To the Mun and beyond - especially beyond!

[Zylark]

New version, new career. Rather than be all verbose like in my previous attempt at writing up mission reports, this will be more picture oriented. Like vacation snapshots from some exotic location.

Now mods used - I wanted a bit different flavor to this game for added challenges, so I piled them up on high;

(only major feature mods listed - tiny ones for pure aesthetics and minor features/game aids not so much)

- Mechjeb - yes I know, but I really suck at landing plus I really need all those panels of info.

- Kerbal Alarm Clock - so useful it should be part of the stock game.

- DebRefund - make money back on used stages - and whatever I manage to return to Kerbin.

- FinalFrontier - now my kerbals get merit badges.

- TAC Life Support - first time having to think of how long my Kerbals can survive when away from home, will be interesting.

- ConnectedLivingSpaces - forces designing ships and stations a bit more realistically.

- Ship Manifest - move stuff around without all those dangerous and tedious EVAs'.

- RemoteTech 2 - running it at full realism, so the delays when doing unmanned missions to other planets will add a bit of challenge.

- Goodspeed Automatic Fuel Pump - For more or less automatic fuel management.

- Near Future Construction, Solar, Propulsion & Electrical - more toys to play with is nice.

- Infernal Robotics - static parts good, moving parts better.

- EnvironmentalVisualEnhancements - clouds basically. Which plugs neatly into...

- SCANsat - to peek through clouds and make maps and stuff.

- DMagic Orbital Science - mo' science!

- Station Science - even mo' science!

- CactEye Orbital Telescope - and then some mo' science!

- Modular Kolonization System - Base and Station parts that plugs in nicely with TAC Life Support for some added depth.

- Karbonite - for MKS really, but harvesting fuel in-situ is always nice.

- Universal Storage - neat slim-line stackable storage solutions for all kinds of stuff.

- *ADDITION* Spaceplane+ - More parts for some sleek SSTO action.

Waiting for KAS to be officially released for 0.24.2... KAS is muy importante!

- *REMOVED* Kethane - Kinda' broken in 0.24, besides having both kethane and Karbonite is a bit redundant

---

Allrighty. Spent some time dabbling around LKO getting some basic science done, fullfilling a few contracts and taking things slow. Mostly to await release of more 0.24 and later 0.24.2 compatible mods.

For the most part I'll do this career slow and "realistic" as in sending off probes and whatnot before doing manned visits to any given celestial object. Many small steps before risking Kerballed flights.

First things first, a comms network had to be set up, and then a probe to the Mun and Minmus to map out the terrain. My first Mun landing was a bit improvised. I sent Bill off to do a simple flyby, and something went horribly wrong. He went for an EVA and for some reason lost all momentum, essentially dropping like a stone towards the surface of the Mun (this was quite early in the release and not all mods was entirely stable under 0.24 - not happened since). So, I admit, I cheated - activated infinite EVA-RCS and landed Bill on the Mun, sans a spacecraft as that was still orbiting happily along. Luckily this was before a 0.24 compatible version of TAC-LS, so I had some time to get a rescue lander built and sent off.

After some tinkering in the VAB, basically just adding some extra bits to my original Mun fly-by vessel that Bill managed to loose, I got underway. Sent it off unmanned obviously, so I'm glad I had the foresight to get my comms network up and running pretty early.

Made it down. I did miss Bill by about 3km - manual landings are not my strong suit. With some help of Smart A.S.S and Translatron I got down safely though. Bill of course, had to use his jetpack to get to the lander in a timely fashion. Mind you, my lander is basically just the fly-by vessel with some extra bits, so the fuel-budget was kinda' tight - hence the legs, fuel and engines for landing are detachable to save some precious dV for the trip back to Mun orbit and Kerbin.

Notice the slim science stuff all neatly packed under the pod using Universal Storage. If I remember correctly there are the equivalent of two Science JR and Goo collectors hidden under there. Taking up nearly no space.

edit -

Forgot to mention, the fly-by vessel that Bill lost in orbit around Mun, got rescued in a later mission after I got the three-man pod unlocked. Now, I could of course have remoted the derelict back home if not for a little snag - to save power Bill had not deployed the antenna... So sent up two Kerbals, one EVA'd over to the derelict and got it running again. Made it back home and some precious science and roots added to my career.

Edited August 8, 2014 by Zylark

[Zylark]

A routine science mission to the Mun

Plenty of science on the Mun, been there three times already, and for the fourth trip Cambald Kerman got a go in the Lander mk Ic - loaded to the brim with science gear.

Your standard tri-symmetric lander sitting on top of a launch stage that can lift 20 tons to orbit. A bit overkill for the lander but that is fine. The lander itself is designed to get down on Mun, perform a jump to a second location and then get back up to orbit again. With a bit to spare in order to do plane changes.

Lander and booster docking with my little Research Space Station - which is far from finished. But it do have the important bits, plenty of life-support, a place to store excess fuel from the spent booster and even more important it is the home of the experimental nuclear powered Shuttle that will haul the lander to Mun orbit and back. The Shuttle, aptly named SS Prototype was a result of a contract to test the LV-N engines in orbit. Haven't actually unlocked nuclear propulsion yet.

By means of the clever Goodspeed Automatic Fuel Pump mod, when docking the spent booster of the lander launch automatically transfers what fuel it got left into the (temporary) fuel storage of the station. From there the fuel is pumped automatically into whatever ship that comes to visit.

The spent and now empty of fuel booster, is decoupled from the lander, and will proceed to deorbit by using RCS. Plenty of chutes on it to make a happy landing.

