Direct to Duna - A stock plus kethane report - Mission Complete

[Speeding Mullet]

I'm sure this has been extensively copied already across the KSP world, but I thought I would have my own shot at Robert Zubrin's "A Case for Mars".

THE ARCHITECTURE:

First Launch - The first flight of the Kares rocket (not to be confused with the similarly named rocket of the now defunct Konstellation program) will bring an unmanned KRV to Duna with just enough fuel to make the landing. Once there the Kabatier reaction will fuel the KRV with enough go-juice to return home on the conclusion of the surface stay, and also provide generation capability for other components in the mission.

Second Launch - Some time after the KRV has signaled full capacity, the Duna Habitat Unit will be launched with a crew of 3 (specifically so the crew can be split in two, leaving someone alone). The crew will then spend an uneconomically short period of time on the surface before flipping the rover and running out of snacks, and will then return home.

Follow up missions - More KRV's and Duna Habitats dispatched at intervals, possibly expansion into small community base for long term habitation, with additional infrastructure.

MISSION CONSTRAINTS:

- Stock plus Kethane, limited mods adding dead weight styling

- Hopefully roughly realistic rockets shapes.

- Mechjeb - I'm partially using Mechjeb to handle orbit and IPT maneuvers.

- No Nuclear, only chemical engines allowed.

- I experimented with KAS to tether the habitat to the spent upper stage to create 1G, but it stopped working as soon as I sped time up so I won't be using it.

REPORT:

First Mission - The first mission stands on the launchpad fully fueled for launch. Merory, having unnaturally high levels of both courage and stupidity, will be leading the first manned mission to Duna in 2 years and piloting the KRV sitting on the launch pad so feels the need to inspect the engine bells up close.

His hope that the mission goes off without a hitch is only matched by Eddrin (limited courage, unlimited stupidity) who is keen to know more about what flavor snacks might be on board, but also has the envious task of providing the public announcement countdown to launch:

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, Cheese...onion...bbq...marmite...salt and vinegar...PRAWN COCKTAIL!

The evening sky lights up with the fireworks of 3220 kN of thrust, and at 205 tonnes, the ship majestically begins its unmanned ascent. First stage separation complete, the mainsail throttles up, punching the payload through the atmosphere into the gravity turn:

Gravity turn complete, and now searing along far downrange of launch the main engine burns the last of it's fuel. Four large ullage motors assist in clearing the heavy main stage from the upper, and a short drift later, the upper stage ignites circularising the orbit. The team back at KSC are jubilant, as exactly the same rocket (previously untested) will catapult them on their long journey to Duna in two years time.

The burn to Duna is non eventful, although not planned the onboard cameras did manage to snap this amazing image of Mun and Minmus in conjunction. Mun went on to eclipse Kerbol on the way out of the system:

As mission one arrives in system, the careful calculations look like they have paid off. By not matching planes with Duna the entry will give a heavily inclined orbit allowing for extensive coverage of Kethane scanners, and also free access to most landing sites given enough orbits:

Paydirt! Not expected so soon in the mission and perhaps a weaker signal than desired, it is fantastic verification of the technology giving hope to those sitting on the fence about the missions feasibility, and converting some of the naysayers who didn't believe in the science.

Scooting to a low periapsis of just under 12km aerobrakes us to about 100km, perfect scanning altitude. Ike rises majestic:

After many orbits of Duna, plenty of deposits are found. It is decided to make use of the inclination to land near the southern polar kap which should provide some more interesting things for the crew to do when on the surface.

The upper stage makes the initial deorbit burn and then decouples to crash into the surface some km away from the landing site. It was always going to be a parachute assisted deorbit due to the minimal fuel contained in the KRV. The team would bring prepacked replacement chutes with them for the return journey in the lander module.

Parachutes detached it's left the for the engine to provide a soft touchdown on the surface:

Touchdown, solar panels confirmed deployed, batteries charging!!

Deployment of kethane drill. The landing site couldn't be much better. A small slope to contend with, but within shouting distance of the polar kap, and some interesting rock features nearby. Ike in the sky to boot!

The telemetry shows the kethane tanks slowly beginning to fill, and at this moment Merory knows that the second mission is basically a go. Funding is agreed and the construction of the second rocket gets the green light.

In the next update: testing of mission two, and the project stays (hopefully) on the rails! Visions of Duna to sign off with:

Edited February 9, 2014 by Speeding Mullet

[Speeding Mullet]

The Kethane converter worked it's magic and the tanks filled rather quicker than expected. Total Delta-V in the KRV is just over 2000 atmo, and just under 3000 Vac. The telemetry confirms that should be enough to easily support the return mission:

The second mission is greenlighted and launch preparations are rapidly brought forwards to get the mission underway at the earliest possible opportunity. Launch day comes and the crew of three (Bob, Eddrin, and Merory) blast off into space on the heroic journey to Duna:

Booster and Main engine separation go off without a hitch and it's not long before the mission is on it's Duna bound trajectory, with a small mid course correction to make the arrival as smooth as possible. This second mission is right at the top end of the launch vehicles capabilities and there will only be about 150m/s to play with for in system maneuvers at Duna:

As previously mentioned the Delta-V is tight, so tight in fact that Merory calculates that inclination change, orbital insertion, and entry descent landing will all have to take place at once, in one take or they are done for. Luckily his piloting skills coupled with Bobs bravery bring them in low over the pole, past some incredible scenery which distracts Eddrin just enough to stop him pressing any buttons:

Completed entry and landing profile:

The upper stage is cut away and so begins the moment of truth. No engines available, the landing has to be accurate enough to make the distance workable on landing for the rover and everyone holds tight for parachute deployment:

Looks like we are on the nose, that was some nice mathematics from Merory!

