Reaching for Stars -- BTSM Career Mode Endgame... Now with Plot (on Pg 2)

[babale]

Hi everyone! I've been playing FlowerChild's fantastic mod, Better than Starting Manned, for quite a while now. The mod changes the way KSP works in several major ways -- most importantly making missions much harder. Electricity is actually a very limiting factor now -- you can't get far out past Minmus until you research solar panels in tier 7; those only work as far as Dres, and going further than that requires a generator which doesn't come in until tier 8. Manned missions are much tougher, as the game includes a basic life support model; getting to the Mun is a challenge, and landing requires lots and lots of work. Hell, a stable orbit requires work. Yet the mod doesn't feel "grindy", not in the least; rather, it feels challenging, and every accomplishment -- from breaching the atmosphere for the first time to bringing a probe safely down without blowing it up -- feels like a major accomplishment.

Well, I've been playing BTSM for quite a while, and am now at the second to last tech tier. BTSM changes the way tier costs work -- the last tech I bought cost 1,800 science; the next will cost 16,000. Until now, my missions have mostly been unmanned; probes to the Mun and Minmus eventually led to a Mun and Minmus landing, which led to probes to the inner and later outer system. But now the time has finally come for manned missions to take their place at the head of my space program. This mod is "Better than STARTING Manned", and I am certainly out of the starting phase now.

By the end of this mission report, I plan to plant a base on every body from Moho to Eeloo, and stick a station in orbit around any body from the Sun out.

The endgame of BTSM seems to focus around colonization of foreign planets. There are 4 9th tier techs, plus a 5th which is available because I use MechJeb to calculate dV and is of no interest to me. These 4 techs are:

Uber Rockets -- unlocks the LV-N. That's right; 16,000 science for the LV-N rocket and nothing else. And you know what? It's worth it! I'm going to need the LV-N to colonize the outer worlds. But before I get there, I need some other techs.

Colonization -- this is my first target. The only tech in Tier 9 that unlocks a new experiment, Colonization gives me a habitation module that doubles as a science lab (the actual science lab is removed from the game, and all experiments either transmit at full efficiency or do not transmit at all; this makes a lab a major, major boon for me.) The habitation module also lets me run habitation studies -- experiments that take 5 years, but produce tons and tons of science. They can be run on the surface of any body or in low orbit around a body that contains an atmosphere. Habitation studies will be the cornerstone of my push to finish the tech tree; I will be colonizing the planets of the Kerbol system in order to get the science to unlock the rest of the tree. Finally, Colonization unlocks some large solar panels and a life support processing unit -- when on the surface of any body, this unit can use tons and tons of power to make a small amount of life support. With enough of these, I can create self-sustaining bases, but this isn't easy; it takes 5 processors to keep one kerbal alive, and the processors weigh in at 15 tons each.

Aerospace Tech -- this node unlocks the RAPIER engine, a couple of aircraft parts, and two items critical to station building. First is the Air Scoop -- when in low orbit above an atmosphere-bearing body, this scoop allows processors to function by taking in air and putting out whatever it is they put out. The second item is an all-purpose processor that can make fuel, oxidizer, mono-propellant, and life support, but only works above Kerbin's atmosphere. This processor can make a station in LKO that allows every craft leaving Kerbin to launch empty and leave full. In my opinion, this will be critical for reaching any body further than Duna and Eve with the materials necessary to build a station or base.

Nanolathing -- this node unlocks a couple of structural parts and, most importantly, fuel and monopropellant processing units that work away from Kerbin. Additionally, it unlocks a generator that weighs .8 tons instead of my current generator, which comes in at 8 tons. It also produces 2.2 e/m as opposed to my current generator's 1.8. This generator will be critical to both manned missions past Dres (where solar panels stop working) and for any station or base at that range.

So! What am I going to do? That's a tough question. Colonization is absolutely necessary to finish the tree, in my humble opinion; without it, I can get no more science once I finish probing and landing on every body. On the other hand, I will be getting the science to unlock the nodes through manned missions, and I am not going to be able to do any manned missions past Dres without the more efficient generator from Nanolathing. But on the THIRD hand, getting past Dres is gonna be extremely difficult even if I do have the juice to do so, because I'd have to carry tons and tons of life support with me. Getting to the Jool system, landing, and coming back with only the life support I carry with me might as well be impossible. So, what should I do?

The Mission Plan

Before I do anything else, I need to earn 14,841 more science. I've probed Eve, Duna, their moons, Jool, and Laythe, and did a flyby of Moho. I've landed on Mun and Minmus as well as Gilly, and did a manned flyby of Eve. So Stage 1 will see me land on some of the other inner bodies, trying to earn the science to unlock Colonization.

Stage 1: Inner System Research

Mission 1: Ike Manned Landing

Mission 2: Duna Manned Landing

Mission 3: Dres Probe Landing

Mission 4: Moho Probe Landing

Based on the outcomes of missions 3 and 4, I may send manned missions to Moho and Dres as well.

Stage 2: Kerbin Sphere of Influence Colonization

Mission 1: Mun Base

Mission 2: Minmus Base

Stage 1 will get me the science I need to research Colonization. Stage 2 will capitalize on that research and begin the colonization effort. Based on the outcome of Stage 1, Stage 3 will either begin while habitation studies on the moons of Kerbin are in progress, or will wait for the science return from those studies before moving on.

Hope you guys like bases!

Edited May 14, 2014 by babale

[KeithStone]

All this time I thought BTSM was just a rework of the tech tree and I never really opened it. I'm such a mod lover that even tech tree mod's i've at least LOOKED at, and now, I'm really sad at my current campaign's progress isnt including this!

[babale]

BTSM is much more than a tech tree rebalancing -- it's a whole new experience. But it's balanced around being played by itself; I'd wholeheartedly recommend it, but if you're a mod lover you may want to try it on a clean install, separate from your usual one.