The lander and shuttle hooking up for the transfer to the Mun.

Off and away.

And here is Cambald down safe on the Mun at the first of two sites to visit. The Southwest Crater. Next he did a jump to one of the nearby Midland Craters. After getting back to Orbit, he hooked up with the shuttle again and they set out to do the trip back home.

Back home to a familiar sight. The round-trip made 1204 science points, which is quite decent. Just one final thing to do...

...park the shuttle back at the station. Now previously I'd just let the shuttle orbit where it was, but given the mediocre life-support resources on it, it really do need to park where such supplies are plentiful.

---

Next up I am planning to make a new Lander - bigger better and more awesome. With the ability to carry a rover. I need to scout out a good nice flat piece of terrain to plop down a base onto and start using some in-situ resources.

[Zylark]

Scouting for a Munar Base site

With all the nice science from the previous mission, I finally got my green little mitts on some proper nuclear powered propulsion! Got to love the bi-modal engines. Not only do they provide more thrust than the meek LV-N, but when not providing thrust they do supply a not insignificant amount of electricity as well.

Ready on the Launchpad, is the Shuttle mk II and Lander mk II - the latter carrying with it a little manned rover. A new booster sees the light of day as well. The Shuttle + Lander weighs in at roughly 50 tonnes, this new booster should be able to get 40 tonnes into orbit. But wait, that is 10 less than the payload - well yes. But by the time the booster runs dry, the payload should be out of atmosphere and from there can get itself into orbit. Leaving what remains of the booster to arc back to Kerbin without any extra effort from me.

The booster BTW is one central Jumbo tank with a Mainsail engine. To the side are two more Jumbos' each with Skipper engines and an extra RM16 tank. These feed into the central tank, making sure that is topped off at all times. For some extra initial ooomph four large SRBs are attached to the central Jumbo tank.

Doing the last leg of getting to orbit under its own power, the RM16 tank of the shuttle was down to about 25% fuel - not quite enough for the roundtrip to the Mun and back. So a small stop at the Research Station to top off the tanks before heading out.

Found a place at the East Farside Crater that looked rich in resources from orbit. So set down the Lander mk II there and deployed the little cute rover to go find a flat piece of land that is suitable for a future base.

Lunie Kerman trying very hard not to break the speed limit of the Mun whilst going downhill - anything over 5ms and the thing is liable to flip over should it hit a bump or brake a teeny bit too much...

Success! A nice flat piece of land found right on top of some rich Ore, Mineral and Water deposits. The site is a bit lacking in Karbonite and Substrate, but there are rich fields of both pretty close by. Shouldn't present a problem. Lunie plonked down a flag to mark the spot for future reference, and in a bout of pride named the site "Lunies' Base"

Edited August 4, 2014 by Zylark

[Zylark]

Bye Bye Mun, we'll see you soon!

Business done and time to head back - fuel is a bit low though, so it'll be close. Due to the rover that was slung underneath, to free the thing the lander had to make a little jump which burned up at least 100dV worth of fuel. Thus making an already tight budget very tight.

Made the hookup with the Shuttle with some 40 and change dV to go. All science and crew transferred over for the return back to Kerbin, whilst the Lander will remain in Mun orbit for the time being. Not like I need it spinning around Kerbin, right?

Now, those with keen observational skills will notice that the Shuttle have no parachutes, and is also quite the big ungainly thing. There is however in place a cunning plan...

Whilst the Shuttle is coasting back to Kerbin, a Surface Return Vehicle (SRV for short) got launched - with a rather big part for the Research Station as well. Time to get rid of that ugly old temporary fuel storage on the station, and replace it with something sleek and modern. Something that also come with a Solar Array, Electricity storage and plentiful RCS storage. The whole thing weighed just over 16 tonnes, mainly due to that big orange thing being empty. So sent it all up using my old and trusted 20ton booster.

After a brief Aerobrake, Lemely, Lunie and Bob made their way to the now much improved Research Station - and the awaiting SRV. For now, the first Shuttle, the SS Prototype, isn't needed much so Jebediah got a much welcome seat in the SRV together with Lunie and all the collected science. Bob stayed behind to man the new and Improved Shuttle whereas Lemely will temporarily man the big science module in the middle there.

Yes, soon time to expand on the Station, and get some proper science done.

Jeb and Lunie about to touch grass back at KSC. Some 800 science points gained all in all.

---

In the works are expanding the Research Station and get a proper Fuel Station up and running. Funds are also running a bit low - from a high of 1.6 million to now just north of 1.3 million. Each major launch cost between 200k and 300k, so getting expensive. Perhaps some Minmus action and some probes to Duna and Eve will help on the finances?

Edited August 4, 2014 by Zylark

[Zylark]

Deep Space Network

Can't very well send off probes to other planets without first setting up some really big dishes with some serious range first. So time to deploy some long-range communication.

First of a planned trio sent up to medium orbit, before running systems check and then transferring under its own power to high orbit. All neatly stowed away and looking good.

Panels extended, yes - we got power. Plenty of it...

...and then the panels started oscillating like crazy before the entire array of them blew up - leaving the Satellite without sufficient power to run all those nice antennas and dishes - much less power up the Argon-Electrical engine to reach wanted orbit. Hmmm. Back to the blueprints and make some changes.

As for the derelict, it is too expensive to just scrap. So it'll just have to stay where it is for the time being, and when KAS comes around, I'll see what I can do with it and to what use I can put it.

