Jeb Retires! (Career Total Conversion) [PIC HEAVY!] - DISCONTINUED!

[Taki117]

Due to a Corrupted Save and Kraken Attack I am no longer continuing this thread. I apologize for any inconvenience. I will post a link to the new thread when I get it up.

So, I've decided to to a little reordering here to make things easier to navigate and provide some insight. Feel Free to leave a comment or two!

Jeb has retired. He's taken himself and all his other rocket companies and stopped going to space. So Neilbury steps up and decides that Kerbals should still continue going to space, without Jebs help.

Basically this is a Career play-through without any stock parts. I have deleted all of the Stock Configs from their folders.

I have also implemented a few rules for me to follow:

1. All Kerbals get a turn.
   
2. No reverting flights.
   
3. Nuclear Devices are not to be fired in, or disposed of on Kerbin. (Meaning I can't crash a Nuclear Powered Rocket into the surface of Kerbin)
   
4. No Space Debris. If it goes up it must come down.
   
5. Must Unlock each tier before moving on to the Next Tier.
   
6. Must provide additional living space for at least an additional 1/2 crew capacity (Meaning if it's a long duration mission with 4 Kerbals I need at least space for 6)
   
7. No Kerbal Goes Alone. If it's a long duration mission there must be at least 2 Kerbals.
   
8. Long Duration missions are missions that extend beyond the length of a Minmus round trip. (About 4 days)
   
9. No Fuel is to be stored on any crewed station or base.
   
10. Adequate escape vehicles must be present on any manned station. (Adequate meaning that each crew member must have a means of escape)
    

This is in addition to some "Hard Mode Mods" Including FAR, DRE, and TAC-LS

Archives:

Intro to the new guy!

First Flight!

TO ORBIT!

TO THE MUN!

TO MINMUS!

Commsat I Launch

Take Two! Without the oops!

Commsat II

Comsat III

Oppan 'Pollo Style!

More SCIENCE! at Minmus!

Duna Explorer Part 1

Duna Explorer Part 2

Duna Explorer Part 3a

Duna Explorer Part 3b

Shoring up joints

Minmus Maybe?

Long Range Comms Part 1

Patching the holes

To EVE Part 1

That's no Rocket!

Space tourism!

What is it good for?

To the Mun!...Again!

Don't need that.

Hotel California Part 1

Hotel California Part 2

Hotel California Part 3

Hotel California Part 4

Hotel California Part 5

Hotel California Part 6

Hotel California Part 7

Open For Business

New Arrivals!

Finishing Touches

Orbital Construction

Discovery at the Pole!

Homeward Bound! (Space Tourism)

Space Tourism crew 2 (And other updates)

Energia Polyus

Multi-Mission Update

Kerbal Lost!

Microwave Power Station!

SpaceTourism. Now with Ground Crew!

Duna Explorer Finale

Eve Landing

To Moho!

Tragedy at KSC!

Edited March 21, 2014 by Taki117

[Taki117]

"Space...The final frontier..." These words Echoed in Jeb's head. So it had been, he had been to space and back more times than he could count, and he decided it was time to close his doors in the space business. Sure he would consult, and help with ship design, but he wouldn't fly, nothing of his would. He had sold all his old parts. Rokomax went under shortly after space travel became the norm. No one was interested anymore. It was time for the next generation of Space Traveler to step up and take his place.

*3 weeks later*

Reporter: "Here we are at the Launch pad of the Kerbal Space Center awaiting the arrival of the newest astronaut. Jebediah has hung up his helmet to make way for the new guys!"

Reporter: "A hush as fallen over the crowd as the handle to the door slowly begins to turn. AND HERE HE IS, THE NEWEST ASTRONAUT IN THE KERBAL SPACE PROGRAM NEILBURRY KERMAN!"

Neilburry gives a wave to the crowd. "That's right, I'm taking over for Jeb. Now, if you'll excuse me I'm late for a meeting." He says before climbing back into the capsule to be hauled away.

