Kron series (Kron 6 end of mission) - temporary halt of program

[lajoswinkler]

This will be a series of mission reports done by the largest ship I've ever hauled to deep space, 3.75 m wide modules from Taurus HCV mod. The name comes from the ancient Greek deity of time called ÃŽÅ¡ÃÂÌνοÂ.

It's a ship made of 3.75 m wide Taurus HCV parts and can host 17 Kerbals, although only 7 of them will live and work on the ship during its long voyage. Three of them will be landing on targets. The ship contains a 3.75 m laboratory and a living module.

It is using a 2.5 m KSPX nuclear engine for propulsion for the sake of aesthetics (performance is basically stock like).

Other notable mods used:

- Deadly Reentry

- DMagic Orbital Science for the instruments

- Procedural Parts for the fuel tanks and adapters

- KSPX for its large LV-N engine

- KAS for securing everything in place and bringing stuff to the destination

- ALCOR for the lander

- Real Chute

- Near Future Electric for the solar panels

- Banana For Scale for emergency banana

(later added)

- Realistic RTGs

- TAC life support

Current ÃŽâ€v is over 8500 m/s, ship alone. My plan is to reach 9500 m/s, so that hauling a lander and a heatshield to the Joolean system and beyond would be easy. First mission is landing on Laythe's polar region and returning home.

Making a rocket for this monstrosity will be a great challenge for me.

Later missions:

Edited August 3, 2018 by lajoswinkler
update

[lajoswinkler]

The ship is now in low equatorial orbit. It was rather difficult because I didn't want the rocket to look like a cacophony of struts and boosters.

Boosters and fairings were separated neatly, without problems.

First stage jettison.

Second stage still has some fuel, so I suppose there will be almost 9000 m/s of ÃŽâ€v left after I dock the lander and aerobraking shields for Joolean system. That should be enough.

Edited February 19, 2015 by lajoswinkler

[Hydrazine_Soup]

Wow, big ship indeed

[lajoswinkler]

Second launch was for the lander and its shield.

Jeb carefully inspected all the KAS struts making a rigid skeleton.

Space available to the crew of 5 is enough to stop their bickering during the voyage. Also, I dig the colors of this layout. Kudos to Squad for Tron: Legacy reminiscence.

The lander contains a plethora of instruments and will be able to investigate Laythe in detail. It also contains an emergency banana (Banana For Scale).

I've launched and attached the main aerobraking shield, too, but the game crashed before I was able to take screenshots. Tomorrow, then.

Edited February 19, 2015 by lajoswinkler

[Tommygun]

Nice ship, I find predicting how much deltaV I need to go to Jool challenging.

It's impossible to know where the moons will be and if they will get in your way.

Last night Vall got in my way to Laythe and it cost me an extra 650 deltaV to correct it.

[lajoswinkler]

Tommygun, thanks. Yes, always have at least 500 m/s spare...

And now an update.

The final ship configuration imaged by an old, but still functioning probe. (MovieTime mod)

The vessel has reached the second cosmic speed with no fuel tanks jettisoned yet.

It's on its way to interplanetary space.

Edited February 19, 2015 by lajoswinkler

[lajoswinkler]

The ship has reached its descending node relative to Jool's orbit and has used around 250 m/s to correct it. First set of tanks have been jettisoned after retracting the vital solar panels.

The Kerbal Ministry of No Better Things To Do has issued an order to keep the number of orbital debris as much as possibly close to zero, so Enford Kerman went to EVA and engaged the self destruct sequence for the decouplers and jettisoned tanks.

The ship continues on its path to orbital transfer node for Jool encounter.

Edited February 19, 2015 by lajoswinkler

[lajoswinkler]

After a series of burns and tank jettisons, this is what Kron 1 looks like.

I've chosen to do a transfer orbit correction at Dres orbit's distance. The plan is to do an aerobraking maneuver directly at Laythe, by impacting its atmosphere at a shallow angle.

This will be a real challenge with DRE on hard mode, but I have a 5 m shield and F5/F9, so I'll try out periapsides from 20 to 35 km.

Even Jeb is often scared.

Edited February 19, 2015 by lajoswinkler

[lajoswinkler]

Direct capture by Laythe is more easily said than done. After spending less than 5 m/s turning the resulting orbit into polar from the edge of Jool's SOI, I've tried out several PE heights. 26.5 km seems to be the best. Below it the ship falls down, above it doesn't enter stable orbit.

30 km was too high, but here's a screenshot nevertheless.

The target, bathing in ionizing radiation of Jool.

This was approaching limits because some of the parts went as high as 1100 °C. Procedural shield doesn't shield the ship as it should.