The Deep Space Network ComSat mk Ib fared much better. A more traditional design with none of those folded up beams acting as support for the solar panels - nope. Bolted straight to a small truss that for its part is bolted straight onto the main body of the Satellite. Added a few other bits and bobs as well.

A small systems check showed all is fine - plenty of power when running all dishes and antennas. Proceeded to fly it up to it's final orbit of 1500km. This was slow however. No wonder with an engine with a thrust of less than 4 and a mass of roughly 7 tonnes. The two last Satellites to complete my Deep Space Network got two extra Argon-Electrical engines bolted on to speed up things a bit - and an 8k Capacitor to provide some extra juice for the burn to high orbit.

All running well, the three Satellites got an orbital period that diverges by 0.03 seconds - minimal drift in other words. Why I went for electrical propulsion as the low thrust of them also ensure pretty good accuracy for the fine tuning of the orbits. Quite important when setting up a constellation of Satellites.

---

Funds are running real low though, 500k after blowing 800k and change on the four launches to get my Deep Space Network up and running. On the bright side, I do have four booster stages in a 400km orbit, each with about 1000 units of fuel and oxy. Once those are dried out and deorbited, it should fetch me about 40k. But ofcourse, before then I need to get started on building my Kerbin Fuel Depot & Crew Transfer Station (KFD&CTS for short), though I think I'll name it something else.

Before any of that however - gotta get those funds up. Do some contracts.

Edited August 4, 2014 by Zylark

[Zylark]

Minimalist Minmus Mission

(...or practice for Eve and Duna probe missions)

Did a few simple contracts to test various equipment, amongst them a LV-N in a sub-orbital path. All said and done, I went from a meager 500k to 1.3 million in available funds. So back to cooking with gas and not running on fumes, time to up the science a bit more.

Having my Deep Space Network up and running, time to test it out by a practice-run to Minmus. Basic plan is to send off an unmanned probe and lander - soak up plenty of science and see what else useful I can learn in the process.

What I came up with now in orbit and in the correct inclination to head off to Minmus. Was a fun challenge to make the probe and lander as tiny as practical. In the end, the two combined weighed a smidge over 3 tonnes - the lander took care of 700kg of that. So no need for a big booster, my old 06Ton booster got it to a good orbit with fuel to spare.

Off to Minmus under its' own power. I'm starting to like those Argon-Electric motors. They're so, uhm, civilized. Not noisy brutes like the chemical rockets. they do require plenty of electricity though, so I had roughly 50% more Solar-Panels on the thing than strictly speaking necessary. Just in case a bad angle to the sun during the burn or whatnot.

Minmus arrival was uneventful, parked at 15km altitude. Took an orbit or so doing the science I could. It was quite a lot actually.

Lander had a nice clean separation, all systems nominal. Time to land.

Got to be the softest landing ever. Very little gravity and an engine with low thrust made for a very gentle touchdown. Once down, science got collected and radioed in to KSC.

At the end of the mission, I collected nearly 800 Science points, and ramped up my available funds to a nice 1.6 million.

One final lesson though:

As can be seen, the signal from the lander bounces off the Surface Scan Satellite I sent out to Minmus a while back to look for resources and map the little green rock. From there to a Com-Sat around Mun to another Com-Sat around Kerbin and finally to KSC Mission Control. During the landing, the mothership, the Probe, flew under the horizon, which without the Surface Scan Satellite to take up relay functions would have been a disaster for the landing.

So before attempting any (unmanned at least) landings on Duna or Eve, some kind of backup-coms must be in place.

Edited August 5, 2014 by Zylark

[Cydonian Monk]

Nice.

I'm also starting to run into the funds issue... and several of the testing contracts I'm getting just won't cover the cost it would take to do them. (And the others are in bothersome places.)

It'd be nice if there were launch contracts. As in, dump these X parts i to a Y orbit and leave them there for Z days. (Maybe the 'Fine Print' mod adds something like that.... No idea.)

[Zylark]

Nice.

I'm also starting to run into the funds issue... and several of the testing contracts I'm getting just won't cover the cost it would take to do them. (And the others are in bothersome places.)

It'd be nice if there were launch contracts. As in, dump these X parts i to a Y orbit and leave them there for Z days. (Maybe the 'Fine Print' mod adds something like that.... No idea.)

Yes, it was easier in the old days with unlimited funds - made for some pretty big ships and some very large and very wasteful booster stages. Now I'm thinking 60-80 tonnes of payload is about the limit of what you can realistically kick into orbit without funds drying up too fast. Less is better. So need to start designing missions around economy, and not using Battlestar Galactica philosophy of design to do something that could be done with a VW Beetle that got rockets strapped onto it.

That said - if you haven't yet - do use the DebRefund mod. As long as you got chutes on your booster-stages, you'll get a healthy chunk of funds back when they reach the ground in more or less one piece. Same with the final booster stage. Strap a lot of chutes on it, and de-orbit using RCS or left-over fuel. Deploy chutes when at about 85km and going down, then just switch to another craft - wait a bit - and get the message that it's down safe and you got back some of its cost. How much depends on how far from KSC it lands, and it's condition.

Also the Station Science mod is plugged into the contracts and funds system, so there is a bit to be made there. More mods will probably add that functionality with time. 0.24.2 is still pretty fresh, and not all mod-engineers have gotten quite up to speed yet.

There is also a mod for mining asteroids for cash. Haven't tried it yet, but I might soon.

