT easier at dawn than at night- or for that matter at any other time of day, as predicted (the long shadows make it much easier to see the contours of the land- yet you don't have the same time pressure to get things done before nightfall as at dusk). The supply mission to the mountaintop launchpad went smoothly and as planned:

Now comes the FUN part- figuring out how to actually *USE* an Extraplanetary Launchpads Mark-1 Launchpad to build a mountaintop base... Probably like many of you reading this post, I've never actually USED an Extraplanetary Launchpad before- so figuring out how to build *anything* with it is going to be a learning experience. Naturally, the first thing I did was right-click on it...

My guess is that it's going to require me to build a couple rovers to drag stuff around over the ground... I might also upgrade the launchpad to a Mk2 relatively soon (That is- build a Mk2 using the Mk1), since the Mk2 has a smoother, larger surface to drag things off once deployed (it also weights 10 tons instead of 5, though- which would have made airlifting it there initially that much more difficult).

By the way, the launchpad does a cool deployment thing- which I was only able to do once the sun come up because it required the probe core to have power (the probe core is powered by 2 Ox-STAT solar panels)

It also has a cool build menu- no need to even go back to the VAB/SPH! Well, once I design the base components there anyways...

Regards,

Northstar

Northstar1989 · February 10, 2014

While I'm somewhat busy with real-life obligations, and work on setting up my launch facility, and my first high-altitude launch system in-game; I just thought I'd share a couple interesting articles that highlight my reasons for choosing a high-altitude launch site (my current launch site is at just under 15,200 feet) and exactly the kind of launch-assistance technologies I dream of someday being able to integrate into my space program:

http://www.g2mil.com/high.htm

http://www.g2mil.com/skyramp.htm

http://www.g2mil.com/spaceport.htm

Pay particular attention to the article on "Sky Ramp" technology. If Kerbtown ( http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/40374-WIP-KerbTown-v0-13-Beta-Place-static-buildings-cities-launch-sites-more!?highlight=kerb+town ) wasn't currently only partially-functional for 0.23 (the mod author seems to have abandoned it- but another player took up the job of updating it to mostly work for 0.23), I would probably be making use of a mountaintop spawn point combined with launch-rail technology at this launch facility...

Somebody is already working on a Mass Driver. Too bad it's at sea-level though:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/45229-WIP-Mass-Driver?highlight=mass+drive

For those curious what a "Mass Driver" or "Sky Ramp" is, take a look at the Wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_driver

Regards,

Northstar

Edited February 10, 2014 by Northstar1989

Northstar1989 · February 10, 2014

The mountaintop launch facility is finished!

Or at least, for the moment:

For those of you wondering how I got the pieces in place- I built them on the Launchpad, and then moved them using helicopter rotors with probe cores on top of a stack-decoupler (I then let the helicopter top fly away into the distance until it crashed in one case, and landed and recovered it in the other). After landing, I attached via KAS winch.

If only Kerbtown was in a greater state of completion/optimization, and was fully functional in 0.23. I would have just started out by building a think level concrete pad on the mountaintop, to provide a flat surface to land everything on, and probably would have also given it some KSC runway/launchpad-style lights and a heavily-reinforced Kerbtown steel truss structure on top of the concrete base at least a couple hundred meters up (to increase the launch altitudes). I probably would have also tried to implement an inclined magnetic launch rail, if I could then figure out how to build one of those in Kerbtown...

Regards,

Northstar

Northstar1989 · February 10, 2014

A successful test-launch confirmed that the mountaintop launch facility is now fully operational! (although the rockets do have the tendency to "burn" the launchpad during liftoff)

Now if I just had something to launch from it...

The test-launch was used to carry a small amount of additional ArgonGas into orbit, by the way. I figure I'll fish it and the leftover LFO fuel out at some point, and probably use it to fuel a small (initially empty) ArgonGas probe I'll stick on a larger manned mission as a secondary cargo.

Regards,

Northstar

Northstar1989 · February 15, 2014

The Light Lunar Explorer Mission (remember that from before?) has been off to a roaring good start!

I present, the images:

Regards,

Northstar

Northstar1989 · February 15, 2014

I just realized I've been calling the mission and naming some of the craft the Light "Lunar" Explorer Mission (after Earth's moon, Luna) instead of the Light "Munar" Explorer Mission- apologies about that.