After the ship got captured into orbit, I've performed almost ten additional brakings until the orbit became acceptable for the returning lander.

Inclination is 89.8° which means that basically the whole satellite is accessible for landing.

Vall eclipsing Tylo.

Bob had to check the banana. It was fine. A bit chilly and ionized, but otherwise fine.

Tomorrow Kerbals remove the main aerobraking shield and start with Laythe's survey, picking an interesting spot near the poles to land on.

Edited February 19, 2015 by lajoswinkler

[lajoswinkler]

The main shield was pushed away and its strut endpoints were salvaged because why the hell should we do it before, when it was easier, if it can be done afterwards?

Jebediah, Bob and Bill boarded the ALCOR lander. It was lacking Raster Prop Monitor so they did the following manually, just like Jeb did it in the old days.

A retro burn with low TWR was made and then the engine was jettisoned. The suborbital path was very shallow.

There was almost no need for the shield as the reentry was very mild, with no plasma forming.

I've landed roughly 1400 m from the northern shore of the northernmost island on Laythe. Terrain is tilted by several degrees.

Jeb went to grab some samples of the Sagen sea water.

Bob took care of the equipment while Bill was tending to the lander.

For some reason, Kerbals can't breathe in Laythe's atmosphere anymore, but bananas are convinced they're home on Kerbin.

Edited February 19, 2015 by lajoswinkler

[_Augustus_]

Can you do a Kron mission to Stella once I release the Stella Expansion? It would basically have to be an interstellar ship.

[Cydonian Monk]

That's a very slick looking ship. Nice mission!

For some reason, Kerbals can't breathe in Laythe's atmosphere anymore, but bananas are convinced they're home on Kerbin.

I'm guessing it's the high sulfur content of the atmosphere, or something along those lines. The original intent for Laythe was that of a volcanic planet.... Personally, I'm not convinced they shouldn't be able to breathe the air in stock KSP, at least until something changes.

[lajoswinkler]

Can you do a Kron mission to Stella once I release the Stella Expansion? It would basically have to be an interstellar ship.

I might, but I don't know how that mod will behave on my system. Also, I'll have to redesign the ship if it needs to reach a whole another stellar system. This configuration can reach every part of Kerbol system and come back. It might be able to reach another system, but it couldn't return back, and I'm not leaving anyone behind.

That's a very slick looking ship. Nice mission!

I'm guessing it's the high sulfur content of the atmosphere, or something along those lines. The original intent for Laythe was that of a volcanic planet.... Personally, I'm not convinced they shouldn't be able to breathe the air in stock KSP, at least until something changes.

Thanks.

It's something Texture Replacer added, I guess, but I had to remove it because it was making my whole system crash upon returning to Kerbin.

Anyway, the mission has come to an end.

After a permanent measuring station was established, the trio removed everything from the lander and made an ascent.

Laythe was just in the right place at the right time for Jool to cast a shadow on it. Luckily, the lander has plenty of energy storage.

Rendezvous and docking were done efficiently and elegantly.

After the transfer of crew and resources, lander was left in polar orbit.

Tylo, as much as it's difficult to visit, is a great helper when it comes to flinging ships out of the whole system.

This first mission ended with providing the evidence to shut the pieholes of every DRE basher on this forum. With almost no effort I've managed to smack the capsule back to Kerbin without any engine braking or gradual aerobraking or slowing down using Mun. DRE was on hard mode. It was a direct interplanetary collision with periapsis at 25 km above Kerbin's sea. It's all it takes - to choose the right periapsis.

Immediatelly upon touching the atmosphere at staggering 4888 m/s, plasma appeared and the detached ship soon started to spin and break up. The heatshield held perfectly. Highest G-force was 7.5. The capsule survived with Kerbals intact.

My only two regrets were to throw a 2.5 m NERVA into an inhabited planet and the fact I could use the lab as a part of the station at Laythe, but instead I've hauled everything back (with still some 1800 m/s left). Next design will have more details.

[lajoswinkler]

Second ship is being made, this one with a serious addon - a centrifuge. Bill is sick and tired of having to exercise every day.

Destination is polar orbit of Moho, so the emphasis is on the thrust to weight ratio. There is obviously no heat shield, so a great deal of mass is gone. The centrifuge system has a lower mass than the heatshield.

This is a prototype, but most of the changes will be with the propulsion module.

Kron 2 will be assembled in orbit from 5 parts:

1) core module (future station above Moho) and command module

2) propulsion module (with detachable engine/s)

3) & 4) centrifuge arms

5) lander+ascent vehicle; a small rover is optional

There are accelerometers on the centrifuge arms to measure the G-force.