Oh, and the largest contract I've picked up so far is for a cool 1.5 million - by testing the largest engine in the game, the KR2-L I think it is - from Mun orbit. Wrecking my brain on how to get that done *and* recoup most the cost of all parts involved by landing it safely on Kerbin again. Perhaps in my next update

Edited August 5, 2014 by Zylark

[Cydonian Monk]

I've toyed with DebRefund a bit, and for first stage it kinda makes sense to me. The point I'm at though I'd be spending more on chutes than I'd get from recovery. That will improve I think. The final stage I'm willing to sacrifice, what with deadly reentry and such. (Although, I guess one could put one of those large, deployable heat shields on them....)

I'm definitely going to play with Station Science, just later on. Looks very interesting for late-game. Mining asteroids also sounds like another good idea, provided the payout is worth the cost of capture.

[Zylark]

Manned Minimalist Minmus Mission

Seeing the success of the previous mission to Minmus, I thought it a bit of a challenge to see how little weight I could get away with for a manned mission there - and still collect a full bounty of science. Now, no cheating. No silly rockets with a command seat on it. Keeping it real, so a proper pod, life support supplies and all the other bells, whistles and creature comforts a Kerbal would need for a roughly two week trip. Well, except space to move around in naturally. Luckily Jebediah Kerman - Test Pilot Extraordinaire - volunteered immidiatly.

This is the contraption he'll be taking the long solo flight in. Named Ar-El-La for Argon-Electric-Lander. I got it down to 6.4 tonnes with a whopping 4004dV to spend. Not bad if I must say so myself. Powered by my now familiar Argon-Electric engines, though slightly more powerful ones at 11kN each. Designed to get itself to Minmus, land, get back to orbit, return to Kerbin, establish an orbit there and then land back at KSC. Now mind you, this thing may be light and all, but cheap it isn't. 150k for the lander + another cool 100k getting it up into orbit using my trusty old friend the 06Ton Booster.

My 06Ton booster did not like those extra 400 kilos of the lander, so Ar-El-La had to do the final leg under its own power, not to mention getting into the right inclanation and such. Even so, made it to Minmus with plenty to spare. Though the burn there did take three orbits around Kerbin. Burn, run out of electricity, recharge, burn etc. So a bit tedious. On the bright side, there is still 2400dV to go even after achieving a nice circular orbit around Minmus.

The mandatory "Been there, done that!" shot.

Hey, look, it's high noon over KSC - Jeb is going to make it back for dinner. Though the trip back to Kerbin was uneventful, again due to the rather power-hungry nature of the Argon-Electric engines, the actual braking maneuver to achieve a stable orbit around Kerbin had to be done in two legs. Burn - recharge - burn. Would have been three or four such cycles if not for those two 8k Capacitors I had the foresight to install.

Ah, yes. Uhm - nobody got hurt, mkay!? Also the dV readout there lies a bit. I had nearly 500 to go, but as the ground got closer and doing so at 5.5ms I burned hard. With a Kerbin TWR of under 0.5 that did not impress gravity much... Though did recoup nearly all of the cost of the Lander - 147k out of 150k and change.

Made some 800 science points on that trip and netted about 100k in funds. Oh, and I won't be using Electric anything propulsion for future manned flights. It's just too much work - and if you run out of juice at a crucial moment... For light probes it's fine - ideal even. For manned flight, not so much.

Edited August 6, 2014 by Zylark

[Zylark]

Big Test for Big Money!

Got this contract to test out the massive Kerbodyne KR-2L engine - in Mun orbit through staging. With a big hefty reward for success. Now, being a bit frugal with my funds, just doing the test is not enough, oh noes! That stuff is expensive, got to get it back. So a couple of beers later in the VAB, this is what I came up with...

Payload is just a bit over 45 tonnes sitting on top of my 40Ton booster. Decided to keep it simple, as I have been known to be stupid now and again. So basically just parachuted the hell out of that thing, bolted on some fuel-tanks and engines to get it to Mun and back and staged it for the proper sequence.

Weighing in at a tad over the 40 ton limit of my booster, the payload would have to finalize getting to orbit under its own power, but that should be fine. The payload had 3600dV to play with so not a concern.

Made it to Mun orbit with over 1800dV for the return trip. but that is not the interesting bit. This is the before picture, now take a peek at the top right corner. And then, the next picture...

Ah yes, 1.5 million added to my funds - or roots or whatever. And a bit of science too. Over 3 million to go crazy with. For some strange reason I foresee a rapid development of my Research Station and perhaps even the beginnings of the planned Mun Base.

Landed. Went well this time. Perhaps because someone forgot to put on one of those short range antennas that will survive re-entry - so basically physics did it all. Well, you know, from entering the atmosphere and onwards...

Edited August 7, 2014 by Zylark

[Zylark]

Science! The Science!

With my new found wealth of 3.2 million in funds, I finally got the means to blow a considerable chunk of it getting my Research Station actually doing some research and not only be a glorified fuel-depot.

First order of business, and the most difficult part - getting one of those Kuarq generating Cyclotrons up there. Bolted on a Water purifier and CO2 filtering modules for good measure. Oh, and a large Stabilizer. Getting the thing to orbit required a new booster, rated for 60Tons. A traditional Asparagus thing. That Cyclotron is one heavy piece of machinery.

The weight of it, plus the fact that I had about 4000 units of fuel and oxy left slushing in the tanks of the booster, also meant that docking was going to be a very measured and careful affair. Plenty of inertia to deal with. Do notice the two trusses on either side of the payload. At the end of those are RCS thrusters. I don't want RCS thrusters on anything permanently attached to my station - so to be able to maneuver the thing into place with relative ease, having those RCS thrusters so far up front on those trusses is really helpful.