Anyways, my brave Kerbals landed on Muna's south pole:

Performed some scientific experiments:

And then ascended back into orbit:

And this is interesting- I don't know if any of you caught it in my landing, science, or scent screenshots; but there was an eerily-glowing pit behind the lander's landing site... See if you can find it.

I'm afraid I didn't get any good pictures of it from straight above, but it appears I landed right next to one of the sort-of anomalies (or one not previously discovered?), one of the "tunnels" at the poles that goes several km straight down through the Mun!

I got a good view down it briefly as I was ascending back to orbit, but I didn't manage to take a screenshot- I was having a bit of trouble keeping the Kerbals on the ladder at that point (they kept having this strange tendency to fall at a different rate than the lander when its engines were shut off, and thus fall off the ladders- despite being in a free-fall situation where both should have moved together at exactly the same rate... The lander also showed this weird tendency to dance around when landed on the surface at first...)

Now comes the fun part: rendezvous with the service module, and transfer over of the scientific data. I was *hoping* to make a suborbital hop to an additional biome, but after seeing how much trouble I was having keeping the Kerbals just from falling off the lander, I decided against it. Besides, based on my fuel back in orbit, I wouldn't have had enough Delta-V to make it back to the service module after that...

Regards,

Northstar

EDIT: An inspection of the Wiki "Easter Eggs" list mentions no tunnels like the one I saw on the Mun- but it does list similar tunnels (and "anomalous forces"- could that be what I was experiencing with the lander?) on Moho. Perhaps the terrain generation algorithm generated similar tunnels on the Mun, and I'm just one of the first players to find them- or at least nobody's bothered to post it to the Wiki yet?

Edited February 15, 2014 by Northstar1989

Northstar1989 · February 15, 2014

Navigating a lander that transports Kerbals by ladders is probably the most tedious thing I've ever done. And I'm not sure the slight mass-savings were worth all the extra hassle of constantly having to make sure the Kerbals didn't fall off, and the inability to perform time-warp without having the Kerbals let go of the lander first... Next time, I'm just going with Extrernal Command Chairs for super-light landers, or even a Thor Lander... (my time is worth more than the fuel savings, I think)

Anyways, I've got a few more images- I decided to move the service module to a slightly higher orbit to increase the phasing rate for rendezvous:

I also thought I should point out that I made an adjustment burn on the Minmus Spacedock, which is now currently on a collision-course with Minmus (I'll raise the periapsis just slightly after I enter the SOI)

Regards,

Northstar

Northstar1989 · February 15, 2014

This is a long post, but bear with me:

OK, so first of all, I rendezvoused the lander with the service module, and EVA'd the Kerbals over, as well as the scientific data, the two functional solar panels (the ones the Kerbals were standing on broke), and the lander's thermometer (more on that later). KAS allows me to move light parts between ships via EVA, and I put that ability to good use...

However because my orbit was so low, maneuvers to rendezvous with the service module put both ships on a suborbital trajectory (I made small burns from both ships during the rendezvous, as Bill Kerman was running a little low on EVA propellant, so I brought the service module to him...)

So, I decided to use the lander as an impactor probe, rather than try and desperately circularize its orbit (without functional solar panels, it would have just been a dangerous piece of high-velocity debris in low orbit: too small to be worth salvaging and too low to do so safely...) I had just enough time to circularize the service module, however, due to a smaller burn I performed earlier to slow its rate of descent...

Now some of you may be wondering why I only performed a short burn to give the service module more time, instead of raising its periapsis ASAP. The reason is because I was busy activating the accelerometers on my Munar Rover (yep, still there, more than 8 months after converting a manned rover into it by stripping off the command seats- the probe core was already included for SAS force). You see, KSP-Interstellar has converted all seismic sensors- including ones built before the latest update- into impactor experiment sensors instead (they produce more science- but require a separate vessel to crash into the planet/moon's surface)

So, after collecting that data, and having read that you needed to perform multiple impact experiments (or land multiple impact sensors) in different places to get the full science value from this type of experiment, I decided to place the service module back into a suborbital trajectory, strip off the thermometer as a seismic "bullet" for the Mun's surface, and then re-circularize the orbit without the thermometer (now a high-speed impact probe). This time I also managed to take a screenshot of setting up the rover for the recording...

The thermometer makes a valid impact probe (and it need not be said is something you can realistically imagine being easy to move from ship to ship like I did- especially if this were planned for ahead of time), and here are the images of its collision:

And the data is show below: (Note that the thermometer was names 'Lury Kerman Debris' as Lury Kerman was the Kerbal to strip it off the service module- the Kerbal himself is safely in the Odin Command Module...)