[babale]

Stage 1: Inner System Research

Mission 1: Ike Manned Landing

Mission Codename: Interplanetary III

With Jeb recovering from the Interplanetary I and II missions, which took him to Gilly and then on a short test-flight to the Mun, Endo Kerman stepped up to fly the Interplanetary III craft to Ike. The Interplanetary series uses a modified Omega-class launcher; a simple, 2 stage craft that can get the 200 ton Interplanetary III into orbit in one piece. The Omega-class launcher has served over 10 different craft designs on dozens of missions so far, and is by far the most reliable workhorse I've ever built. While it may eventually be retired if I decide to lift stations and bases into orbit in a single piece, it will serve me very well until that point.

Here is the Interplanetary III atop an Omega-class launcher:

The Omega lifters are not just lifters; for loads under a couple hundred tons, they also serve as orbital tugs. The first stage, which consists of 31 Mainsails, carries the payload up far past the atmosphere; at that point, the second stage circularizes the orbit and for all but the heaviest of payloads begins the next burn as well.

The Interplanetary III is light enough that the second stage can carry it all the way to Duna with dV to spare. I make the burn and let Endo Kerman enjoy the ride.

The Interplanetary series carries around 230 days worth of life support. The trip to Duna took 59 days, leaving me ample supplies for the return trip. Endo Kerman grins as he becomes the third Kerbal to leave Kerbin's orbit (Gergun Kerman was the first, with his trip to solar orbit to collect biometric readings; Jebediah Kerman was the second with his trip to Gilly).

The trip is uneventful and requires little input on my part, aside from correcting the ship's orientation to ensure that the solar panels are functioning. The Interplanetary series had a flawed design in terms of solar panels; I placed two rows of them on each side, meaning that only half of my panels could ever be fully exposed, and even that rarely happened. The Interplanetary IV will fix this problem, but until then corrections in solar orbit are necessary.

Soon enough, though, Endo Kerman reaches Duna. The Red Planet becomes visible shortly after the pull of its gravity is felt, and soon Endo spies his target: Ike.

Though the tanks of the second Omega stage are nearly empty, they serve two purposes here. First, their thrust to weight ratio is so great that they can still apply about 500 dV -- nothing to sneeze at with Deadly Reentry active. Second, engines are the most heat tolerant parts of a spaceship shot of heatshield. I plan to aerobrake in Duna's atmosphere using the higher lifter stage as a heat shield and burning at my periasis; once the engines start cooling I will detach the stage and burn with the Interplanetary's engines, hopefully slowing down enough to remain in Duna's orbit.

The plan works flawlessly, and though I use more fuel than I would have liked I enter a stable orbit around Duna. I do notice a problem -- the batteries atop the lander heated up to almost 1,000 degrees, and the landing struts actually let of sparks -- a sure sign that they were about to explode. I did not run into this problem when aerobraking in Eve's atmosphere on the way to Gilly, but I also didn't need to drop as low into the atmosphere to slow down to a reasonable velocity. Future landers will come equipped with detachable heat shields protecting any rear-facing payloads.

Though it was a close call, I make it through with the lander intact. A few maneuvers later...

And I enter a stable orbit around Ike. Already, I can tell that Ike is my favorite moon. Its pull is strong enough to easily enter its sphere of influence, but orbital velocity is low enough to ensure that a lander needs to use little fuel to return to orbit. It has the best features of Minmus without the massive annoyance of Gilly, where killing orbital trajectory game me a landing time of 14 hours, requiring a burn straight towards the surface.

Landing is beautiful, though uneventful, and soon enough Endo is back in orbit as the second Kerbal to ever set foot upon a body outside of Kerbin's sphere of influence.

Endo rendezvous with the interplanetary stage of Interplanetary III and burns to get back home. There is no time to wait for a transfer window with limited life support, and the burn back home will take nearly all of the dV in both the interplanetary stage and lander... but eventually the burn is finished, and Endo is on his way -- a 72 day trip with 500 dVs left in the tank.

With so few dV, will Endo reach Kerbin's atmosphere? With no brake fuel, will he survive reentry? Find out next time!

[babale]

(Sorry for no pictures -- when reentering at high speeds my computer does a terrible job of rendering DR's flames. Rather than showing you a bunch of orange pixels, I'll skip the pics this time).

After a harrowing reentry at 4.4 km/s, the engines and tanks had all burned up. Endo screamed as his capsule plummeted through the atmosphere; the heat shield's temperature rose and rose. Even though the heat shield still had ablative shielding, it reached a temperature that was just too high and with a bang, it exploded. The temperature of the now unprotected cupola began to rise as the biometric sensor below it blew up in seconds. 1,000 degrees, 1,200 degrees, 1,400 degrees -- the cupola began letting of sparks. And then, miraculously, the sparks dissipated. 1,200, 1,100, 900 degrees... The capsule had slowed down enough to survive. It began rising as its momentum took it shooting past Kerbin, but not fast enough -- it dipped out of the atmosphere, then fell back in. Soon, Endo Kerman had landed safely, alive and well, and I was much richer in science.

The Ike mission got me, when all was said and done, about 4,000 science, bringing me to a total of just over 5,000. That means that unless Duna is much more valuable Stage 1 will need at least a few more probe landings, if not another manned landing. But for now...

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Mission 2: Duna Manned Landing

Codename: Red Dawn

With the success of Interplanetary III, it's time to design the craft that will make the next trip to Duna. First, a couple of changes: My last reentry was far too close for comfort. A periasis a few meters off would have probably killed Endo. Part of that has to do with my aim, but part of that is my fault. I have unlocked the 6.25 meter Inflatable heatshield, and should have been using that instead of my outdated 3.75 meter heatshield. The 3.75 has a heat tolerance of 1,000 degrees (which means it was trying to explode long before it actually did; I'm lucky it lasted that long) while the inflatable heatshield has a whooping heat tolerance of 10,000 degrees. I have replaced the reentry shield with an inflatable one, and added a rear-facing heat shield to the lander. When aerobraking, I can point myself prograde and open that shield. That means I won't be able to burn retrograde, but the shield should allow me to fly lower and aerobrake harder, getting the same effect with less fuel used.

