The Kerbrazilian Space Program

[Captain_Party]

Where did you get the white toroidal tank from, if you don't mind me asking?

[Parkaboy]

Where did you get the white toroidal tank from, if you don't mind me asking?

It came as an unexpected surprise with this atomic engines pack:

http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/fatman-series-atomic-rockets/

With the new stock-alike NERVAS made by LLL, I was thinking of deleting this pack, but the fuel tank has been proved very useful. It's light, stacks like the small stock one and looks rather nice with the stock parts.

[Parkaboy]

Clarke Station Grows

With the first emergency overcome, the KBSP soon goes back into routine. The Unitas 4 takes Jebediah up to Carke Station carrying a Creature Comforts experiment, to make use of the module they had so much work adding to the station. Jeb returns home six days later, bringing Fredrim and Barrick, and lots of science.

The Unitas 05 carries a Prograde Kuarqs experiment, and takes Bill, Doodmin and Billy-Bobdas up. A week later, it lands at the KBSC with Bill, Shelgun and Hadrie.

Then it's time for another shuttle flight. The Astrala 5 carries a new structural/storage module full of much awaited supplies. The crew consists of Bob, Dillan and Shepemone.

Thanks to the remotely controlled RCS tug, the new module is docked to the station, and the cyclotron is rearranged into its final position. Finally, Bob carefully maneuvers the Astrala into docking opposite to the cyclotron.

After concluding yet another experiment, the ship returns home carrying Bob, Doodmin and Billy-Bobdas.

Reentry goes as planned. By now the shuttle design has been perfected, and it no longer spins occasionally out of control during the descent.

Next: Clarke Station is completed!

[Nahim]

Congrat's dude. And nice shuttle you got up there!

What will be the next goal?

[Parkaboy]

Congrat's dude. And nice shuttle you got up there!

What will be the next goal?

The next couple of reports will involve completing Clarke Station and seeing it on full operation. Then I'll be back to the Mun with the Appello 13!

[Nahim]

13?

I've got a bad feeling about this...

[Parkaboy]

Clarke Station is Completed

Three more shuttle launches were needed to finally complete the Clarke Science Station. The Astrala 6 went up with Jerdrin, Shelgun and Hadrie, carrying a second cyclotron. Some experiments need two of those working in tandem, and they give lots of science, so it's worth.

The RCS Tug has a lot of work to do: it has to place the new cyclotron at its spot, but there's also some reorganization to be done, while the shuttle maneuvers for docking. Later, the Astrala 6 returns home carrying Jerdrin, Dillan and Shepemone. The reentry flames are spectacular on that picture, but the landing actually went without issue.

Some time later the Astrala 7 is launched, with only Jeb on board. This time the shuttle is going only to take the payload up: there's no experiment to be done, and it won't take part into the station crew rotation. There are actually two payloads: two "arms" for the station, with more solar panels.

Once again the RCS Tug puts everything in place, and Jeb returns home without even docking. His landing is flawless.

Then the Astrala 8 goes up, this time piloted by Bill Kerman. Same mission profile as Jeb's last flight: a short delivery visit to the station.

Two more power arms are added to the station. With these large solar panels, it can now provide full power to the cyclotrons, which means that it can now operate on full capacity. Clarke Station is finally complete!

Bill takes the shuttle back into the atmosphere, but the misses the right angle of reentry, and ends up passing over the KBSC. Fortunately the Astrala shuttle glides rather reliably, and Bill can circle and land on the runway from the sea side.

Next: Clarke Station starts pumping out lots of science!

[Parkaboy]

Clarke Station Operations

Clarke Station is ready to operate on full capacity, repaying the money invested on its construction with lots and lots of soft, tasty science! With that on mind, the Unitas 6 is launched, with Bob, Barrick and Fredrim on board, and a valuable Retrograde Kuarqs experiment as its payload.

After the experiment is completed, Bob returns home, carrying Shelgun and Hadrie. Of course, the payload is ejected before reentry, but don't worry: they remembered to copy all the data gathered.