From a scientific standpoint, I'm perfectly satisfied with the thermometer acting as a valid impact probe. It collided into the surface of the Mun at 601.5 m/s (in the Kerbal universe, that's almost Mach 1.8), and the rover- which was located about 1/4 the way around the Mun from the impact point- had two parallel seismic sensors both pre-alerted to and recording the event. I think it's quite reasonable and not at all exploitative that a high-quality pair of space-age seismic sensors (approximately early 1990's to 2000's level of technology when the rover was built- though my current tech level is about analogous to maybe 15-20 years in the future) should be able to measure and obtain useful data from such an impact- especially considering baseline (stock) seismic data had already been taken from exactly the same location earlier.

NEXT UP: The Light Munar Explorer sets a return-trajectory to Kerbin, making a gravity-assist around Minmus for extra Science points! (I don't believe I've yet hit the science cap for returning vessels from Minmus orbit- having only done it maybe once or twice before in this save...)

Regards,

Northstar

Edited February 15, 2014 by Northstar1989

Northstar1989 · February 15, 2014

So, as I was plotting trajectories for the Light Munar Explorer, a couple thoughts struck me...

First, that KSP-Interstellar's impactor experiment system should have excellent synergy with the NASA Mission Pack that Squad has announced they will be releasing shortly after 0.24 (they are working directly with real-world NASA to design it- based on a NASA plan to capture a Near-Earth Object in Earth orbit and land a manned mission on it...) You see, the mission pack will create randomized spawns of Near-Kerbin asteroids, some of which should land on s trajectory carrying them through Kerbin's SOI. A significant fractions of those should end up being intercepted by the Mun's SOI and crashing into it- leading to free impactor events for any sensors stationed there if the mod counts these as valid impacts...

Second, that I haven't launched any Kerbin-impactors yet. I should get on that- it shouldn't be too hard to set up a seismic sensor at the KSC, and then launch a small probe straight up from the mountaintop launchpad I built on a suborbital trajectory, turn it around at apoapsis and have it burn straight back towards Kerbin on the way back down with any remaining fuel for a relatively high-velocity impact event (drag will still slow it down quite a bit, unfortunately...)

I should also be able to use the spent fuel tanks from the Light Munar Explorer, and any other similar missions in the future, as impactors as long as they collide into Kerbin's surface with enough force... I'll just have to remember to separate them and activate the parachutes relatively low to the ground so the fuel tank doesn't become unloaded before impact...

Anyways, I set the LME on a high-speed collision-course with Minmus (it's got plenty of extra fuel). Once it's almost to Minmus' SOI, it will turn around and perform a high Delta-V deceleration burn that will also set it on a trajectory where it performs a Minmus flyby before shooting out to an even more distant apoapsis- where I can then perform a very low Delta-V burn to set the LME's periapsis inside Kerbin's atmosphere:

The high-speed transfer should help to keep the total mission time reasonable. I might also use up additional fuel to speed up the return trajectory by burning radially inward... (I have more than enough fuel to slow it down again close to Kerbin, if I so desire)

Regards,

Northstar

Edited February 15, 2014 by Northstar1989

Northstar1989 · February 15, 2014

OK, so tests indicate that either impactor experiments don't work on Kerbin, or there's something I'm doing wrong... I didn't get *any* evidence that the impactor monitor even recorded the impacts, and no science to collect, when I attempted an impactor experiment on Kerbin:

Of course, I F5/F9'd that. I'll consider it a 'simulation'.

I'll have to figure out what went wrong with several more 'simulations'...

Regards,

Northstar

Edited February 15, 2014 by Northstar1989

Northstar1989 · February 15, 2014

Finally got one to work!

But that was the only screenshot I captured of it...

I only got 25 Science points from that, though, so I'll be re-attempting this with a larger array of sensors.

It appears the problem might have been that the impactor was hitting the ground too far from the sensor. My guess is there's some kind of system incorporating both distance, # of sensor locations, and impact velocity; to determine whether an impact is detected...

More on this soon.

Regards,

Northstar

Northstar1989 · February 15, 2014

After deploying a trio of seismic sensors:

I performed another impactor experiment:

However, after all this effort I only made a measly 47.8 science... Barely worth it if I weren't already on the verge of having 1000 Science points- all I need to purchase Aerospace Tech (and finally get SABRE engines, intakes, and precoolers; as well as a new line of fuselage)

So, I performed one more impactor experiment...