As for the booster, once the payload was delivered, it and its bounty of fuel will be the humble beginnings of a fuel and crew transfer station at a bit higher altitude of 300km. Also moved the old shuttle, the SS Prototype up there with it.

Took two more launches to get it up and running. First with my 40Ton booster to install the Zoo module - we all need furry friends when in space - and another with my 20Ton launcher to deliver plenty of Kibbels (animal food) and two experiments modules; Creature Comforts and Plant Growth. Also two more Kerbals got a new home on the station. Thus upping the permanent crew to 5 plus Bob in the Shuttle mk II awaiting new missions.

The entire operation cost me some 400k in funds, leaving me with 2.8 million more to spend.

---

Next up? Hmm, not sure. The window to Eve and Duna are still pretty far away. Dres and Moho are getting close, but they are kind of awkward to get to, so I think I'll pass on those for now. Perhaps start building the base on Mun and get some resource harvesting up and running?

Oh, I know - I need a Spaceplane - SSTO thingie - capable of delivering supplies, experiments and crew to the station, and returning with waste, done experiments and crew.

Edited August 6, 2014 by Zylark

[Steppanwolf]

Excellent story so far! Jeb gives two boosters up.

[Zylark]

Excellent story so far! Jeb gives two boosters up.

Why thanks.

Next installment will feature some Spaceplane or other - I'm downloading the Spaceplane+ mod as I need some cargo bays and such. Now, I've never actually made a working Spaceplane, or SSTO for that matter. Come to think of it, not unlocked the latter parts of the Spaceplane parts either - hmm... But I think I know how to make and fly planes, I got thousands of hours in War Thunder Have wings, add engines! Right?!

[Zylark]

Spaceplane Madness!

It took more than one cup of coffee whilst in the Hangar before something with even a slight chance of reaching a 200km orbit got assembled. Getting things to fly, not a problem. Getting sub-orbital, piece of pie. Reaching a 200km orbit so to be able to hook up with the Research Station...

What would JC do? That was the question - Jeremy Clarkson have a fix all solution for all kinds of engineering problems. First get a hammer, then nail in some more POWER! That was the route I ended up taking.

No mind you, I did go a bit ambitious. The Spaceplane had to take some cargo with it. And it had to look good, no extra protruding bits and pieces bolted on like if it was some kind of crude rocket. Oh noes, gotta get to Space in style!

The SP Kittyhawk ready on the runway. All systems are go and Bartrod & Cambald look pretty pleased with their ride. A 44 ton marvel in black and white.

My brave Kerbonauts look decidedly terrified as the Kittyhawk screams down the runway. Knowing full well that more than one unmanned test flight of previous iterations have not ended well.

We have lift-off. Bartrod & Cambald still look positively petrified. But to be fair, this thing got some serious Ooomph to it. That is a technical term that means the acceleration is great!

Made orbit - at 150km of altitude. With only 170dV to go. But that is fine, transferring to a 200km altitude to hook up with the station shouldn't take more than 70 to 80dV. Now, I'm sure I can do better. I'm pretty new to this Spaceplane stuff, so with a better climb-profile - and bolting on more air-scoops for better and longer use of the engines in air-breathing mode at high altitude and thin atmosphere - I could perhaps squeeze out a couple of hundred more dV when finally in orbit.

Bartrod and Cambald however have gone from terrified to skeptical. Perhaps zero-G is soothing?

Nearly there. This thing weighs just shy of 20 tonnes when dry, and there isn't all that many RCS thrusters on it. So once again, some very slow and deliberate maneuvering to achieve a good docking. Bartrod and Cambald finally look pleased - happy even.

Look at the size of that thing! Delivering the cargo will be a tight fit. But for now, just docked to transfer over Bartrod to the Science module. We need more bright heads like him in there. Thus upping the permanent crew of the Station to six. Plus Bob in the Shuttle. Stocked up on monoprop and filled one of the many tanks on the SP Kittyhawk for the trip back home. One tank of roughly 300 units of fuel and oxy should be enough for the short deorbit burn. And once in atmosphere, in Jet mode the engines hardly use fuel at all.

---

Next, cargo transfer and landing.

Edited August 8, 2014 by Zylark

[Zylark]

Spaceplane Madness - The Continuation

After a bit of sleep, food and more coffee it was time to deliver the payload. Which was a little pod of Kuarq Experiments.

Due to the size of the SP Kittyhawk, all the Station Solar panels on the docking side had to be retracted. Wouldn't want an unfortunate accident and damaging the Station - after all the Spaceplane do look very much like an Elephant in a Porcelain Shop. Granted a very aerodynamic elephant, but nonetheless. Anyhow, by going real slow, the docking went well. Time to head back home.

Doing my best to keep the nose up so as to brake in the atmosphere as much as possible. But it won't rise much above the path of least resistance. I suppose 15 units or torque against 20 tonnes of steel plus some very high airflow don't amount to much. Cambald looks pleased though.

After cruising for a bit, I got close to the airfield. Lining up that thing could be easier. The Yaw control doesn't do much, so had to resort to rolling and turning with the Elevators. Cambald is getting a touch nervous... For good reason.

Down safe. After that flight, I recouped about 87k out of an initial cost of 90k + whatever the price of the cargo was. So as far as getting to space on the cheap is concerned - spaceplanes are certainly the way to go. Though the size, cargo capability and general handling of the SP Kittyhawk leaves a bit to be desired. For a first try though, I consider it a success.