Second, I cut it a bit close in terms of fuel on my last mission. Granted, a flight to Duna should use less dV than a flight to Ike as I'll have a few less burns -- no transfer burn to Ike and no capture burn when there -- but on the other hand, I'll have a bigger burn to leave Duna's orbit. While my current fuel supply could cut it, I'd like to be on the safe side. So I modify the transfer stage, raising the number of engines from 4 to 6. I add extra engines to the second stage, strut everything in place, and call it a day.

[babale]

Red Dawn, Continued

With the changes to the crafts involved made, the Red Dawn mission is ready to begin. The Interplanetary IV is set up on the launchpad, and Jebediah takes his place as pilot at the last moment, pulling rank over Gergun Kerman who was initially slated for the mission. With a mighty roar, the engines come to life and the massive lifter slowly rises from the surface. As fuel is burned, the thrust to weight ratio of the lifter quickly rises, and soon the lifter is barreling through the atmosphere at high speeds. Still using the first stage, the craft begins its gravity turn; a bit later the first stage is jettisoned, and the next takes over. The craft shoots forwards, heading for the sky.

The second stage is used up in the circularization burn and is decoupled just a few moments into the transfer burn. Still massive, the Interplanetary IV makes its way towards Duna. I find a transfer window that's low on dV but takes 100 days to reach. With 230 days of life support, I decide to take the risk. Jebediah fires the engines, and the Interplanetary is on its way to Duna.

Soon enough, Duna comes into sight. The tiny red marble grows and grows until it fills the sky, at which point Jeb prepares to aerobrake. The solar panels are retracted and the ship is turned prograde. The great heatshields atop the lander's engines are deployed, blocking the view of Duna. The ship hurtles into Duna's atmosphere, moving quickly. The heat shields redirect the superheated plasma away from the ship as it sinks to a periasis of only 10 kilometers. The RCS tanks on the main engines are far enough back that they heat up and explode just as the ship reaches periasis. The main fuel tanks heat up as well, but the ship rises before they can reach dangerous levels. Then another explosion rocks the ship. The exploding RCS tanks prevent the ship from righting itself as the thrusters run dry, and it turns slightly; then the shields right the ship, jerking it back straight. The jerk causes enormous G-forces to act upon the ship, and 3 of the solar panels explode. Luckily, there is enough built-in redundancy for that to cause little concern. The ship quickly climbs again, caught in Duna's orbit.

After a correction burn to bring the apoasis lower and the periasis out of the atmosphere, Jeb gets into the lander and prepares to decouple from the Interplanetary. The Red Dawn lander is tested on Kerbin and proven to be able to reach orbit there; therefore I judge it capable of a Duna landing and return. The lander decouples and makes its way towards Duna's surface, using parachutes to slow down.

It takes much more fuel to land than I had hoped, as the parachutes do little to help and the engines don't seem particularly effective. But the lander lands safely, and Jeb performs the tests required by KASA standards. He then spends some time in EVA, building red sand castles.

Realizing how little fuel I have left, I decide to take drastic measures, manually shutting off the central engine. I start burning with the radial engines and instantly stop as I find the problem: I used decouplers instead of stack separators to attach my heat shields to the engines, and the decouplers were still there. I thought that it would only have a graphical effect, but the decouplers actually made it impossible for those three engines to provide any thrust; they just used fuel for nothing. I begin to fear that Jeb will never be able to return from Duna, and weigh my options. If I burn the three useless engines at enough power, I'd be able to generate the electricity to send back the science I already have. Jeb would die, but the science he acquired would be sent back home. On the other hand, I could disable the three radial engines but keep them attached in order to use their fuel, then burn the center engine and return to orbit using it alone. The lander is untested for such a maneuver and is likely to fail, rendering me with no Jeb and no science.

But we leave no man behind. So Jeb repacks the chutes, turns off the radial engines, and takes off.

Somehow, Jeb makes it into a 48X52 orbit using the last of his fuel. And I mean the last; at the end of his burn, he was left with just a few liters in the tank.

Can Jeb, fueless and low on monopropellant, dock with the mothership? With just 100 days of life support left, can he make it back to Kerbin? Find out next time!

[babale]

Red Dawn, Concluded

With barely any fuel in the tanks and RCS running low as well, the lander module is in no condition to maneuver to docking range. Luckily, the main ship comes equipped with a probe core for just this sort of contingency. The main ship maneuvers itself to meet up with the lander at the far side of the planet, then burns to kill relative velocity when in range. It points itself at the lander and even provides the closing burn -- the little RCS burn that sends the two ships towards each other. From there, all Jeb has to do is keep the lander pointed the right way and make corrections when needed. Soon enough, against all hope, Jeb docks with the mothership.

Once docked, Jeb starts an injection burn to take him straight home. Some fiddling with maneuver nodes finds a return trajectory that will bring me to Kerbin in about 2 months, leaving just over 2 months of life support in the tanks. I make the burn and just like that Jeb is on his way home with tons and tons of science.

Soon enough the Interplanetary comes thundering into Kerbin's SOI at 6 km/s. I burn retrograde as hard as I can, slowing down to 4.4 km/s, and then use the very last of the fuel and RCS to get a 28km periasis. The ship zooms towards Kerbin's atmosphere, shutting solar panels and deploying the heat shield as it goes. And then the ship falls to 50,000 meters and all hell breaks loose.

The engine heats up quickly; it's glowing red instantly, and the overheat bar fills quickly. The engine is more durable than it seems, though; it holds for a while, the red bar nearly reaching the top and quivering there. But soon -- maybe 20 seconds into the real turbulent area -- it blows up. Without the protection of the engine, it doesn't take long for the small grey tank to explode; this is followed by a series of massive explosions as the solar panels and life support kegs blow up as well. I try to right-click the orange tank to keep track of its temperature, but in the huge fireball that follows I cannot. The whole screen fills up with orange and white as a huge explosion shakes the sky.