And touchdown! Due to the altitude the lander came in a bit hot, but some quick thinking from Bob who fired the tiny engines on the rover saved the day and scrubbed off a couple of m/s, which was all that was required.

The team actually managed to land within 10km of the KRV, which was no mean feat considering it was after a full orbit with no fuel, half of which was in the atmosphere. It was only a short drive and the rover handled the heavy load well, even managing to perform some acrobatics with Eddrin at the wheel!

Parked up at one of the boulders in the dune field recharging the batteries and getting some science in:

Finally after a long journey across the reaches of space, arrival at the KRV and detachment of the rover:

The next mission will be another KRV launch, which has to make to it Duna before the existing crew leaves in the current KRV. The reason for that is that if there is any problems with the first KRV, the second can deorbit and provide redundancy.

If anyone has any feedback on this so far I'd like to hear it, I don't feel like I'm striking a fantastic balance between story telling, pictures, and mission descriptions, and would very much like the support of the community on this! Any pointers or comments gratefully received!

[Scotius]

Don't worry - it's a quite good read Now i'm waiting for reports of crew activities on the surface. Trip to polar ice cap should be interesting.

[Speeding Mullet]

Merory and Bob decide it's safer if Eddrin stays in the habitat while they go on the mission to the polar cap 50 or 60 km away. They are planning on being gone for a good few days and desperately hope that Eddrin won't break anything while they are away. They make a final check on the rover and circle back round out of the base.

the pair stop by a rock within the first 10km, and quickly begin to realise it's going to be an arduous journey. The batteries on the rover are running out fast so Bob deploys the solar panel for a quick charge while they are stationary.

Bob remarks "We'd better get going soon, not long before the sun sets and we need to be higher than this to catch the sunrise early."

Merory! Merory!!! Quit grinning in awe and get back here!

Another ten kilometers go by.....

This time Bob gets caught up in the view, but to be fair it is a stunning view over the dune fields to the mountain beyond, almost certainly an extinct volcano.

They are driving up a massive shield structure now, already having gained nearly 1500 meters altitude. Before the sets they will cover much more ground, but they cannot help take in the beauty of the views.

Strange shadows dance across the landscape near sunset.

One last charge before the sun goes down. They will need to max out the battery bank before the sun goes down. Bob wants to use the microwave to heat up some porridge, and Merory needs the computer to log the days activities.

The next day starts early, with Bob at the wheel. This is the technical section and he knows he's the more careful driver. They can little afford an accident at this point, and a major incident would mean abort. It would also mean Eddrin completing a sucessful sub orbital hop in the KRV to pick them up, and neither wanted their baby in the hands of Eddrin.

"Thinking of Eddrin, we'd better check in" says Bob. "Affirmative Bob, that guy is a grade a snack muncher, lets see if we can keep him occupied. Get him to power up the KRV and use the long range to send a message back to Kerbin."

"this is Merory, Eddrin come in, over...."

"Eddrin, are you there? Come in, over"

"Scccchchhhscchhcopy this is Eddrin, how can I help you fella's?" Due to the curvature of Duna, it's not nearly sunset here yet which fully explains the brightness of the pictures.

"Er see if you can power up the KRV and get a message back to Kerbin for us. Tell them they are going to have to look at more power on the rover, and some medium range communications wouldn't go a miss: we are nearly out of range now."

"copy" Ohhh the guys are going to kill me when they get back!

Oh well. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Merory and Bob press on at sunrise. They have covered nearly 50km now and things are getting tricky. The terrain is the steepest they have yet faced, but the rover handles it perfectly. If only the battery life was better.

Coming over the top of the highest point so far at nearly 6000m altitude the polar cap is laid out in all it's glory before them. They will reach the snowline before the morning is out and Merory floors it. The rover is surprisingly nimble even at high speeds

"50 m/s Merory, we are cooking on gas! Better reign it in a bit, and don't forget the retro engines if we get too much air.."

Despite multiple changes of space pants, Bob manages to hold on to his mars bar (He always wondered what a "Mars" was?!?) and they descend the other side of the shield volcano on to flatter ground:

By mid morning the sun is casting super long shadows over the ground. The ground itself has started to change too, There's more of a crust here, the beginnings of the polar cap and the ground is saturated with frozen Karbon Dioxide. This is one of the more stunning views they have enjoyed so far:

Having driven nearly 75km manually (The other thing the engineers back at home forgot to install was rover autopilot) Bob and Merory stop the rover. They are a good few Km onto the polar cap now and fully out of range of the KRV. This is as far as they dare go in this rover, it's just too short range and an orbital relay is needed before they can really test the limits, so they both get out and set up the camera for a group shot.