This is the beginning of my career mode that is going to be played entirely without stock parts. I will also be posting the science gained from each mission.

Edited March 4, 2014 by Taki117

[Orionkermin]

Nice, I'm tempted to create a new install and try playing w/o stock too. How are handling upgrade nodes? Are you forcing yourself to get all of a specific tier before moving up?

[Taki117]

The Next day commotion abounds at the Kerbal Space Center. Onlookers gather as what appears to be a precarious rocket emerges from the Vehicle Assembly Building. "He's nuts, there's no way he's going to make it to space in that." someone shouted from the small crowd.

Neilburys' voice then boomed over the loudspeaker. "Commencing launch in 10...9...8..." at this point people started running for cover, and holding on to their hats as many of them knew what was about to happen, thanks to their dealings with Jeb. Nobody had ever seen a rocket like this before, so no one, except Neilbury and the Kerbals at mission control, knew exactly how much punch this rocket had.

"IGNITION AND LITOFF!" came Neilbury over the loudspeaker as flames lept from the bottom of the rocket.

The rocket soared every higher, gaining speed slowly as it ascended through the thick lower atmosphere. Soon it began to pitch over ever so slightly as it roared into space.

"Mission Control is is Neilbury we have slipped the surly bonds of Kerbin." came a voice crackling over the headsets of the staff manning their panels.

"Good work Neilbury, Mission is a go!" came the reply as the engine sputtered and then went out. Neilbury hit the switch to jettison the Launch Escape system, he was too high up for it to be of any use now.

After a few seconds he thumbed the switch to jettison the rocket that had carried him this far. A satisfying thumb reverberated through the cockpit as he keyed the mic once again.

"Zero Gee and I feel fine. The capsule is turning around. Oh, the view is tremendous."

(Up to this point I followed the original mercury flight profile good job FASA on getting the timing almost perfect!)

"Alright Neilbury, we want you to climb out for a bit and lets see if we can get some more info about Kerbin." Came a voice in Neilburys' ear.

"Roger that control, I could use a good stretch." came the reply. Neilbury attached the tether to the inside of the capsule before opening the hatch and climbing out.

Neilbury keyed his mic and smiled as he spoke. "Control, you got to see this! Pictures just aren't going to do it justice."

"Alright Neilbury hate to cut the party short but it's time to get back in and get ready for retro burn." came the reply, a hint of sadness creeping in over the comms.

Neilbury reluctantly climbed back into the pod, ideas already building in his head on how he was going to get back into space. "Performing retro burn. and separation." he replied as he was gently pushed back into his seat as the retro rockets, and then the explosive bolts, fired in succession.

All that was left to do was wait, and sooner rather than later Neilbury could feel his weight returning as the capsule slammed into the upper atmosphere. Soon it began to heat and ionized plasma engulfed the capsule as it plummeted towards Kerbin.

Once the flames had subsided and Neilbury could move his arms again he thumbed the switch to jettison the protective nose cap and deploy the parachute.

"This is the ARC Apollo we have good chute on Redstone 1. I say again, good chute on Redstone 1."

No sooner had the parachute fully deployed than Neilbury had hit the surface of the water. He decided to get out and await rescue, and take a surface sample.

(Total science after recovering the pod 191)

Edited March 4, 2014 by Taki117

[Taki117]

Nice, I'm tempted to create a new install and try playing w/o stock too. How are handling upgrade nodes? Are you forcing yourself to get all of a specific tier before moving up?

At this point no, only because I haven't really thought about it too much. Right now it's more curiosity that's keeping me from doing it, though now would be a good time to start. I've unlocked all of Tier 3 but none of Tier 4 I'm also restricting myself to not leaving Debris in orbit. If I take it up it must come down. (Or be shot into interplanetary space like the actual Apollo mission)

Edit: So I am increasing the difficulty a tad. I have edited the persistance file so that I can no longer revert a flight. If something goes wrong it goes horribly horribly wrong. Also, I will not unlock the next tier until the previous tier is completely unlocked.