Then, bursting through the ball of flames, comes a white-hot cone. The heatshield survived, and so did the pods it protected! It comes crashing through the sky, burning-hot; I check its temperature and find it to be burning at almost 6,000 degrees. Jeb's grin never fades as the ship continues to slow down -- and then the biometric sensor, which sits between the heat shield and the command pod, suddenly explodes. I'm not sure why -- it was behind the heat shield -- but somehow it heated up and blew up. While the sensor itself doesn't matter, without it the heatshield tumbles away and Jeb's cupola flies through the air unprotected. It quickly heats up to a toasty red glow. I transfer Jeb and all of the data into the lander, but I know it doesn't matter; there is no way that the lander will survive reentry. If the cupola blows up, Jeb is dead.

Miraculously, the cupola holds. It heats up to over 1,500 degrees, but then rapidly cools down as the craft leaves the atmosphere again. I check the map -- the trajectory goes up pretty high, but Jeb will come home. I move him back to the cupola and wait.

Jeb lands safely at home and I decide to do some unmanned missions for a while.

[babale]

Mission 3: Moho Probe Landing

Codename: Vaulter II

Long ago, the first probe to the Jool system was called the Traveler I. The Traveler I used revolutionary reaction cores to allow probes to reach the Jool system. Reactors were heavy, though, and so the probes tended to be sluggish and slow. As a result, though many Traveler-class ships made it to Jool, none ever managed to land on any of its moons. Eventually I came up with a new plan. Laythe was my target. It had an atmosphere, and thus would be much easier to land on. The last Traveler was redesigned with a Laythe landing in mind, and sent to the Jool system. Unfortunately, it couldn't slow down enough and burned up in Laythe's atmosphere. Enter the Vaulter.

The Vaulter I was custom-built to deliver a probe core and enough electricity to transmit my findings all the way to Laythe. It worked flawlessly, aside from landing in the ocean preventing me from using a seismograph. Following the Vaulter I had enough science to turn to asteroids, which gave me the science to turn to manned missions. As a result, that first Vaulter was the last of its kind. But with manned mission prospects running out fast, I decided to go back to the reliable old Vaulter for some inner solar system landings.

Moho is a planet that I have mostly avoided until now. I've done a Moho flyby before, but never a safe landing. So I took the reactor off of the old Vaulter, replaced the probe's heat shield with landing legs and the reactor with a landing engine, slapped on some solar panels, and called it a day. The Vaulter II was ready for action.

Takeoff and orbit insertion were very routine with such a small ship; soon enough I was in orbit. Moho happened to be in a close to proper position, so I fired my engines right away and burned towards the sun.

Soon enough, we see Moho in the distance. The sun seems much bigger from this close; good news for our solar panels. With Moho being so small, the capture burn is quite long and uses up all of the remaining fuel outside of the lander. We discover that sunrise on Moho is a very beautiful thing.

After circularization, surface image scanning commences. Once that's done, the lander deploys. The landing goes off without a hitch, science is collected and sent home, and the probe is left on the surface.

[babale]

Mission 4: Dres Probe Landing

Codename: Interplanetary III

The mission to Dres was very similar to the one to Moho. So similar, in fact, that I don't have much to say about it. The solar panels did cut out as I neared Dres -- they still helped slow down consumption, but they no longer covered it. Still, the probe core isn't very energy intensive and my engines still helped fill the batteries, so things weren't too bad. I'll just put up some pictures now.

You may notice that there are no pictures of the landing.

OK, I admit it; Dres didn't go as smoothly as Moho. The landing shots would consist of a blow up fuel tank, legs everywhere, and the battery, science parts, and probe core sitting in a little dip on the side of a hill that they've rolled down for about 15 minutes.

...

I think I'll keep those to myself.

The Dres mission brought me close to the science I need for the next stage, but not quite there. I needed just over a thousand more science. Rather than do anything complicated, I decided to go with a simple mission to low sun orbit.

Mission 5: Low Sun Orbit and Impact

Codename: Sundiver I

The Sundiver mission was a very simple one. I took the Interplanetary craft and launched it into a 100X100 KM orbit. From there, I pointed prograde while on the side closer to the sun and burned as hard as I could. That style of burn would take me away from Kerbin while burning retrograde to the sun. 6,000 m/s of dV later, I was diving towards the sun with a periasis inside the star itself. A few days later I passed through low sun orbit long enough to take readings and send them back. After 4 hours of falling, the probe crashed into the sun, putting me at around 15,500 science.

With the inner solar system thoroughly probed and so little science remaining before I unlock Colonization, I decide to take the old Vaulter I design and send it to Eeloo for a flyby. The results of that mission are still pending.

[babale]

Mission 6: Eeloo Probe Landing

Codename: Vaulter II

The Vaulter II used the exact same design as the Vaulter I. That's not exactly optimal; in fact, it's far from it. The Vaulter II is geared for an atmospheric landing. But I was in a rush, so I sent the Vaulter II off to Eeloo. I had planned to only do a flyby, but when I arrived at Eeloo I found that I was travelling at about 1 km/s and had about 2 km/s of dV left. I decided to land, so I let the probe drift closer and closer to Eeloo and then burned retrograde. Surprisingly, it worked; I landed with barely any fuel left in the tanks. With the science I got from the mission, I got the science to unlock Colonization.

Pictures of the Eeloo mission follow; after that I'll post my thoughts about Stage 2.

[babale]

Stage 2

Mission 1: Munar Base

Codename: Armstrong Base

The Eeloo mission earned me the science I needed to pick up the Colonization tech. This tech gives me everything I need to build a self-sustaining base. Of course, colonization missions are possible without self-sustaining technology; but sending hundreds of tons of life support kegs to the Mun every few weeks doesn't sound like a lot of fun. So instead, my goal is to build a fully self-sustaining base from the start.