---

Ah yes, after that flight the Engineers at KSC have been busy, and came up with this little wonder:

It weighs in at a mere 14.9 tonnes - fully fueled. It got more cargo capability than the Kittyhawk. It certainly is cheaper. Best of all it handles better. Jeb did a small test-flight to see how high and fast it could go before the R.A.P.I.E.R. Engines started gasping for air and flamed out. Turned out, it was pretty high and pretty fast. In fact, by just coasting from point of flame-out, it would reach an Apoapsis of nearly 400km. Only drawback is limited dV in space - only 500 or so. But for its' use of getting to and from Stations orbiting Kerbin, that is plenty.

The Firebug obviously is cargo only. A twin-sister will be made that is crew only, which will hold four Kerbals plus the pilot. The maiden flight to orbit will be covered soon.

Edited August 7, 2014 by Zylark

[Zylark]

Housekeeping

Too much junk floating around. Time to get organized. First order of business, get the Transfer Station up and running.

Built in one piece and with a mass of about 30 tonnes when dry. After getting it to its' 300km orbit, the tanks soon filled up by drying out the booster that got the Cyclotron to the Research Station. Next up parked the SS Prototype there, and finally Bob in the Shuttle mk II (gotta give it a name soon) came by to inspect the facility.

Next I flew up some additions to my Research Station. Planning to close the Life-Support loop, so it'll grow quite big by the time that is done. Just to get a feel for how the MKS/OKS system work. Better to do that in LKO than forget something crucial when setting up something similar at some far away location.

Also added a docking hub at the far end of the Station. This will become quite significant in the next installment

Funds are down to 2.5 million - still plenty to go. I guess I got about 1 million more to spend on Stations and possibly even Mun Base before I need worry about getting funds up again. Hmm, not done much science lately either - though my smartest Kerbals are hard at work at the Research Station - looking at plants grow. Results should be in soon.

[Zylark]

Jeb takes a new ride for a spin!

Jeb might not be the brightest Kerbal, not even the bravest. But where others lose their cool or go "hang on a minute... you want me to do what?!" Jeb goes "Sounds like excellent fun, when do we fly?". So when told to take a maiden orbital flight in the new and improved Spaceplane, the SP Firebug, with a nuclear reactor and a few tons of enriched weapons grade Uranium in the cargo hold, Jeb jumped at the opportunity. "Fantastic! Do I need to pack lunch?"

Jeb is pre-flight kicking the tires. A well known and trusted safety check to see if tires can withstand kicking.

Nearly in orbit and looking good. Going so fast in atmosphere that the outside is heating up a bit.

Made contact with the Research Station, and about to deliver the container of enriched Uranium - which in due time will also store the spent depleted Uranium. This new Spaceplane is a lot easier to maneuver around in Zero-G than the previous. And being much smaller, not that likely to bump into anything it shouldn't.

The Reactor Core being attached to the Station. With that thing running at full tilt, there should be enough power to run two Cyclotrons plus anything else I can think of be it day or night. For now though, it'll just idle at about 10% to keep it warm so to speak. It didn't come cheap - 100k for the Reactor and Fuel - but it provides a lot of power in a tiny package.

Re-entry looking quite spectacular - and Jeb is as happy as can be.

Seconds before touch-down. That trip cost a total of a mere 600 in funds. For getting small payloads and crew into space, it is virtually free. Only expense being fuel, which is cheap to begin with and the Spaceplane don't use much of it either.

Funds are now down to 2.4 million. What is next I'm not entirely sure of yet. I'm sure I'll find something worthwhile to do

Edited August 9, 2014 by Zylark

[Zylark]

Even the best of plans...

This installment originally to be called "Science for nothin' and the ships for free!" but such would not be the case. As will become apparent. Now the idea was to get some science done. But on the cheap, practically free even. Scrooge McDuck got nothing on me!

So set out and designed myself a sweet little horizontal lander that would fit snugly inside the carbo-bay of the SP Firebug. Get it to orbit, have Bob in the Shuttle mk II come over and pick up the cargo for transfer to Minmus. Get some science done, and by means of the Shuttle mk II, transport the tiny little lander back to the SP Firebug, get it back in the cargo-bay and then fly it back to KSC. Sounds simple enough, right?

Got the SP Firebug to orbit, but it was acting strange. The Ap and Pe kept going up and down even though all engines was off. On closer inspection I noticed a few parts missing - the rudders, elevators and ailerons were all gone, as were a couple of air-intakes. Something weird happening here.

The SP Firebug is not fit to land, that is for sure - and it'll hit the atmosphere pretty soon with its strange behaviour. So time to act fast. Moved Adam Kerman from the Firebug to the Lander and got it out of the cargo-bay of the Spaceplane. The landers' orbit was very stable - the Firebug however was moving away quite fast in a declining orbit.

Bob in the Shuttle mk II was already en-route and soon made contact. Docked the two vessels, and Adam transferred over to the Shuttle where air to breathe, snacks to eat and fizzy-drinks to slush it down with is in more plentiful supply. To save space and weight, the lander only got the life-support of the capsule itself - which is about two days worth.

Transfer to Minmus is pretty routine. Adam got back into the lander and first made a very soft touch-down at the Lesser Flats. Plenty of reports were taken and science instruments doing their thing. Next a quick jump to Slopes, more science gathered and samples taken.

After those those two jumps and getting back to orbit, the lander had a mere 17dV left. Out of an original of about 900dV. I did go Argon-Electrical for the lander even though earlier I've said they're not good for manned missions. I should have been more specific - they're not good for transferring manned vessels to other celestial bodies. If other vessels haul them there, it's fine. Provided whatever you are landing on got a pretty low gravity.

