Aerospike Adventures (image heavy)

[NERVAfan]

EDIT: OK, fixed

(My first mission report)

I've just started to experiment with what can be done with aerospikes...

Part 1: Jeb's Mun Flyby

KSC engineers were eager to test out the Toroidal Aerospike Rocket, and after several flights controlled by a QBE probe core, they were ready for a Kerbaled mission; of course Jebediah volunteered to be the test pilot.

A fairly simple rocket was devised, with two “asparagus†side boosters with aerospikes, a central stage with an aerospike, and a LV-909 final stage. This was dubbed the "Aerosparagus".

Takeoff went well...

The side boosters ran out of fuel at about 12.5 km, just after the gravity turn.

The remaining aerospike got me to a periapsis of about 75km, and I coasted up to nearly that and started to burn to get an orbit. Partway through the aerospike stage ran out and was separated, and the LV-909 finished the burn. Here's the Aerosparagus final stage and capsule orbiting above Kerbin...

When the Mun rose above the horizon, burned prograde – voila, Mun encounter:

Dropped out of timewarp for the SOI change, to keep my 40km periapsis. Unfortunately the closest approach was on the night side, so this is the best image:

The Mun encounter put me in a Kerbin orbit with 32000 km apoapsis, 7800 km periapsis. Timewarped to apoapsis, lowered the periapsis to 6km... unfortunately set the timewarp too high on the “inbound†leg and actually warped right through Kerbin's atmosphere before the drag could actually be applied. Second time around I actually got a second Mun encounter, which raised the periapsis, but I had plenty of extra fuel to lower it again. In fact, the ship entered Kerbin's atmosphere with about 70 fuel and 85 oxidizer remaining- the FL-T400 tank was nearly 40% full.

Separated the stage and opened the parachutes, slowing Jeb's capsule down to a safe splashdown in Kerbin's oceans:

Edited March 23, 2014 by NERVAfan