Edited February 12, 2014 by Taki117

[Taki117]

"A new day dawns on Kerbin as the newest creation rises skyward, awaiting her crew. Here we see Jedlie Kerman making his way along the catwalk to the newest creation. It's said it's going to go into orbit, but we will see how true that holds!" the reporter says as a crowd gathers to witness the launch of the latest rocket from the newcomer.

The reporter continues as the cameraman pulls back. "We are nearing liftoff. The final countdown has begun. 5...4...3...2...1...LIFTOFF!" he shouts as the crowd roars with excitement and the rocket lifts into the air.

(I apologize for not getting any of the Ascent, the thing is a beast to control)

"Orbiter 1 this is control, how you doing Jedlie?" came the voice over the radio, bringing Jedlie back to his senses. "Doing good control, standby for stage separation."

"You are go for sep Jedlie." Jedlie pushes the stage eject button and a resounding thud echos through the cockpit, followed by the push of acceleration as he continues into space.

"Good burn, entering coast. Time to apoapsis 1 minute 30 seconds." Jedlie calls over the communication circuits. So far everything was going according to plan. Here he is, the first Kerbal to successfully orbit Kerbin. His parents would be so proud. "Roger that Jed. You are go for burn."

One minute later Jedlie pushes the throttle forwards to bring is periapsis up and out of the atmosphere. He'd done it!

Jedlie did several EVAs recording his thoughts and observations as he flew over the various parts of Kerbin.

Soon enough though it was time to go home. "Jed, time to come home. We're all getting a little worried down here."

Jedlie started from his nap at the familiar voice in his ear. "Don't worry down there, everything's fine, beginning retro burn now." he said as he lazily flipped the switch to ignite the solid rocket retro boosters.

Once that was done he jettisoned them to expose the heat shiled that would protect him from the superheated plasma of reentry.

"Control, this is Jedlie, stand by for comms dropout on my mark. 3...2...1...MARK!" he shouted as flames began to lick at the bottom of his heat shield. The folks at the Kerbal Space Center hoped to hear from him once he had emerged from the other side.

A short time later a voice crackled over the speaker. "Control this is Orbiter 1, do you read me? Control come in!" It was Jedlie He'd made it!

Edited March 4, 2014 by Taki117

[Taki117]

With their latest achievement of getting into orbit Neilbury sets his sights higher. "Alright Team. We can orbit around Kerbin, let's see if we can do the same with the Mun!" He announces as he rolls out the blueprints for a slightly modified version of the rocket that got Jedlie into orbit around Kerbin. This one was bigger, better, and had more power. It would get them to the Mun.

"Control this is Jedlie, we are go for launch!" Jedlie smiled as he flipped the switch that ignited the engines and sent him skywards. "Control we have cleared the tower!" he shouted as he continued to climb.

The ascent to orbit went well, with enough fuel left in the side boosters that they were used to initiate the circularization burn. Once they were used they were jettisoned and the center stage ignited.

"Jedlie to Control, performing final system checks. Approaching Munar insertion burn." Jedlie smiled as a familiar voice came over the comms. "You are go for burn. Goodspeed." Jedlie eased the throttle up and felt the gentle push of acceleration as his ship began its race towards the Mun.

"Control to Jedlie, you are go for Munar Insertion. If you miss you aren't coming back." came the crackle from Jedlies headset.

"That's comforting to know." he muttered as he made the mid course correction that would put him in a nearly equatorial orbit around the Mun.

After adjusting his course so that it intercepted the surface he prepared to jettison the now spent insertion stage.

After Jettison Jedlie turned his ship around and fired up his Munar Maneuver engine. Unfortunately he had miscalculated the distance between him and his spent stage and actually scratched the paint a little.