They are reminded as they look out over the ice how pristine this environment is, and how careful they need to be in only leaving footprints and wheel tracks behind when they go.

[Speeding Mullet]

I haven't updated this in a few days, yet behind the scenes things have progressed greatly. This is a big post, but there's a couple of twists in there for the brave and although plenty of work went into the design stage it's yet to be seen if the mission architecture (tenuously based on Robert Zubrin's "A Case for Mars") will be proven a success.

Without further ado we shall return to the surface of Duna and rejoin the mission in hand. Bob and Merory have performed their mission well so far whereas Eddrin has proved to be a total liability.

With one last look out at the polar landscape

Bob and Merory begin the long journey home. The majority of the journey to the cap was uphill, and on the way back home the boys would be losing about 3500 meters in altitude. This would mean they'd be able to freewheel a lot more and hopefully not have to stop for charge so much. Even so driving through the night

The two need to have a break at sunrise to charge the batteries. The next crew to arrive at Duna will have improvements based on their feedback and the rover will have a far better range, and a rtg to provide always on charging.

Top speed recorded on the way down hill a shade over 62 m/s, any faster and the tires would literally disintegrate under huge rotational force, resulting in a disappearing act.

An emergency situation develops, Bob should never had let Merory, with his penchant for speed, handle the return journey. At the speed they are at the brakes are just not effective and they are rapidly heading towards a large compression. If they hit it they will simply no longer exist and at the last second Merory calmly and with a ridiculous expression on his face lightly feathers in some thrust from the small rockets and they boost cleanly over the feature.

The final few Km downhill are covered and over the last rise the base comes into view. They've made it, in part Bob has to admit due to Merory's talent behind the wheel.

The next cycle of the mission has been developed and only minor changes have been made. An RTG has been added to the rover along with a communication dish and short range antenna.

The KRV remains unchanged, but a small communications satellite has been added which will cure the communications problems on roving missions, allowing for greatly increased range.

Both vehicles leaving the Kerbin system, the manned capsule gets a sneaky pull from the Mun on the way out of town.

Arriving in the Duna system first, the unmanned KRV automatically decouples the satellite to take up station 100km above the planet. It will use its tiny on board thrusters to gradually change its inclination to maximise on communication windows available to the mission.

Back on the ground and the arrival at Duna of the second crew means the first is able to prepare to leave for home. The second KRV orbiting high above them will provide backup in case there is an issue with their own, full return vehicle on the surface of Duna. The flag planting ceremony takes place and Bob, Merory, and Eddrin start their long journey home.

With Eddrin securely strapped in far, far from the controls the crew receive their final confirmations through the ether from their home planet and Eddrin counts down to blast off.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1...Liftoff!!!

Achieving orbit is absolutely no problems and the KRV is performing solidly. As it happens on the way up Bob noticed a window for a risky but clever intercept to Ike and pushed the engines for a bit longer to achieve this glorious transfer:

A number of hours later they would have to perform the first insertion burn. This would set up a free return in case there was an emergency on firing engines at Ike.

Mission control is understandably furious when Bob breaks the news that they are off mission and half way to Ike, but there is little they can now do and before too long they are on the surface having found Kethane during scanning:

Flag planted the crew must beat a hasty retreat. If they are going to hit the transfer window home they need to make sure they are in a stable orbit around Duna. Takeoff is rather aggressive:

The transfer is pretty standard return fare, although due to the Delta-V available from the top up at Ike Bob plots in a high energy return, shaving nearly 18 days off their journey home:

Meanwhile on the surface the second KRV makes it's descent, as does the second crew in the landing module:

The crewed landing is slightly inaccurate and they land about 10km away from the KRV on the steep sides of the massive shield volcano. Luckily they managed to find a relatively flat part of it.

Instead of risk driving the top heavy base down the steep hills, The team engage the KRV to autonomously fly a path up to them. It lands with great precision and the mission is back on!

Back to the first crew and the return journey is nearly over. Thanks to some canny piloting the aerocapture is set up nicely and the crew begin preparations for the final seperation of the reentry vehicle.

Separation successful and the crew tighten their belts. It's going to a very fast return through the atmosphere and everything has to go perfectly for the heatshield to stand up to the immense heat ablation that will occur.

Reentry at over 3500 m/s and the capsule is engulfed in flames. Once the flames have gone the parachute set deploys and kicks them with over 5g of deceleration.

Bob Merory and Eddrin land at roughly 6 m/s which isn't too bad but could be improved on for future mission, but they have made it back home, and are welcomed as heros. The mission that made so much sense but came up against so many barriers has proven a huge success.

That's the mission basically over and proves that the architecture has worked with flying colours. The future missions would reflect very closely what has just occurred so there's not a lot of point in putting it down in the report, I'd rather leave the crew here and pursue a different mission.

I think for my next mission report I will use Imgur as I think the album style works better than a big string of individual pictures. any other feedback which might improve future reports would be gratefully received, or just general comments as you like! Anyway thanks for reading and if you liked it feel free to give the crew some respect!