Bob and Shuttle mk II hooked up with the now brimming of science samples lander. Adam collected it all and got back into the Shuttle. It was decided to just leave the lander in Minmus orbit rather than haul it back. Not risking another Spaceplane to try and get it down to KSC.

Left the lights on as Bob and Adam got ready for Minmus departure. That lander is so tiny that it is near impossible to see in the dark until you are practically right on top of it.

---

Rather than do science on the cheap, it ended up costing pretty close to 170k in funds, with the loss of the Firebug and not returning the lander to KSC. And I have yet to get the science reports and samples down to KSC together with Bob. yes, Adam will take over flying the Shuttle mk II. Bob need a small rest back on kerra firma.

Next up, the Kerbin return contingency plan. Can it be done on the cheap?

Edited August 11, 2014 by Zylark

[Zylark]

Two for the price of one!

(...but still not cheap)

Seing as all Spaceplane operations are put on a halt until the Crash Report And Performance Investigation Team have delivered their report on the failings of the SP Firebug, the return of the science from Minmus would have to be done the old fashioned way. By means of rocketry. Which is tried, tested and safe... ...ish.

As the beancounters back at the KSC budget office saw this standing on the launchpad they almost threw a fit. They calmed down somewhat when it got explained to them - very slowly - that it isn't only to return some science and crew back to Kerbin. It got a secondary and glorious purpose as well. And in the long run, it'll save us some funds. One launch instead of two. It was that last sentence that convinced them to green-light it.

The Surface Return Vehicle and the mysterious payload made it to the Transfer Station without any hiccups. Now that the shroud is shred, the payload looks very much like the Minmus Probe and Lander from a few missions back. Which it pretty much is. Though a bit reconfigured. Bigger dish, some ScanSat equiptment - and to make room for it all - a couple less science instruments. This thing is going to Duna. The lander attached to it, will visit Ike.

After releasing the Duna Observer probe from the Transfer Station and kicking it to a higher orbit of 800km - the course to Duna got plotted. Not an ideal time to visit Duna, but the overhead is just a couple of hundred dV more than an optimal transfer window, so it's ok. The first burn got it to within 30million meters of Duna. So plotted an adjustment course that will get it to roughly 2million meters of the target. Still a while until the adjustment is to be made, so added it to the Alarm Clock for a timely reminder when the little burn is due.

A while later, Bob and Adam made it back to the Transfer Station. Bob and all the Science got into the SRV whereas Burdo who came up with the SRV will now man the SS Prototype. Speaking of - the Shuttle mk II now got a name, the SS Asinum.

On a side note - Connected Living Spaces or Ship Manifest is giving me headaches. Try as I might, but transferring crews isn't quite working on the Transfer Station. Everything else, just not crews. So had to do it the old fashioned way, by EVAs'. (and yes, hatches are open and all parts should in principle be CLS compatible and compliant.)

Bob is back. And a bounty of science. 1329 science points to be exact. Funds are down to about 2.075million. I do got some contracts waiting though that should bump that up to nearly 3mill again.

Spent the better part of two hours updating mods _and_ getting my save file to work after that ordeal. Unfortunately there are no updates yet for CLS and SM - so crew connectivity and transfers between parts is still a bit dodgy.

Updated MKS/OKS and Karbonite to newest versions - the latter gave me trouble as some parts had been given new names and all parts had been moved around in the tech-tree. So four vessels suddenly would not load. Solved it all by some save-file editing. Compare-Copy-Paste is fun ya'll *cough*. Also updated SCANSat to work with ORS/Karbonite.

Finally also figured out that RemoteTech is a bit fidgy about Dish-Setup. My Duna Observer probe was suddenly out of contact. Strange I though, as the dish on it, the Communotron 88 got a range of 40Gm - as do the same dishes on the DSN who got the Duna Observer as a Target. The dish on Duna Observer had Kerbin as a target - so they should speak to each other. But no dice. Only got connection once editing the save-file to point the dish on the Duna Observer directly at one of the Deep Space Network satellites.

Or it could just be that since the dish on Duna Observer got such narrow focus, the probe simply wasn't far enough out from Kerbin to reach all the way out to the DSN satellites orbit in its field of view. I'll test and see once the Duna Observer is (much) farther out.

After all this I need some beers to relax a bit

Edited August 11, 2014 by Zylark

[Zylark]

First rule of government spending: "Why get one when you can get two for twice the price!"

(first to get the reference gets a cookie...)

The budget office really liked this "one launch for two missions" concept. So another one soon found its way to the launchpad.

"My wife got one of those..." Bob said. "Found it in the bathroom drawer yesterday - though it was smaller of course and for some reason need a lot of batteries."

Once in orbit it was time to shred the fairings and separate the payload. The topmost part of it is yet another probe to Duna, the bottom part is destined for the Research Station.

Kicked the probe to a high orbit of 800km, and plotted a course for Duna. Made it to within 16million meters. Not bad, got even better when I decoupled the little booster stage to get out of Kerbin SOI. The little nudge of the decoupler got the course to within 6 million meters.

This probe is named Duna Inquisitor and features a little lander equipped with parachutes. Yes, it is destined for the surface of Duna.

Research Station have grown a little more. Now the Life Support Cycle is starting to close a bit. Waste-Water is being purified nicely and upping the available water-supply with a good pace. Waste is being turned into compost. A few additions more, and I'll be able to grow me some green tomatoes in space

Speaking of, the Plant Growth experiment is done. Not that big a yield of science in it. 50 if I bring the experiment pod back to Kerbin, 20 if I radio in the result. The scientists of the Research Station are now hard at work doing Creature Comfort experiments. Will dogs and cats get along in space? Time will tell.