"Control to Jedlie, you ok up there? Telemetry just went crazy for a moment." Jedlie checks his instrumentation a moment and nods to himself. "All's good up here, just had a small run in with some debris, nothing to worry about control." Jedlie then clicked off his mic and set up for the circularization burn around the Mun executing it shortly thereafter.

After the obligatory orbit around the Mun to collect science it was time for Jedlie to come home. After planning and executing his return burn he smiled and sat back to take a nap. He awoke suddenly as his capsule jerked signaling that he had hit the atmosphere. "Control this is Jedlie, Jettisoning service and life support modules."

"Roger that Jedlie, go ahead." came the reply and no sooner had it been said it had been done. Jedlie performed a lifting reentry, dipping into the atmosphere to bleed off speed, and then return to space to relieve the heat load.

He had just left the atmosphere for the second time when red lights began coming on all over the place. "Houston we have a problem!" Jedlie screamed as his capsule ran out of electricity and began to tumble. It hit the atmosphere and continued tumbling, Jedlie had no control. He frantically keyed his mic and practically yelled into the headset. "Jedlie to Control, I'm spinning wildly and I can't manually deploy my chute, the handle is stuck! Come in control!" Frantically he began to grasp for the manual chute release. He had primed it to deploy at the automatic altitude, but it would be useless if the capsule burned up anyway.

"Jedlie this is control, we need you to calm down." came the calm reply by this time the ionizing plasma had begun to affect communications. "Alright, the boys down here show you on glide path. Keep an eye on your capsule temperature and we'll see what we can do."

Jedlie finally got into the thicker atmosphere where the capsule stabilized and the chutes opened, leading to a successful recovery.

Edited March 4, 2014 by Taki117

[Daddy Cecil]

Where'd you get those launch towers and launch doo-dads? Because I really really want them.

[Taki117]

Where'd you get those launch towers and launch doo-dads? Because I really really want them.

they are from FASA They make good stuff.

[Taki117]

Genefried had landed on the Mun, but he wanted to go further, faster! This would be the longest mission yet. A trip to Minmus! It would also be the first time that the transfers would be automated using MechJeb. The launch was standard, without anything out of the ordinary. It was quite literally the same launch vehicle used for the Mun Landing, but then the fun started.

"Control this is Neilbury, Burn complte, I'm on my way to Minmus! This new Automation system is amazing!"

"Roger that Neilbury, keep your warmers on and be sure to stir your tanks every now and again." came the reply from Mission Control.

Two days later Neilbury keyed his mike and smiled. "Control this is Neilbury, I'm on approach to Minmus. Lining up for circularization now."

Control watched as telemtry was beamed back as Neilbury got ever closer. Soon enough though crying could be heard over the comms as Neilburys' voice broke with his next words. "Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba." before he broke out in tears. Sniffling could be heard then as he cleared his nose and heaved a sigh. "Sorry about that Control, I had to for Genefried."

"Alright Neilbury we've picked out a landing zone, begin your descent." came the now familiar voice over the comms. "Roger that Control, beginning descent." Once he had finished the burn he coasted towards his landing zone.

As he got closer to the ground he jettisoned the transfer stage and lowered his landing gear. (The landing was done entirely in IVA)

"100 meters from surface, descending at 4 m/s. Contact! Meco. Little bumpy but I'm alive!" Neilbury said as he leaned as far back as he could and heave a very relieved sigh.

"Nice Job Neilbury, Go ahead and take some surface samples." came the reply before the comms cut out.

Once Neilbury had finishedhe lifted off gently from the surface. The initial Liftoff was done manually, but the circularization and return were automatic.

The capsule slammed into the atmosphere and began heating up, soon the capsule was engulfed in ionizing plasma and falling just on the western coast of the main continent.

Soon enough he had safely come to a landing. He was recovered promptly and the science analyzed.

(I gained enough science to unlock all of tier 5. I also downloaded the AIES pack, which I should have had from the start but forgot about. Also, every mission up until now has had only the Mystery goo and Radiometer from FASA.)

