Mission Log - Raven to Rama (now with Part 2)

[SirJodelstein]

This is the story of the spaceship Raven and its crew, trying to reach an unknown object called Rama, which is orbiting the Sun in a strange polar/retrograde orbit. Nothing is known so far about this object, and the spaceship needs to be prepared for everything.

Mission log for my entry in the "Rendezvous with Rama" challenge.

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Part 1: Launch, Fuel tank addon and system checkout in low Kerbin orbit.

The Raven has plenty of living room for its two pilots. The journey will be very long, so there are plenty of snacks onboard. The two command capsules can be undocked to provide exploration/escape capabilities. The Raven also carries an unmanned scout drone and a fighter drone with 2 warheads and a kinetic impact device. This video takes place long before the actual departure from LKO. Theoger Kerman is the mastermind behind this ship, so by tradition he had to be the one to launch it. After checking out all the systems and a one-year validation phase in LKO, the actual mission crew will take his place.

Edited August 20, 2014 by SirJodelstein

[SirJodelstein]

Initial flight test raises the AP of the orbit almost to the moon. One month before departure, the mission crew (Doodbreed and Bartfred) board the proud ship. Also, it turns out 8000dV of the original ship were way too optimistic. Trip to rendezvous only takes about 5000dV, but the return trip takes a lot more fuel because no gravity slingshots can be used. The small fuel tank addon is replaced with a much larger assembly, bringing the delta-V budget to 15.000.

Ready for departure!

[psyper]

Awesome - so looking forward to part 3

[SirJodelstein]

Mission accomplished :-)