Now, the center of any base is the living quarters. BTSM has a single command pod appropriate for colonization; the YU-GON-SOLNG habitation and science module. It only takes a single kerbal to finish a habitation study, but if I send two the habitation module can act as a science lab. Since I've already got pretty much everything I need from the Mun, I will only send a single kerbal, but allow modular support. Maybe later I can dock some more life support generators and send a second kerbal with a rover in order to grab the surface samples from other biomes.

The next question is that of redundancy. The Mun's sidereal period is 1 day and 14 hours; since I want redundancy I will make my calculations using 45 hours, which is obviously larger than 38. I need batteries that can keep the base powered for a full 45 hour period; this way I account for things like Kerbin coming between the Mun and the sun.

The habitation module uses 9 units of life support per kerbal per hour. A recycler reduces this by a .2 multiplier. 9/Kerbal/Hour is the same as 216 per Kerbal per day; recycled, that's 43.2 a day, or 1.8 an hour. The module comes with 1,000 units of life support, giving me 23 days -- more than enough to get to the Mun in the first place or send a rescue mission in the event of a system failure. So I don't need to send any kegs; just the module.

Now, I'll be using 43.2 life support units a day. The processor creates 9.7 units of life support each day. That's 4.5 life support processors to keep up with the kerbal; clearly we can't send half a processor, so call it 5. Because of the way symmetry work, I can either send 4 in radial symmetry and one in a stack or 6. At 15 tons, these processors aren't something to send just for fun. I'll pass on the additional redundancy and go with 5.

So I've got a weird little base with 5 processing units, a habitation module, and a recycling unit. I'm already at 90 tons and I still don't have electricity, nor a way to land this thing on the Mun -- much less a way to get the lander and base in orbit. Time to look at power.

The processors use 21 electricity each minute. The pod uses 13.3 and the recycler uses another 3.3. That brings me to 121.6 electricity per minute, or 7264 electricity an hour. And we want 45 hours of juice... that's just about 330,000 electric charge. The best battery pack I have has 4,000 electricity. I'm going to need 85 batteries weighing in at 17 tons if I want to send that to orbit -- which, actually, isn't all that bad. Adding the batteries brings the ship up to 146 tons and makes it look a little weirder.

After adding in some struts for stability, the next step is to figure out how we'll charge this thing -- getting something this huge into orbit only for it to die 45 hours later seems like a waste. We know that we will be using up around 122 electricity per minute; that means that we'd need just 3 Gigantors to power the whole thing. Since we already have 4 towers built into the design, though, we may as well place 4 solar panels. That gives us 216 electricity each minute -- not too bad. During hours of sunlight, we'll be getting 94 electricity each minute -- which means that it will take 68 hours to fully charge the batteries. That's not good enough; our plans count on the batteries being fully charged each evening. 4 solar panels would delay the inevitable, but every night the battery banks will be a weaker until they run out completely. If a day is 38 hours long, we need to be fully charged in 19 hours -- let's call it 13, since the panels can't be fully effective in the evening and at dawn. The actual battery banks have 384,000 units of electricity; that means we need about 30,000 units each hour. That's about 500 a minute, which takes 10 solar panels. Putting 2 on each tower (including the central one) should be sufficient, but I'd like to keep the central tower clear; instead I'll put 3 on each of the outer towers.

It takes some jiggling, but I arrange the panels so that all 12 can be deployed at once. The base now has everything it needs -- life support, electricity, and... actually, that's it. But it has unlimited amounts of both of those things, which is nice.

The final base, which includes things like landing legs and a science jr. lab on top of the base, weighs in at 168 tons. Enough life support kegs to last 5 years -- just under 80 of them -- weigh in at about 120 tons. Between the habitation module itself, the structural elements of the ship, the return craft, and so on, the 40 tons of difference shrink pretty fast. So a self-sustaining base is certainly the way to do things if the goal is to send a base up in one launch.

Next time -- I figure out how to launch a blue whale to the Mun!

[babale]

Year 11, Day 3. 0:00:00 hours.

Deep underground in a nuclear shelter which has sat empty since the end of the Second Kerbstomp War, the Prime Minister of Kerbin is ushered into his seat. Worn screens line the walls of the shelter, thick and outdated by modern standards. A large, ornate wooden table sits at the center of the shelter -- the famous table where the Unification Treaty that ended wars on Kerbin was signed nearly fifty years ago, and the room from which the War was directed. Prime Minister Derburry Kerman sat down at the chair at the head of the table, flanked by a pair of suited kerbals wearing dark sunglasses. He put on his glasses and picked up the plain-looking file sitting on the table, opened it, and began to read.

A few minutes later, a short kerbal with a pencil-thin mustache and a pair of thick sunglasses walked into the room. His white lab coat stood at stark contrast to the security's black suits and the Prime Minister's navy suit. "Wernher von Kerman, I presume?" asked the Prime Minister. "Indeed" responded the other kerbal. "I am here to inform you of the situation which is developing."

Wernher picked up a remote from the far end of the table and pushed a button. The monitors flickered to life, their image slightly grainy but certainly usable. "As you know, we have outfitted the tracking station at the KASA spaceport with the capability to detect NKO's -- that is, Near Kerbal Objects" began Wernher von Kerman. "Indeed" muttered the Prime Minister, "I signed twelve million kerbucks to your agency for that task". "Well, that was money well-spent" countered Wernher. "As any child with a telescope can see, we have captured four asteroids which were on an impact path with Kerbin and brought them into a stable orbit". The monitors flicker again as Wernher plays with the controls, and four large, potato-like objects orbiting Kerbin can be seen. "But asteroids aren't the only thing the tracking station can see" continued the scientist. "Since early last month, we have been tracking a certain object which has been travelling along a very irregular path". The monitors flicker again, showing Kerbin, the Mun, and Minmus in their orbits. A few marked and coded asteroids, their paths highlighted in different colors based on their trajectory's proximity to Kerbin, also appear. Three other objects show up on the map, marked with grey question marks. "Two of these objects have been identified as asteroids, and their projected trajectory mapped for the next few hundred years. The third... Well, look at this" Wernher continues as the Prime Minister sits up, interested. "Here is the projected path of Object KEU176" begins Wernher, showing a dotted line that crosses near the Mun and is then flung out far away. "Here is what actually happened". The object comes closer and closer to the Mun, finally being pulled by its gravity; but at the lowest point in Munar orbit, it suddenly slows down. It slows until it is captured by the Mun, and orbits it for a few revolutions. Then, on its third pass of the Mun, it speeds up rapidly and flings away out of sensor range.