Edited March 18, 2014 by Taki117

[Taki117]

"It's time we put up some communications so we can send probes out to the distant planets. Let's get on that!" Neilbury said as he looked over the control room at the Kerbal Space Center. Shortly thereafter a new rocket was designed and set on the launch pad. This would be the first night launch of any rocket at night, and especially the first rocket that carried such a payload.

"Liftoff! Here goes nothing."

"Gravity turn Nominal, we're looking good."

"Stage Jettison looks good, we're really low in the gravity turn, can we make it to orbit?"

"Fairing Jettison, Ullage motors activated. Fairings clear. Ascent looks good."

"Satellite deployment looks good. We're having some connection issues. Setting up for burn to Kerbostationary Orbit."

"WE'VE LOST CONNECTION! WE'RE FALLING!"

"We've hit the atmosphere, we've lost it..."

Edited March 4, 2014 by Taki117

[Taki117]

"Alright, so we need a redesign, not of the satellite, that looks like it will work nicely, but of the launch vehicle. Ideas?" Neilbury said as he looked out over the design team. Several hands went up eagerly, everyone wanting to please Neilbury. "Yes you, in the back!" Neilbury pointed to a young kerbal wh ohad his hand raised. "WE SHOULD MAKE IT BIGGER, WITH MORE BOOSTERS!" the young kerbal shouted, grinning from one side of his head to the other. Neilbury smiled and nodded. "Make it happen!" he said before stepping down and leaving the team to do what they do best. Sometime later a brand new design was rolled out onto the launch pad, once again this was a night launch.

(I like the way the illumination came out here. Provides a nice effect, even without structural panels at the base)

Neilburry puts on a headset shortly after walking into the command center. "Alright, people, lets get this right. Hit the button." he said as he watched the live feed of the launch pad. "It's away!" came the reply as the rocket lurched into the air, faster than the previous iteration had.

"We've got a problem, shock to the main fuel tank!" someone shouted from somewhere below Neilbury. "Damage report?" he replied almost without thinking. "Minimal, the booster was destroyed though."

"Fairing jettison and MECO. Looking good."

"Satellite deployed, telemetry looking good. Standing by for circularization."

"Beginning burn." Due to the nature of the mission it was decided to circularize at 80km to verify integrity and set up for the Hohmann Transfer to KSO. (I was hoping to put this directly above KSC.)

"Alright, we're at KSO, circularizing and setting up for Stationary orbit."

(The transfer stage has a probe core on it so that it could be deorbited.)

Edited March 4, 2014 by Taki117

[Taki117]

Once the mission was over Neilburry smiled as he took off his headset. "Let's do that again!" he smiled as he clapped everyone on the back before heading into his office. A short time later another rocket was rolled out into the launch pad. It looked exactly the same as the last one.

"Alright, take two. This one is going straight to KSO. We can do this!" Neilbury said as he hit the launch button and the rocket shot upwards.

(I'm not sure why the white smoke comes from the top on launch, I think it has something to do with FASA)

The gravity turn was shallower to facilitate the higher apoapsis. (I also experimented with changing the camera angle)

"Stage separation confirmed, beginning KSO insertion."

"Altitude 70km, Jettisoning fairings and deploying antenna and solar panels."

"Orbit achieved, Jettisoning Transfer stage."

(The resulting orbit, I wish I had spaced them out a little more, but it works)

Edited March 4, 2014 by Taki117

[Taki117]

"Last one. We can do this." Neilbury smiled as the third of the series was wheeled onto the launch pad. It had been rotated 90 deg to facilitate booster separation and gravity turn. (The previous one had been rolled to facilitate booster separation, it did not go as planned)

"Liftoff! Here goes nothing!"

"Good Sep, boosters are clear and we are go."

Because of the steepness of the gravity turn the second stage and fairings were jettisoned at the same time.