Another Unitas mission is launched soon after. The Unitas 7 had Jerdrin, Doodmin and Billy-Bobdas on board, and sent an Eccentric Kuarqs experiment to make use of the orbital cyclotrons.

After the experiment was performed, Fredrim went out on its spacesuit to get the data, and together with Jerdrin and Barrick they returned to the KBSC on another fiery but otherwise safe landing.

With the new knowledge acquired about the workings of matter in space conditions, the science division at the KBSC managed to design some very large new parts. They planned to test it on another Mun mission, the Appello 13. Jebediah protested that the number was bad luck and that it was a very bad idea to test a completely new vehicle on such a mission, but he was outvoted. Even so, Jeb volunteered to go.

Next: Appello 13. What could go wrong?

[Parkaboy]

The Appello 13 - "Kerbin, we have a bug"

Due to a small miscalculation on my part, the story of the Appello 13 ended up being the 14th report, which meant it wasn't so unlucky after all.

It all started with the test of a new launch vehicle to replace the Eve III. Its official name was just one of those boring combinations of numbers and letters, so it was nicknamed "Big Eve".

"Big Eve" worked pretty well, and managed to put the new Command Module in low Kerbin orbit with Jeb, Shelgun and Hadrie on board. After that, the ascent stage was remotelly controlled to land back at the KBSC. They tried to aim it at the launchpad, but noticed they had forgotten to remove the launch tower, and ended up landing it close by. Not much bad luck so far, though they could have done better.

The new CSM, nicknamed the "Grey Trout" due to its vaguely fishy shape, was designed to carry enough fuel to replenish the tanks of the two small landers at Verne Station.

It also carried new scientific equipment, which was installed on the landers. It was when Hadrie boarded the chosen LM that they noticed that the docking ports were welded shut. This had happened before, but last time they managed to free one of the landers. This time both were stuck. The mission was compromised. I guess that counts as bad luck, even though no one got hurt and nothing exploded spectacularly.

Fortunately they came prepared, and had tools designed to solve the issue. Even so it took them half a day of exaustive work, and meant several extra-vehicular activities for the three kerbals involved. Everyone cheered when the LM was finally freed. Since this was LM8, and the other lander had been named "Gilly" by Jeb, they though the heroic little module deserved a name, so they called it "Stucky".

While approaching the chosen landing spot at the north side of the East Crater, Hadrie saw an unexplainable huge rocky feature. After landing as planned and collecting the needed samples and placing the customary flag, he decided there was enough fuel to investigate. He took Stucky into a suborbital hop, landing almost on the shadow of the huge stone arc.

No one at home knew how such a rock formation could be possible on the Mun. Hadrie then used its jetpack to bravely climb to the top of the then cleverly named East Crater Arc, took samples and left another flag to mark the spot. Stucky seemed so little from up there...

After carefully floating back down, Hadrie measured the distance between Stucky and the flag he planted. That meant the arc was nearly 200m high.

Finally Hadrie took the LM back to Verne Station, where he worked with the crew to extract all the data and samples acquired, cleaned all the equipment on the lab, and prepared to return home.

The Grey Trout reentered Kerbin's atmosphere roughly two days after the beginning of the mission. It ditched the service module and landed safely.

In retrospect, I guess we could call this a lucky mission, after all.

Next: Minmus wants a Space Station too.

[Parkaboy]

Wells Station - part 1

While Verne Station has been quite successful, the idea of having an orbital base where landers could refuel seems to be even smarter on Minmus, given the lowest gravity of the little moon. With that in mind, the KBSC scientists put together a couple of modules that together would form a fully operational research station.

The first module of this kind was sent as the payload of a brand new model of rocket, the Duna I. The engineers weren't quite happy with the fuel consumption of the "Big Eve", and managed to create a smaller and more economical vehicle. And it was mostly orange, which was cool.

The first half of the lab was sent up with Bill on board, and it has two small rockets that made the whole thing a temporary spaceship.

Near Minmus, with the module in its final orbit, the engines could be removed and stored safely.

A second launch sent up an inflatable lab module, this time remotely controlled.