"That sort of trajectory is completely and utterly inconsistent with an unpowered object" begins Wernher. "In fact, such maneuvers require power -- and lots of it. We calculate trajectory corrections around 2,400 delta-V to slow down as it did, followed by a second correction burn of 1,500 delta-V--" "Wait just a moment!" thunders the Prime Minister. "You are telling me that this -- this object, is powered, somehow? Like a spacecraft?" "Exactly like a spacecraft, yes!" says Wernher. "Further, based on our calculations of the object's mass based on its initial velocity and reactions to the Mun's gravitational field -- well, no need to bore you with the details. But we calculate that the mass of the object is on the order of a few thousand tons".

The Prime Minister blinked. "That sounds like a lot. Is that a lot?" Wernher nodded. "Not only is that a large mass, but we have no known means of delivering the observed changes in velocity at the speed we have observed to an object that large. Whatever -- WHOMever -- was piloting that craft has access to technology far more advanced than ours". The Prime Minister nodded. "Well, Director Wernher, I believe that the reaction to this threat falls under KASA jurisdiction. What do you propose we do?" Director Wernher swallowed before answering. "Do you recall my proposals for bases on the foreign bodies of the Kerbol system?" the Prime Minister nods. "Well, we should be able to outfit those bases with tracking modules with only small changes to the original designs. With manned tracking centers across the Kerbol system, should the anomaly arrive again we will be able to accurately track its progress, and perhaps derive its point of origin". The Prime Minister nodded. "Very well. You will have the funding. Get to work!" Wernher nods, excited. "Of course, sir. We should have the first launch ready within the year!"

As he departed, Prime Minister Derburry turned to one of his men. "Get me the Kerbtagon. I need to ready Kerbin's nuclear stockpile -- and to supplement it with modern designs."

[babale]

Year 11, Day 87.

KASA Spaceport

The massive rocket stood on the launchpad, its mighty tanks lined up in all their glory. Atop the enormous vehicle, held in place with dozens of gleaming metal struts, stood the Armstrong Munar Base which will one day stand upon the Mun. A single kerbal sat in the padded chair in the center of the habitation module, straps and cushions covering him from all directions. "Ready for takeoff" he muttered into the microphone built into his suit's faceplate. "Roger that" came the static-filled reply from KSC. "Liftoff in T-60 seconds".

In a tower a mile away, Wernher von Kerman stood, gripping the back of the chair he stood in front of. "Sit down, Wernher" said one of the other kerbals in the control room. "You're making me nervous". "Sit down?" stammered Wernher. "My career is riding on this launch, and you want me to sit down!"

The other kerbals in the control room sighed. Director Wernher von Kerman was under a lot of stress, and he tended to take it out on his underlings, delivering verbal lashings that he would then spend weeks apologizing for. But before anything like that could happen, the door to the command room opened and three kerbals in dark suit strolled in. Two took their posts on either side of the door while the third marched towards the center of the room. He scanned it, his eyes falling on each kerbal, and then he raised a hand to his earpiece. "Room's clear. Bring him in". A few moments later, a fourth suited kerbal walked into the room at the Prime Minister's side. "Good, I'm not late!" he said as he walked up and shook hands with each of the kerbals in the command center. He stood before the window, arms behind his back. "T-10 seconds. Good luck, Kerman" said the kerbal to his side. "5. 4. 3. 2. 1." He pushed the big red button that lit up the command console in front of him. With a monumental roar, the rocket sprang into the air, carrying the entire Munar base with it.

A few minutes later, the rocket had disappeared into the sky, the trail of smoke that still lingered being the only sign of its presence. "Now, Director, I had a few questions for you --" began the Prime Minister. "Shush! Not now!" responded Wernher. "The first stage is about to separate!"

The kerbal sitting at the control panel muttered as she furiously pushed the buttons in front of her in some strange and complex order. Finally, the kerbal sat back, sweat glistening on her forehead. "Separation of first stage confirmed. Beginning orbital burn now."

Even as the first rocket was making its way to orbit, a second was pushed forwards towards the launchpad. Just as big as the first, this one did not carry a base; instead, it carried a remote controlled array of engines. The engine cluster would make its way up and rendezvous with the base, docking on; once all 5 engine clusters were docked, the entire base would be pushed into Munar orbit, where a skycrane would meet the base and grab on, eventually lowering the base onto the Mun's surface. As the rocket was being carried towards the launchpad atop massive rails, the Prime Minister approached Wernher again. "This launch is what I meant to talk to you about. When are the other rocket clusters supposed to be launched?"

Clearly annoyed by the interruption, Wernher responded, "Not for another three days. We need to get the base ready, and --" "Push it forwards". Wernher seemed dumbfounded by the interruption. "Impossible!" he responded after a moment. "We need to--" "You need to launch it tonight. And not one at a time, either. The file you gave me -- I understand that these launchers are Sovereign-class launchers, yes?" Wernher nodded. "Well, your file spoke of Terminal-class launchers, capable of carrying up to 400 tons. And I understand that these engine clusters weigh 165 tons each. I want you to launch tomorrow, using Terminal-class launchers and carrying two clusters at a time".