After circularizing the final formation covered the entirety of Kerbin, If an unmanned mission to the Mun was planned the dishes on the satellites could be activated and pointed in that direction.

(Glamor Shot)

Edited March 4, 2014 by Taki117

[ZodiaK]

this is amazing! do more!

(by the way, what was the point of bringing the lander all the way back to kerbin?)

[Taki117]

this is amazing! do more!

(by the way, what was the point of bringing the lander all the way back to kerbin?)

Working on it, I've installed a couple more mods that need tech tree integration and it's a pain. The point of bringing the lander all the way back to Kerbin was to reduce the amount of debris in space. The actual Apollo mission left theirs in orbit, but I'm not so messy. I currently have 0 orbital debris.

I'm currently planning my Duna mission, but I need to unlock a couple more tech nodes before I can pull it off. Specifically the Nuclear Propulsion tech node which will get me a nuclear engine (Don't ask me what mod it's from...) and the nuclear generators from KSP Interstellar to go with the Generators I unlocked from my Apollo mission.

Edited February 18, 2014 by Taki117

[Taki117]

At this point, Neilbury had the technology to do an apollo style mission, so that's exactly what he did.

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Edited March 4, 2014 by Taki117

[Taki117]

A new rocket is rolled out onto the launch pad. This one is simple, and it harkens back to an earlier mission. That's right, we're going back to Minmus! Why? Because there's science there!

Once the crew is aboard the boarding ramp is retracted. In previous launches it had been left in place until launch. This was deemed unnecessary and hazardous, and as such the procedure was changed. The rocket is still being fueld. (Turns out the FASA launch towers generate fuel that can go into the tanks, Who knew?)

With fueling complete Mission Control gives the go ahead and Wehreny Kerman activates the engines, releases the launch clamps and soars into the heavens!

Once all of the fuel in the boosters had been used they are jettisoned.

"Now Wehreny, you're going to experience a bit of a kick, you might want to hold on." came the voice over the comms. Wehreny gets a scared look on his face as he hits the stage switch and the lifter ejects and the ullage motors kick in to finish circularizeing the orbit.

Soon enough it was time to go to Minmus!

On the way there the transfer stage was jettisoned, it would crash into the surface.

It was decided that with Minmus' low gravity it was safe to go straight into a landing. (Truth is I didn't have enough dV to execute a circularization first)

At 50 meters the ranger finder is clearly visible, providing valuable information to the pilot.

"CONTACT! MECO! We're down!" Wehreny shouts as he heaves a sigh of relief.

Soon enough though it is time to go home. "Now why couldn't I have landed there?" Wehreny thinks as he passes one of Minmus' lakes.

Homeward Bound

At 69km the lander is jettisoned, exposing the heat shield.

36km and the Reentry effects are in full swing. The Solar Panels exploded shortly after this pic was taken.

At 15km most of the reentry effects have ceased, the capsule is in freefall. "Um...Guys...parachutes?" Wehrenys' voice is shaky over the comms.

At 10km Wehreny is pushed into his seat as the drouge chute opens.

At 2.5km the Drouge shute is cut and the main chutes open. The heat shield is also jettisoned at this time.

(It's the small grey disk visible in the lower part of this picture)

Spalshdown!

Now I can unlock Nuclear Reactors for my mission to Duna!

Edited March 4, 2014 by Taki117

[Deathsoul097]

Actually, NTRs are perfectly safe to use in atmo. If it was an open core engine, it would be much different, but as is, the engines wouldn't give out any more radiation by firing them that by them being there in the first place. I believe most people get confused though, and think that NTRs and NERVAs are essentially radiation spewing death machines like Project Orion, but in reality only the Open Core ones do that, and that is because Open Core NTRs feed the fissile material into the propellant stream, which superheats it more effectively than even the best of NTRs. The best Closed Cycle/Solid Core NTR I have heard of managed about 950s of ISP VAC. The best projected Open Core engine I have heard of was estimated to have ~3200s of ISP VAC.