And got *just barely* enough Science points (29) to purchase Aerospace Tech when I recovered one of the impact sensors... (I'm done with impactor experiments on Kerbin- they're simply too difficult thanks to the thick atmosphere, for too little reward. I'll be performing future impactor experiments on other planets and moons- so I decided to recover the impact sensors to reduce lag...)

This is one of those techs that I've been waiting for a *LONG* time. The ability to utilize 2.5 meter SABRE intakes (both a higher radius than any other intake I've had since KSP-Interstellar discontinued their Atmo Intakes, and slightly more effective per ton than a standard Ram Intake) should do wonders for my ability to construct spaceplanes. And the 2.5 meter SABRE engines aren't a bad alternative to the puny 1.25 meter RAPIER engines either... (B9 Aerospace also offers 1.25 meter SABRE engines- though I'm not sure how they perform compare to their RAPIER cousins)

Regards,

Northstar

Edited February 15, 2014 by Northstar1989

Northstar1989 · February 16, 2014

I got so excited about finally unlocking Aerospace Tech that I went and immediately started designing a spaceplane:

As the name implies, this is a *HEAVY-LIFTER* design. My first true plane heavy-lifter ever (I built a heavy-lift helicopter before, remember?), and a spaceplane at that!

Unfortunately, I got a little too hyped up about the B9 SABRE Engines- and forgot they don't work with 0.23 yet (they are awaiting the next B9 Aerospace mod update to be fixed...)

SABRE engines strictly out-perform RAPIER engines (though they require a much more advanced tech node), and there is even a jerry-rigged functional version of them on the B9 Aerospace thread created by one of the mod users until the mod updates. But I play my Career game long-term, and I wouldn't want to make use of a part that would soon be made obsolete by the next mod update...

Anyways, you all must be getting sick of spaceplanes by now, but my immediate plan isn't to send this one to Duna (I'll probably wait for the next transfer window). While its design will keep eventual usability on Duna in mind, the idea behind this is to create a heavy-lifter design to get stuff to orbit in the meantime... For the moment, though, it's very much a work-in-progress (as you can see, it doesn't even have any rocket engines yet).

Regards,

Northstar

Specialist290 · February 17, 2014

Nicely done as always

Which add-on is it that has the seismic sensors and impactor experiments? I'd like to try those out and see how they managed to make it work.

Northstar1989 · February 18, 2014

KSP-Interstellar adds the impactor experiments- though it does replace the stock seismic sensor functionality with this, so be prepared to need to send additional craft to act as impactors if you currently have any accelerometer missions in-progress...

By the way, I know the LAST thing everyone else wants to see is another fuel-tanker launch, but I decided after looking at the fuel depot, and seeing just how short it would come of being able to fully-refuel the Duna Supplementary Equipment Platform (I've been really slacking-off in my refueling missions- the Munar Spacedock is running rather low on fuel given my needs for setting up operations on the Munar surface, and the 350 km fuel depot has barely any fuel left in it), that I ought to develop and send up another line of unmanned LFO tanker...

Since the last unmanned LFO tanker (the SSTO design) was completely impractical; requiring a scrapper ship to act as a ferry to get the little bit of fuel it did carry to orbit to the fuel depot (my scrapper ship design also has the crew-capacity and equipment to drain fuel from unmanned vessels), and would just gradually litter my lower Kerbin orbits with vast, useless hulks that I wouldn't have enough fuel to salvage for RocketParts; I decided to re-design it into something new:

Now I know this isn't the most practical design either, from a payload-fraction standpoint (it simply doesn't have enough staging to follow ideal rocket curves very closely), but it can carry a massive payload to orbit: if flown right, it can carry the entire upper stage- which weighs 106.473 tons- into a high suborbital trajectory, like shown; or into a low stable orbit- if I want to try and salvage the lower stage for RocketParts; either without burning any of the upper stage' fuel. Once again, though- technically its payload fraction can be considered 100% of dry mass if I bring the entire thing to a stable low orbit- this just adds the option of smashing the lower stage back into the ground... (hmm, I bet that would have made for an EPIC, if laggy, impact experiment, if I hadn't already decommissioned all my impact sensors- and if larger objects hitting the ground could be detected at lower velocities...)