Wernher paused for a moment, taking in his new orders. "That can't be done, sir. We only have two Terminal-class launchers ready --" "Excellent! You will only need two launches!" "AND they are HIGHLY experimental. And trying to get them ready in just one day, it's --" "It's exactly what you will do, if you want to remain director of this space program!" growled the Prime Minister menacingly. "Understand?" Wernher nodded silently. He feared that if the launch failed, he would be blamed -- although he had warned against it from the start. But there was nothing he could do; for now, he needed to launch the first engine cluster.

[babale]

Year 11, Day 88

KASA Spaceport

Once more an enormous rocket was wheeled onto the launchpad of the Kerbal Space Center. This one was even bigger than the last, with eight additional engines in the first stage and six more in the second. The experimental Terminal-class rocket had an enormous payload capacity of over 400 tons -- more than sufficient for its payload: two Pusher-class remote controlled engine clusters, like the one that was already docked to the Armstrong Munar Base. Even as the first rocket prepared for liftoff, a second was being pushed out towards the launchpad.

Eight hundred kerbals worked day and night since Director Wernher's strange order to simultaneously change the lifter and move the launch forwards by almost 24 hours. When questioned, the Director would only say that his orders came from high up, and so the other kerbals left the matter alone and got to work. The first rocket wasn't ready until 15 minutes before the launch, but as the deadline approached the final struts were locked into place and the rocket was ready.

To Wernher's relief, even the experimental rocket and double payload didn't disrupt the launch and docking process. Within a few hours, the Armstrong Munar Base was ready for transfer.

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[babale]

Year 11, Day 89

Low Kerbin Orbit

"Matdan, you are about to pass over the horizon. All radio contact will cease for about 15 minutes. Do you copy? Over." "Copy that, Mission Control. Matdan out." Far above Kerbin, the lonely kerbal flicked a switch, shutting off the radio. He leaned back in his seat, the airbags which had protected him during ascent having been retracted. 62 miles above the surface of Kerbin, Matdan began to whistle.

His tune was interrupted by the crackling of his radio. "I thought I shut you off" muttered Matdan as he reached for the button. He clicked it, and the crackling stopped, only to start again a few seconds later. The crackling grew louder, then suddenly stopped. A clear transmission came through the radio instead: "--ou copy? Over." Surprised, Matdan picked up the microphone. "This is Matdan, I copy loud and clear. Is this Mission Control? I thought we were out of range. Over." "This is not Mission Control, Captain Matdan. This is Prime Minister Derburry. Is Mission Control on the line? Over." Surprised, Matdan hesitated. "The Prime Minister? Err, no, Mission Control can't hear us -- they're using ground-based communication arrays until I start the transfer burn." He hesitated for a moment, then added "With all due respect, sir, why are you talking to me yourself?" For a moment, Matdan waited for a response; then he remembered to take his hand off the transmitter. "Err, over." "I just wanted to personally let you know how important your mission is" responded Derburry "and to thank you for your sacrifice. A mission of indeterminate length to the Mun, all alone -- not every kerbal is so committed to the Kerbin Federation. Over." Matdan's grin threatened to stretch clear past the ends of his face. "Thank you, sir. I really do appreciate that. I do what I do for my nation and my planet, but it is certainly pleasant to be thanked for it -- especially by you."

Far below on the surface of Kerbin, Prime Minister Derburry's mouth stretched into a predatory smile. "Good, Matdan, good! I am glad we have come to an understanding. Tell me -- do you, by any chance, know why you were selected for this program, of all the astronauts that KASA has to offer? Certainly, someone who has actually spent time off-planet, like the Commanders Jebediah and Endo, would be more qualified? Why do you think it is that KASA chose to promote you, a fresh recruit, to Commander, and to send you on the first colonization mission?"

Matdan hesitated. "I'm... Not sure, sir. They told me it was because Jeb and Endo were being reserved for pilot-intensive missions, whereas a habitation study on the Mun mostly involves sitting around."

"Ah, that's where you're wrong, son! They did it because I asked them to."

"You... What?"

"Yes, you heard that right. I, Prime Minister of the Kerbin Federation, personally requested you to be put in charge of this mission. In fact, you promotion to Commander was only temporary; I have the pleasure of promoting you again, to Head Director of Munar Operations."

"But... Why?"

"Because this mission is about a lot more than a study of the effects of prolonged exposure to the Munar environment on the kerbal body. This base -- no, colony -- which you will be founding is a matter of national security."

Matdan sat straight up in his seat. "National security? But, sir, I have no military history. What can I do?" "The same thing anyone else can" responded the Prime Minister. "Keep a weary eye upon your instruments. The results of your habitation study you can report to KSC, but the Armstrong Munar Base is capable of much more than that. It is capable of tracking NKOs with accuracy unmatched by Kerbin-bound instruments. You will report all unusual NKO encounters directly to the Kerbal Security Bureau, through the secure frequency which your radio is capable of transmitting in. Understand?"

Matdan nodded silently before remembering that he was speaking over the radio. "Yes, sir. I won't fail you."

Back in Kerbin, the Prime Minister shut off his radio and smiled.

Three minutes later, the Armstrong Munar Base returned from the far side of Kerbin and the radio rattled back to life. "Commander Matdan, are you ready to begin the transfer burn? Over." "Director of Munar Operations!" whispered Matdan under his breath, but he got to work.

[Carvyn]

I like the plot you've started to include but don't forget to write about the details of your flights

[babale]

Woohoo, someone actually reads this!

I'll post an excerpt from the notes of Dr. Wernher after every mission detailing my thought process in carrying it out

[PeterPan]

I 'm reading this too go on - can't wait the story to continue!

[babale]

I'm a bit ahead in-game compared to my what I have posted -- let's just say that I've interacted with Minmus. Today I had time to either catch up a bit or make some design progress... And I decided to design So the good news is, I've got a design capable of landing on any atmospheric or nonatmospheric body from Moho to Duna and supporting 2 kerbals. Next chance I get I'll update this page, then see about sending Kerbals to Eve. Although I do want to take a detour and make a rover at some point -- not that Matdan can use it -- he's all alone, so he can't leave the base without stopping the study.