EDIT: I say projected, because no-one was crazy enough to actually make one. Not even the Russians.

Edited February 20, 2014 by Deathsoul097

[Taki117]

Neilbury bursts the doors to the hanger open and smiles as every head turns towards him. "Pack your bags boys. We're going to Duna!" he says loud enough for everyone to hear. "With what?" came a reply from someone in the back. Neilbury smiles and ushers everyone to a nearby table where he rolls out his latest design. "This." he says simply as he straightens out the corners.

(These are an artist rendition, the ship is not complete yet. Also, All nuclear devices (Engines and reactors) will not be disposed of in atmosphere. Engines will also not be fired in atmosphere under any but the most extreme circumstances.)

"But Neilbury, how are we going to launch it? We've never launched anything that big before!" someone else exclaimed as they looked away from the picture. "We'll build it in orbit!" Neilbury replies, confidant that his team could do it.

Sometime later the first section is rolled out onto the launch pad. This will be the drive stage for the ship.

This is quite literally the largest thing they have ever launched up to this point, the drive section is so massive there isn't even a hope that it can be broken down into smaller pieces and launched inside a fairing. Instead it will be launched as a single piece.

The main engines are ignited, along with the pair of large Solid Rocket Boosters, the largest available. The liquid engines are immediately throttled back to conserve fuel while still providing a small amount of electricity to the probe core.

Due to craft instabilities during a low-altitude gravity turn it was decided to separate the SRBs before beginning the gravity turn. This was done at approximately 20km.

For safety reasons 3 separation motors were installed on the SRB, one on the nosecone to push it down and slightly away, and two at about the center of mass to help push it outwards.

At this point the throttle to the Liquid fueled boosters was increased and the gravity turn begun.

At 70km the solar panels and antenna were deployed to provide constant communication.

Unfortunately due to an installation error of the Booster nosecones instead of pushing the boosters away from the rocket they instead pushed them inwards. No damage was incurred.

Being safely out of the Atmosphere the Nuclear Engines were given the go to fire to raise the Apoapsis to a parking orbit of 200km.

After circularizing the Probe core was jettisoned and the Drive section left to drift.

Edited March 4, 2014 by Taki117

[Deathsoul097]

Just so you know, non of the Interstellar parts are like that either, IIRC (With the Exception of the Fusion Engine. Whatever you do, I would not fire that at someone's house. That thing is almost as bad as Project Orion when it comes to the radiation being shot out the back.). Anyway, I like what you have been doing with this. I can't see the images right now, but I should be able to ckeck them out at home.

(Stupid school network. Banned IMGUR. Of all things. IMGUR.)

Also, the reason I know this is because I wanted to make a realistic NTR/NERVA for KSP, so I did some looking around and digging into articles and old NASA plans. They did end up testing the a couple of NERVA and NTR designs on the surface, but never actually sent one up, and they were pretty efficient and way more powerful than the stock ones. (One NERVA was about the size of an S-IC. Yeah. 10m across, but this is the killer: 40m tall.) Funnily enough, most of the NERVAs that they tested were actually more efficient in ATM than the LV-T engines are in VAC.

Edited February 20, 2014 by Deathsoul097

[Taki117]

While this is true, the Kerbal Environmental Protection Agency (And many other environmental groups) are concerned about radiation anyway. (How many people do you know know this? I certainly didn't) Also, not all engines used will be closed cycle Nuclear engines. (I am using KSP Interstellar after all) so it's always a good idea to get in the habit. Now then, Back to the story!

Soon after the next piece of the puzzle was loaded onto the launch pad. The reactor would be activated prior to interplanetary transfer, but because of environmental concerns it was left deactivated.

Since it was going to be rendezvousing with the drive section already in orbit a late evening launch was required. With the engines ignited it slowly rises into the air.