Special thing about Kron 2 is that once the mission reaches the end it will detach and leave the centrifuge and then dock to the propulsion module to get home. A great deal of ÃŽâ€v will be saved that way, and Moho will get a large orbital station. The lander will dock to the station.

Edited January 17, 2015 by lajoswinkler

[lajoswinkler]

I've finally designed the ship and started launching its parts into orbit.

This rocket carried the command module and the core module for the centrifuge together with Jebediah, Bob and Bill.

Bob strutted the crucial part of the ship to avoid any surprises. You can see Eve with Gilly, then Duna and Moho in the distance.

Next two launches were the ones that added centrifuge's arms.

A Moho lander has been added, too. It is equipped with many useful instruments which will be left on the surface.

It is a composite vehicle, with a descending and ascending part.

I've actually docked it while the ship was spinning at 0.5°/s, just like in Interstellar, but at a much lower rate of rotation.

For some reason the accelerometers don't register the spin, but the spinning is perfect. Maximum speed, determined by eyeballing, was 45 rpm.

Next launch will be the largest one for this ship and it will carry the nuclear thermal propulsion module.

[lajoswinkler]

Finally, the ship was assembled. As I use FAR I still haven't accustomed to, my carrier rocket was overpowered.

Rendezvous before establishing orbit was planned and executed manually.

During the coasting phase, I've transferred the leftovers from the boosters into the central first stage, and upon arriving to the ship there was still a bit of fuel left so I've dumped it to facilitate docking.

Korolev cross.

End configuration.

All what's left to do is to strut it and use the second stage to push it some 750 m/s.

[lajoswinkler]

Kron 2 has successfully accelerated beyond 2nd cosmic speed and now it's leaving Kerbin.

7 Kerbals aboard, eating snacks and pushing random buttons.

[lajoswinkler]

Hauling a vessel large as Kron 2 to Moho is a huge task. The ship is in polar orbit now, orbiting 38.5 km above the surface, but all of its radial fuel tanks have been jettisoned.

With Duna glowing in the distance, the ship orbits the scorched world. Next stop - southern pole. (I've already landed, but screenshots will come later.)

[lajoswinkler]

Jebediah, Bob and Bill were transferred into the ALCOR lander and began a deorbit burn.

Landing was performed manually with a series of thrustings, and the result was landing 318 metres from the south pole with 74 m/s of delta v left.

Kerbol and Duna in the viewing window.

The pole is a very flat terrain 192 m high, almost invisible except one thin line where the terrain seems to be broken. Walking right over the pole throws the Kerbal on its side and creates problems with the camera.

It's an open invitation to Kraken, so don't do it.

Jebediah returning to the lander after placing the flag at the pole. As you can see, it's very dark there even during the summer.

"Maybe I could bring the equipment..."

"Jeb pls"

Measuring station assembled.

Kron 2 flying over, visible as a dot over Kerbol.

Analysis showed traces of water and heavy metals in basaltic rocks.

Edited January 17, 2015 by lajoswinkler

[sewerbird]

Will there be a Kron 3?

[lajoswinkler]

Will there be a Kron 3?

Affirmative. I'm still thinking about the next target. It might be something from Outer Planets, I don't know yet.

[Tommygun]

Affirmative. I'm still thinking about the next target. It might be something from Outer Planets, I don't know yet.

Hale must have a great view of Sarnus's rings.

[lajoswinkler]

Hale must have a great view of Sarnus's rings.

It does. I've sent a probe there, it's magnificent.

- - - Updated - - -

Continuing with the story and wrapping it up.

Ascent stage lifted off the surface without any problems.

Rendezvous was planned and performed manually.

As always, Jebediah had to step outside "to check something", although everyone knows it was a PR stunt.

Kron 2 is a highly modular ship, so it can be disassembled and reconfigured. Before leaving, the centrifuge module was docked to the lander's ascent module, and the command module to the propulsion module.

Upon arriving home, direct interplanetary collision was chosen this time, too. This time periapsis was chosen to be a bit above 25 km.

7 Kerbals splashed down on the night side of the planet.

The equipment and the landing stage will remain on Moho's south pole forever.

Mission Kron 2 has been completed.

[lajoswinkler]

I'm not sure whether to go to Eve or Sarnus' Slate (Outer Planets mod). As always, it's there and back.

If I choose Eve, I'll land on a shore. Slate is still a mistery to me.

[Nicholander]

I think you should go with Slate, and maybe perhaps, if you have any knowledge on planning and doing (Sort-of) complex interplanetary trajectories, do a Jool flyby while heading to Sarnus.