In a universe where everything is Kerbal-sized, 106.473 tons is a pretty impressive payload. It would be a lot MORE impressive, with a better payload fraction, if the first stage had been designed AFTER I had installed Kerbal Join Reinforcement. I found that with KJR, I could remove a lot of the launch clamps without the vessel being eaten alive by the Kraken (in fact, it became MORE stable with fewer launch clamps)- which means I now have the option of opening up large enough chunks of radial space to include SRB's, liquid boosters, and drop tanks to improve the payload fraction...

Anyways, the point of all this was to get the 350 km enough fuel that, hopefully, I wouldn't need to send the DSEV to Minmus as well to scrape the remaining fuel out of the Minmus Spacedock's fuel tanks before departing for Duna after the Raven Mk2 comes through for its refueling run there... The idea is that I go through the hassle of another refueling mission to the 350 km depot; but save myself the hassle of a Minmus transfer, capture, and rendezvous with the Minmus Spacedock (the Munar Spacedock needs all its remaining fuel to set up Kethane mining and regolith-electrolysis operations on the Mun) in order to get the DSEV en-route. We'll see how it goes- I might still decide to scrape up those last bits of fuel anyways- in order to get as much fuel to Duna as possible, as quickly as possible...

Regards,

Northstar

Northstar1989 · February 18, 2014

Ok, so the 350 km depot was refueled a bit:

When I was there, I also noticed my LFO tanker from earlier, still docked (I had to disconnect it to free up the connector for the new tanker), though, and remembered that my current LFO tanker is by far not the largest tanker upper stage I've put into orbit...

I must have discarded the earlier version for one reason or another, though- because I don't have the design in the VAB anymore. I guess I'll be using this smaller version from now on- it should be a bit less laggy, and encourage me to start producing more fuel on the Mun, anyways...

Speaking of which, I thought I should also point out- my original plan of mining Kethane for LiquidFuel and electrolyzing regolith for Oxidizer will probably only be a short-term solution...

KSP-Interstellar more recently added water-ice deposits to a couple of the Mun's northern craters, so I should be able to utilize this for LFO instead... (water can be electrolyzed into Hydrogen and Oxygen gas in combustible ratio, aka. LFO) The advantage of the KSP-Interstellar system being it isn't exhaustible like Kethane- from which I can expect maybe a couple of 5 meter tank's worth of LiquidFuel from the entire moon at the most... It's primary disadvantage, however, is that it would require a Mun base near the north pole- which means I would have to launch rockets from the base into polar orbits (and then adjust them into equatorial orbits to rendezvous with the Munar Spacedock), which is a problem if I want to make use of SSTO rockets with a high payload fraction and enough leftover fuel to return to base...

Regards,

Northstar

Northstar1989 · February 18, 2014

I decided to go ahead and dock+refuel the Duna Supplementary Equipment Vehicle, shut down its reactor (the generator holds more than enough energy to run the guidance systems for several years if the vessel were constantly loaded- and I didn't want to have problems with too many Actinides accumulating...), and made the decision that I will be going for a straight shot to Duna from 350 km, and leave the fuel in the Minmus Spacedock for an eventual Minmus outpost (KSP-Interstellar added trace amounts of water-ice there too: and it's a much more useful location due to the lower gravity and higher orbit).

I'll be posting on the DSEV's transfer soon...

Regards,

Northstar

Northstar1989 · February 18, 2014

The Duna Supplementary Equipment Vehicle made its Duna transfer from a 350 km orbit smoothly and without a hitch:

And, it did it for a very reasonable approximately 1190 m/s Delta-V. Since I'm sending it to Duna unmanned (the helicopter has crew cabins, but I'm leaving them empty), I have no roleplaying issues with making use of such a low-energy transfer (estimated travel time: 7 months)- it's generally only the manned transfers that I try to keep to 2-3 months when I can...

Regards,

Northstar

Specialist290 · February 19, 2014

D'oh! And now I see you mentioned that in the text of one of your posts right above your comment. Sorry, must have been distracted or half-asleep when I asked that

At any rate, looks like preparations for the Duna mission are going nicely. Hope to see the crew en route soon!

Northstar1989 · February 21, 2014

No problem. You certainly will see my last crew of Kerbals (those on board the Raven Mk2) e-route to Duna soon enough. Don't forget that the following crewed modules are already in Kerbol orbit on intercept trajectories with Duna, with the following crew complements:

Duna Crew Module - 4 Kerbals

Eagle Mk2 (attached to the Eagle Transfer Stage) - 4 Kerbals

Duna Science Module - 2 Kerbals

Blackhawk Mk6 Spaceplane - 2 Kerbals

Valkyrie Crew Transfer/Recovery System- 2/3 Kerblas (capacity for 3- but I believe I only had two on-board. I'll have to check at some point...)