Sooner than expected the boosters were out of fuel and jettisoned. Fortunately the ship was over engineered and had more than enough dV.

At approximately 45km the main lifter stage was jettisoned and the Orbital insertion stage ignited to push the craft ever higher.

At 70km the fairing was jettisoned and the solar panels, radiators and antenna were extended as the craft circularized.

After a quick course correction the drive section came into view and docking procedures were begun.

Approach was slow due to the instability of the docking ports. (They will be strutted in a later mission)

At 2.5m from target docking guides were rotated into place.

And Docked. This section also includes a Tug that will be used to guide the rest of the pieces into place.

Edited March 4, 2014 by Taki117

[Taki117]

lols, sorry about the banning, I'm currently working on adding the Main Truss to the Drive and reactor sections. It's a pain because the Tug doesn't have enough thrust to slow down fast enough. And It's reliant on solar power and I didn't put any batteries on it so as soon as it loses the sun it loses power...it's a pain. But yes the DT Vista Inertial Fusion Engine from KSPI and the NERVA from LLLL-Lite(Which has a toggle to make it open cycle) are the main concerns, but the KEPA aren't taking any chances. But anyway, here's the first part of the mission!

This is arguably the tallest payload ever launched by the KSC. It had to be strutted to the faring to keep it flying straingt, at least until the faring had to be jettisoned so that it could fall back into the atmosphere.

Again due to the position of the target it facilitated a night launch. It used the same launcher as the reactor section, due to it's reduced weight it had more than enough dV to get the job done.

Booster separation went as planned with the Ullage motors firing to push them down and away from the main lift stage.

"Gravity turn Nominal, board is green!"

Once the lifter stage was burned out it was jettisoned and the orbital injection stage ignited, the Solar Panels were also deployed to provide power for deorbit.

Once MECO occurred the fairing was jettisoned. This was done to prevent damage to the payload (And prevent unnecessary payload wobble)

Here the Tug is preparing to dock to the life support section.

And Docked! Now comes the fun part, trying to dock this with the main drive section.

Edited March 4, 2014 by Taki117

[Taki117]

At long last the life support and main truss to the Duna Explorer was finally ready to be put into place.

Almost there!

SUCCESS!

Edited March 4, 2014 by Taki117

[Taki117]

By Now space travel has become almost routine. Rockets go up, They do some stuff, the come down. With the docking of the last module to the Drive section of the Duna Explorer It was time to shore up some joints.

Once the crew had boarded the boarding ramp was retracted.

Once the Ship was almost overhead the engines were ignited and the rocket lurched skywards.

Once the lifter stage had burned out it was jettisoned and the Orbital insertion stage fired, unfortunately due to a design oversight it did not have enough TWR to actually reach orbit on it's own.

The final push to orbit would be completed using the de-orbit engine of the CSM.

With plenty of dV left the CSM prepares to dock with the Duna Explorer.

At 5m final adjustments were made.

And Docked!

The first order of business was to deorbit the now useless tug. The next section that would be docked would be a refueling tug, followed by the Crew habitation modules.

Herzer Kerman was chosen to perform the operation. He clambered out onto the ladder and placed the supplies onto his back and began the EVA to reinforce the joints.

Herzer began to glide gently along the spine of the vessel, making his way towards the drive sections.

Arriving at his worksite he mounts the cargo container to the hull while he works.

After Verifying that the reactor was shut down Herzer began work, placing struts around the connection.

After the supplies in the first container were depleted an EVA mishap caused the container to begin to float away. Herzer chased it down and recovered it before heading back to the CSM to swap out containers and begin strengthening the connection between the Drive Section and the Reactor.

Once he was done Herzer checked his work and then returned to the CSM.

After reorientation of the vessel was complete the CSM undocked and began the de-orbit procedure.

At 50km the SM was jettisoned to expose the heat shield to the flames of reentry. It would either burn up in the atmosphere or smash into the ocean or Kerbin.

Edited March 4, 2014 by Taki117