[babale]

Year 11, Day 90

Kerbal Space Center

"Mission Control, we have a problem." Suddenly alert, the two dozen kerbals in the control room looked up at the screen. The dot representing the Armstrong Munar Base had been slowing down over the last ten minutes and was nearly still over the Mun's surface, only falling at a slow pace. "We read you, Matdan. What's the problem?" asked Director Wernher. Though directly managing missions wasn't something he did very often nowadays, he had demanded to be responsible for the safe touchdown of the first permanent outpost on the Mun.

"Well, I need to maneuver the craft -- keep the engines pointed retrograde so I can kill horizontal velocity at the same time I slow down my drop. But the docking ports attaching the Pusher engines -- well, they aren't stable enough. I can burn just fine, and I can turn just fine, but if I try to do both at the same time the whole thing shakes itself to moho." For a moment, the kerbals at Mission Control were silent, contemplating their options. Finally, Wernher spoke up. "How bad is it? Can you finish the mission?" There was another delay, then: "No. If the craft doesn't shake itself apart, I'll still be unable to burn accurately enough to slow down to a safe margin. I'm sorry."

Mission Control fell silent as the kerbals contemplated their failure. "Very well" started Wernher with a heavy voice. "Burn back into orbit and we'll launch a retrieval craft to --" "Wait!" said a voice. Meshy Kerman, one of the youngest yet most brilliant engineers at Kerbal Space Center, spoke up. She was the one who designed the LV-909 engine that first allowed probes to leave Kerbin's sphere of influence, and rumors that she had more to do with the Poodle than Wernher himself were not as farfetched as they sounded.

"I have an idea. Official KASA protocol demands that all landing burns on low-gravity bodies be made with Stability Augmentation Systems and RCS thrusters active. Are you following that procedure?" "I am!" responded Matdan, insulted that his obedience would be questioned at a time like this. "Well, disregard that procedure. Make correction thrusts, turn off RCS, then burn; kill the engines, make corrections, and burn again." "Are you mad?" shouted Wernher. "Without the RCS stabilizers, a burn could send him in the wrong direction! Even if he successfully corrects his aim after burning, he'd be wasting fuel -- landing burns need to be made once, or gravitational acceleration wastes the change in velocity you've already made!" "True," responded Meshy, "But the Armstrong is equipped with enough fuel to land on the Mun three or four times. Why build in so much redundancy if we don't use it when we have to?"

For a moment, Wernher considered. Then he nodded. "Alright, Matdan. Try her plan." "Roger that!" came the reply.

"Is it working?" asked one of the kerbals sitting in front of the screen. "I'm not sure!" responded Matdan. "I'm not shaking nearly as much, and I've lowered descent velocity to acceptable parameters -- but I'm moving laterally at 19 meters per second. I can stop the base from gaining lateral speed, but it isn't maneuverable enough to slow lateral velocity down."

Once more, the kerbals in mission control considered their options. Again, it was Meshy who came up with the solution. "Alright, keep making orientation thrusts only while the engines are killed, but start making translation thrusts to kill lateral velocity. How high are you?" "Twenty K's, and dropping slow." "Then you should be able to slow lateral velocity to four meters per second. Is that within acceptable parameters, Director?" Wernher considered. "It would damage the engines, since you are meant to land on them, but you aren't using them for ascent anyhow. Very well; follow her orders."

Minutes passed. Every so often, Matdan would call out his lateral velocity over the intercom -- "Twelve meters per second!" -- and the dot marking his craft approached the Munar surface. Finally, Matdan reported: "One hundred meters above surface and dropping at nine meter per second. Lateral velocity --" he cursed. "Still high. Seven meters per second." "Abort the landing!" shouted Wernher. "Start rising, kill lateral speed, and try again!" "Negative. Fuel levels too low. I'm going in. Twenty meters above surface and dropping at three meters per --" a loud crash came over the radio, like the sound of scrunching metal; then static. A dozen kerbals flicked switches and punched buttons, trying to get the proper readings on their screen.

"Matdan! Commander Matdan, answer me right now! What is your situation?" shouted Director Wernher. Finally, the radio crackled again. "--rol, all systems operational. Landing was a little rough but the Armstrong Munar Base is operational. Over." Loud cheers erupted from every throat in the control room. "Congratulations, Matdan! Now, undock the engines and get to work."

[babale]

Make sure you catch the post on the last page!

Year 11, Day 91

Munar Surface

As soon as the sun rose in the Munar sky, Matdan got to work. After donning his spacesuit he stepped out of the Armstrong Munar Base and leaped down onto the Mun's grey surface. Kicking up dust, he walked over to the lander. The massive base still stood upon the five engine clusters that had carried it there, but those clusters were damaged, each one missing three or four of its engines. The lateral movement on impact had carried the base towards a hill, which was lucky; if it was heading away from the hill, the base may have tipped over, meaning a lot more work for Matdan and possibly causing serious damage. Luckily, this wasn't the case. Before he left the base, Matdan undocked the engine clusters. Now the huge base rested atop them, unsupported.

With a grunt of effort, Matdan started shoving at one of the engine clusters. The Pusher was normally quite heavy, but nearly empty of fuel and under the Mun's lighter gravity, it didn't seem to bad. Matdan managed to push it over. Then, using the controls on the side of the pusher, he activated it. The remaining engines thrust to life, pushing weakly, and the RCS thrusters struggled in vain to keep the engine's course straight. It slowly pushed away, then, once at a safe distance, the engines roared to life. Though they made no sound in the Munar vacuum, Matdan was nevertheless impressed. The engine flew away, tumbling into the distance, before crashing into the side of a nearby hill and exploding. Matdan grunted with satisfaction and heaved at the next engine.

Soon enough, all five engines had been moved. As the last engine cluster pulled away, the base landed on its last legs, finally safe and secure on the Munar surface. Matdan smiled as he walked some distance away and planted the KASA flag. "All in a day's work" muttered the first Munar colonist.

Stage 2, Mission 1: Complete!