So, I already have at least 14 Kerbals en-route. The Raven Mk2 will just bring that total up to at least 16.

Regards,

Northstar

Northstar1989 · February 21, 2014

Also, many of you might be intrigued to learn that the Light Munar Explorer has undergone a change of mission plan. Instead of making a Minmus flyby, and performing a burn to set the craft on a more-or-less free return trajectory to Kerbin, I decided instead to make a direct Minmus landing (from a collision-course trajectory). Here are the pictures:

This was a bit nerve-wracking, as I saved the deceleration of over 500 m/s for a carefully-timed suicide burn to save fuel (no images of that, sorry- I was too focused to take any screenshots until after the suicide burn was over) close to the Minmus surface. Luckily, my trajectory took me straight in on one of the larger "flats" or lake-beds, so I didn't have to perform any course-corrections to come in on a flat landing spot first...

Some of you might have also noticed I got quite a bit of science from the landing, which was nice. This was because I hadn't visited Minmus since before they added biomes there.

Next up: sub-orbital "hops" to additional Minmus biomes before retuning to Kerbin.

Regards,

Northstar

Edited February 21, 2014 by Northstar1989

Northstar1989 · February 21, 2014

OK, so I had a bit of fun hopping around on Minmus:

Apparently, a bit *too much* fun though (I should have known when Nebles decided to taste one of the surface samples!) I actually spent quite a bit more Delta-V hopping around than I anticipated (I didn't take the most fuel-efficient hops possible- instead opting for lower, faster trajectories), and ran out of time to make a visit to the poles before the Raven Mk2 arrived in Minmus' SOI... I also forgot to take a Crew Report at my initial landing site (Minmus' Greater Flats).

After I adjust the Raven's course so its periapsis lies close to where I want to circularize it, I'm going to make one last stop at Minmus' north pole, and then send the Light Munar Explorer home... If I'm running *particularly* low on fuel, I might even have to rely on a gravity-assist (actually, a gravity-brake) from the Mun to make it all the way back to Kerbin...

Regards,

Northstar

Edited February 21, 2014 by Northstar1989

Northstar1989 · February 21, 2014

The Raven is now en-route:

I would have sworn I captured more screenshots than just that one after the course adjustment- but apparently not...

Anyways, I shall soon be reporting on the LME's return transfer to Kerbin, and the circularization of the Raven Mk2...

In the meantime, for those who haven't hear (which is probably most of you), I bought the old game Freespace 2 on Good Old Games.com some days ago (it's cheap- 9.99 USD. If you haven't bought it already go do it! http://www.gog.com/game/freespace_2), and am looking for a team to play that with. For any of you who are interested, shoot me a reply on the thread I started on that in the Space Lounge:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/69857-Freespace-2-Looking-for-Squads

Regards,

Northstar

Edited February 21, 2014 by Northstar1989

Northstar1989 · February 22, 2014

So, before I departed for the north pole of Minmus, I had my Kerbals get out and jetpack over to the nearby Slopes and Lowland biomes (I intentionally choose the landing site there to be on the edge of two other biomes)

Slopes:

Lowlands:

Then, I made for a polar hop. I discovered I undershot it a little initially, and so ended up making a landing on the Lowlands just south of the polar biome first though (for additional !SCIENCE! from a Crew Report on the Lowlands). Nevertheless, my Kerbals made it to the polar biome eventually...

Also, it seems like everybody it tasting the surface samples...

Here's the *REAL* fun though- I only have 741 Delta-V to get my Kerbals home. That's more than enough if I plot my course carefully and possibly make use of a Munar gravity-brake, but it might not make for the quickest return journey (already my Kerbals have been in space for over 37 hours on what was *supposed* to be only a quick trip to the Mun...)

Oh well, I'm sure I'll make it- and probably in under 24 additional hours. Even the life-support mods typically include 3 days food/water/air in a typical capsule, so 2.5-3 days shouldn't be so bad from a roleplaying perspective... (especially if I assume the craft has some basic integrated regenerative life-support systems)

Regards,

Northstar

Edited February 22, 2014 by Northstar1989

Specialist290 · February 22, 2014

It seems as though kerbonauts won't take their peers' words on these things, and thus must all try to taste the Minmus surface samples for themselves just to be sure

[CLOSED] Kerbin and Beyond: a Maturing Space Program

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