Given how the satellite network doesn't quite convers Minmus, they needed to calculate the approach in a manner that the maneuvers were always made on the side of the orbit nearest to Kerbin. This meant that Bill had to wait a few orbits between maneuvers, but in the end everything worked out all right and the modules were coupled.

Now the brand new Wells Station could be used as a relay, allowing Bill to control remotely the landers that were previously discarded in orbit. These landers were completely out of fuel, but their tanks had plenty of monopropellant, and the good thing about Minmus is that you don't need to push very hard to change orbits.

So he managed to bring one lander back to the station, where he decided to board it and use it to bring the other LM. It was faster than doing those careful maneuvers that depended on Kerbin, Minmus, the station and the lander being in their right positions.

Finally, both landers were brought to the station, where they docked and were serviced by Bill who installed new scientific equipment and made everything ready for more landings.

Next: More landings.

[Parkaboy]

Wells Station - part 2

Wells Station is ready to receive its first crew on Minmus orbit. To send a crew there, the bigwigs at the KBSC decided to scrap the old Appello ships, opting for a new vessel more in line with the reliable Unitas. So the Vinculum 1 was born. The new ship was launched on a Duna I rocket, carrying Bob, Barrick and Fredrim.

The Vinculum 1 docked with Wells Station after a 2 day trip, and soon the kerbonauts were busy with zero-g experiments. After the main procedures were completed, Bill boarded one of the landers and undocked.

Bill took the little unnamed LM to a small area of Minmus "Flats", took samples, planted a flag and played a little in the tiny gravity. And then returned to the station.

And so the mission was completed. Bill and Bob boarded the Vinculum 1, leaving the other two behind. Barrick and Fredrim woul live on the station for months, as an experiment on the feasibility of long-term missions to other planets. Scientists back home want to learn how long a kerbal can remain in cramped up, londely conditions, before snapping up and murdering a colleague. They've already started placing bets on who's going to be.

Next: A ground base on the Mun? Why not?

[Parkaboy]

Stapledon Base - part 1

The KBSP might be investing on new stations and bases, but that doesn't mean they're forgetting the older programs. Clarke Station continues to function well, pumping out science on a weekly basis. This time the Unitas 8 mission, crewed by Jerdrin, Shepemone and Dillan, took another experiment into orbit, returning with Jerdrin, Doodmin and billy-Bobdas.

But the main concern right now is the establishment of a ground base in the Mun's surface. The first module of the future "Stapledon Base" is launched with Shelgun and Hadrie on board. It's carried by a Duna I rocket up to an orbit 75 km high above Kerbin.

The base is capable of reaching and landing on the Mun under its own power -- or at least that's how it was designed. In practice, the thing was barely able to land, and less than 10 m/s of delta-v remained after touchdown. It was a really close call, and it meant the kerbonauts couldn't quite well choose a landing spot. Instead of the intended area near the landing site of the 4th Mun excursion, they ended up 4 km east, at a distance of 13 km from the East Crater Arc. Luckily, it was still a relatively flat terrain.

With the base in place and the living module inflated, Shelgun was able to install the ladders on its side, which made getting in and out much easier.

Three days later the Vinculum-X 1 is launched. It's a modified version of the Vinculum spacecraft, designed to be able to land on the Mun and return. It carried three kerbals: Jerdrin, Lemcan and Billy-Bobdas.

You can see the final approach, as it flies above the site of the base (in purple), the site of the 4th Mun landing and the East Crater Arc.

It's rather cool that the great arc was visible from the window of the Vinculum-X 1 as it landed, even though it was 13 km away. But the kerbals couldn't quite enjoy the view, since they were quite worried with the fuel consumption. The craft didn't perform as well as planned, and they ended up with less delta-v than they needed to return home.

Nothing to worry about, though. Fortunately the base was equipped with KAS fuel pumps, and it was just a matter of borrowing some fuel from the base's surplus. What?! They had barely 10 m/s delta-v left? Crap.

Well, I guess they're stuck on the Mun for now... But they don't seem too worried about it.

Next: The good folks at home send more fuel and living space for the base.