---

Funds are down to a little below 1.9 million. Time to start thinking about doing some contracts.

Edited August 12, 2014 by Zylark

[Zylark]

Single Stage to Profit!

Following the failure of the SpacePlane Firebug, the engineers at KSC have been working on another SSTO concept. Basic idea being, ditch the wings and all that nonsense - add engines. Plenty of them.

This was the result in its cargo configuration. Named the SSTO Rana and featuring 4 Turbojets, 3 R.A.P.I.E.R. engines and two bi-modal Nuclear engines. Have not one, but two hinged cargo attachment points for carrying light cargo to orbit, I'd say 6 tonnes max. Basically supplies and experiments pods for the Research Station.

Lift-off is a bit sketchy, as it tends to drift a bit horizontally until it gets it speed up - takes a while to spin up those Turbojets, and I need to kick in the R.A.P.I.E.R.s' to start lift-off before the Turbojets are at max, or the thing is liable to tip over. After that though it is smooth sailing, uhm, flying.

For the test-flight, Jeb visited the Research Station to pick up the finished Plant Growth experiments pod and bring it back to KSC.

Not long after, Jeb and the SSTO Rana was back home at KSC. Landing was pretty smooth. Parachutes bled most the speed off, and after that it was just a matter of using the Turbojets for a gentle touch-down.

Cost of the vessel is about 135k, and after that mission I got back 190k - so made a tidy profit. Though I am sure some of that was due to the experiments pod making it safely back to KSC.

Whilst on the subject of profit, also did two simple contracts for a small pile of cash, so now my funds are back up to above 2.5 million.

Edited August 12, 2014 by Zylark

[Zylark]

Base me on the Mun

The budget office decided to take a week-long trip to Kawaii to relax a bit and pat them selves on the back for all the funds they saved with the two multi-mission launches and success of the SSTO Rana. The engineering office however was working overtime.

First another Cyclotron was sent up to the Research Station. That wasn't cheap. And next, well...

If the bean-counters saw that thing, they'd have a collective heart-attack. Came in at the frightfull price of 550k - by far the most expensive thing to ever sit on the launchpad. Besides the 60Ton booster, it contains the first three modules for the soon to be Munar base plus the equiptment to land it on Mun.

First module already set down nicely at the selected site - Lunies' Base. Picking up module number two.

About to land the third module. As can be seen it is night-time, so the three modules won't be assembled together until daybreak. Getting more modules to the base-site is a matter of priority, as it'll run out of electricity in about 10 days. Food, oxygen and water in 60. So more missions to the Mun is most certainly in the making.

Good news is, next installment won't be quite as expensive. Don't need another module lander for one thing, and for another, I can recoup about 160k of the cost by simply planting a flag and send off an EVA report.

With regards to funds, I'm down to roughly 1.85 million.

[Zylark]

Mun Expansion

I thought the previous launch was expensive. Launch two in the Mun-Base program came in at 607k and change. And not done quite yet, I will require one more launch to make the base somewhat useful. But not to get ahead of things.

On its way to Mun with a much needed power-plant, and some other bits. Now, I did say in the previous post something to the effect of future launches should be cheaper due to not needing another Base Lander. Well, decided to add one. Two reasons - first using those nuclear engines to get to Mun is a whole lot more efficient than using the engines of the booster, I need that fuel to continue landing modules. And second, I am going to need two identical vessels looking just like those two Base Landers for a future mission that is in the works. So though it cost a bit more now, I'll save some funds in the long run.

Module #5 is down safe. One more to go on this load. The base is shaping up nicely. The next load will add Karbonite Mining, some kind of fuel storage and transfer and one other module I've not decided on yet.

edit: Just a small update...

Lunies' Base so far. Six modules installed. From left to right:

Kerbitat - With living quarters attached this will support a whole gaggle of Kerbals. Also recycles waste into compost.

Biolab - To support growing plants once greenhouses are attached.

Control - Manages the whole base.

Harvester - Extracts resources from the ground it sits on - though not Karbonite.

Powerplant&Coms - In space there are no EPA or IAEA, so why bother with free solar power when you can get expensive nuclear power?

Terraformer - Makes stuff that the greenhouses will need. Also recycles waste-water into fizzy drinks for Kerbals to drink.

I'd say maybe 1/3 done getting the base fully operational. Which isn't looking good for my budget. I'm down to 1.3 million. But as said, after the next batch of modules is delivered, at least the base will be of some use - producing fuel.

Edited August 13, 2014 by Zylark

[Zylark]

Science on the go!

Did a few contracts to get the funds up to about 1.7 million. then I splurged on something I've been planning for a while - so sent this puppy up for the not so reasonable price of 400k...

It is a mobile science lab. The MSL Feynman. When I say mobile I mean it will be, in due time, at the appropriate junction. Yes there is a huge Booster strapped to it now, but that will soon enough get disconnected and the fuel in it will be put to good use on something or other before de-orbiting the thing to recoup about 70k of the launch cost.

The Feynman is made with modularity in mind. First mission to test it out will bring it to Minmus. Picked up quite the few contracts to do various experiments in orbit there. But later by rearranging stuff and getting some seriously efficient propulsion system on it, it'll happily go to far away places. Like say Duna or even Jool.

In other news, the accountants of the Budget Office is back from vacation, and looking at the bottom line they are not happy. Got nearly 1.4 million in available funds, and easy to do contracts only add up to 250k in potential earnings. Got to get some of my space infrastructure to turn a profit soon, or I'll be broke after a few more launches.