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

[lajoswinkler]

To plug in the centrifuge arms, I undocked the service module. The screenshots are enough.

All there's left to do is to dock the propulsion unit. It is so heavy I'll have to launch it more than half empty, and then send refueling missions. In the meantime, Kerbals will arrive with a service ship and start placing struts to increase the rigidity of the structure.

[lajoswinkler]

The Ministry of No Better Things To Do has commissioned engineer Bill Kerman to go on a one man assembly mission to Kron 3.

Due to the budget cuts to make the flagship feasible, he was given this vehicle.

Downsides are that it nearly destroys itself over mach 1, poor upper stage TWR and a lack of RCS, but it reaches the ship and that's the most important thing here.

Bill is approaching the giant ship.

Every strut anchor requires a small journey using the jetpack to retrieve them from the ship that brought Bill into orbit.

This is what Kron 3 looks right now.

On the very left you can see the temporary module which will be replaced with a propulsion one, turning the already giant ship into a lot larger one.

Bill returning home after a hard work.

[lajoswinkler]

After several failures, the propulsion unit has been launched into orbit. Kerbals never actually considered to launch it anyway other than 100% full, so many explosive events occured beforehand.

The vehicle was slightly influenced by the Soviet N1 rocket with its tapered tanks and lack of interstage fairing. It tightly fits into the VAB.

Final launch was successful both in stability and performance. A set of Vernor engines was used to stabilize the flight. Wings were not needed at all because of the shape of the rocket.

First stage had a central core with 6 KR-L2 engines. Four boosters with identical engines were attached to it.

Second stage firing consisting of 5 Mainsails.

Final, third stage, was one KR-L2 engine.

Only the topmost and wide tank in the actual propulsion unit was depleted to achieve orbit, so refueling will be needed to reach and dock with the actual ship waiting for it.

This seems to be the heaviest thing I've ever launched at once in KSP. It has some 328 tonnes.

Recently I've launched 2 small probes with fuel and resources towards Sarnus where they will rendezvous with the ship.

Edited March 2, 2015 by lajoswinkler

[Zaddy23]

This is so exciting! I can't wait to see where this goes.

[Specialist290]

Impressive work so far. Can't wait to see how much farther you get

[lajoswinkler]

So it has been done. I've docked the two heaviest vessels I've ever launched in KSP.

As said before, the propulsion unit was left without fuel in the third stage which brought it there. To remedy this, I've sent a refueling probe which also served as an extension of the RCS, to make rotation easier.

You can see it here, docked to the propulsion unit, heading towards Kron 3.

Even with mutual cooperation of the ship (which is by the way behaving like a very rigid object) it was a pain to finally dock them. Several minutes have passed during which the vessels were trying to grab onto each other even though their angle of approach was very small.

This is the result.

Few more adjustments need to be done, including the undocking, performing a roll maneuver and redocking. It needs to be done to align the strut endpoints.

The leftover third stage will not be removed, as every m/s counts, which is also the reason why I'll try to use Mun's gravity as a slingshot.

But before that, Kerbal boarding and freezing must begin.

[lajoswinkler]

Crew boarding has finished.

First three Kerbals (let's call them redshirts) boarded and froze themselves in the cryonic chamber. Next, one redshirt, Jeb and Bob came. Ship was strutted completely.

Here's Jebediah, watching his home planet one last time before going to his temporary tomb. He won't see it for a long, long time.

Last one to arrive was Bill, the engineer who did most of the work. The government commissioned a fairly nice rocket for him. The crew is frozen, so they can't see it, therefore no bickering will occur. Bill is pleased by his government's decision.

By the look of his face you can see that he's delighted by what he sees through the window.

He transfered some of the fuel to fill up the ship, which now weighs a bit over 493 tonnes.

Later he pushed the arriving ship away and boarded Kron 3. He will remain unfrozen to monitor the burns that will put the ship on a Sarnus intercept trajectory, and after that he'll go to sleep, too.

Edited March 4, 2015 by lajoswinkler

[Nicholander]

Wait, I thought you were going to set up the centrifuge before leaving. Or are you going to do that next?

[lajoswinkler]

There is a centrifuge there, but it's incorporated into the ship's main axis. Those thin identical modules in the middle.

I can't aerobrake with its arms sticking outside, and Kerbals don't need it during cryo-sleep.

[Nicholander]

Yeah, I saw the centrifuge in the axis, so are you going to deploy them on the way back to Kerbin from Sarnus?

[jfull]

everything you do looks rather... Soviet

I actually like it a lot

[lajoswinkler]

Yeah, I saw the centrifuge in the axis, so are you going to deploy them on the way back to Kerbin from Sarnus?

Each arm is an RCS maneuverable vehicle and will be detached, rotated and attached to the service module forming a centrifuge module. All that will happen after the ship sets in an appropriate orbit somewhere in Sarnus system.

As with earlier ships, the centrifuge module will be left docked to the lander at the end of the mission, forming a station. The ship itself will be formed by joining the propulsion module with the command module, so that's where extra ÃŽâ€v comes from.

everything you do looks rather... Soviet

I actually like it a lot

Hm, I've never thought about this. Why is that? I'm curious, because I design these things from a functional standpoint. Fuel tanks are silvered and crew compartments white to minimize radiative heat transfer, heat shield is dark gray to increase it. Of course, it's all decorative, but looks real.

Now that I think about this... I will try to add radiators from Near Future Electrical. They are not heavy and will add a decent sense of realism. Hopefully they are KAS compatible, so I could use Bill Kerman to position them.

I've also found out DMagic Orbital Sciences has been updated and now contains a must have Global Orbital Radiance Experiment Satellite.

[lajoswinkler]

Just as the ship was about to leave, last scientist in the ground crew, Pepe Kerman, was working on a cheap probe to deliver one last crucial instrument for measuring albedo that just got approval for flight.

He quickly realized the connection between radiance and radiators. Ships can't function without them, so Pepe quickly assembled some using broken refrigerators he found at the KSC.

[Nicholander]

Also, I remember asking you if you were going to do a Jool gravity assist on the way to Sarnus and you said yes (I think), are you going to actually do that?

[Tommygun]

So the government was too cheap to give poor Bill a docking port.

Well it's a good looking ship, do you have any issues with harmonic wobbling?

I notice my ships have an almost identical ship layout to yours, but I've never tried to build them that long.

[lajoswinkler]

Also, I remember asking you if you were going to do a Jool gravity assist on the way to Sarnus and you said yes (I think), are you going to actually do that?

Indeed, I will try to do it if the phases are appropriate. If not, I will not wait because my RTG units are decaying and they need to operate until I'm at Jool's distance again, following the return.

So the government was too cheap to give poor Bill a docking port.

Well it's a good looking ship, do you have any issues with harmonic wobbling?

I notice my ships have an almost identical ship layout to yours, but I've never tried to build them that long.

They only let him use Mk1 capsule and Kron 3 doesn't have small docking ports on it. On the positive side, he needed some practice with tethering.

No harmonic wobbling reported yet. Engines were never on.

May I see your design?

[Sampa]

Hey, liked the design of you ship!

[meve12]

Nice ship!

What's the main engine on the propulsion unit?

[lajoswinkler]

Ship being disassembled to add radiator modules.

Bill checking the computer and deploying the main radiator array.

Albedo instrument added.

504.8 tonnes seems to be the last number. Part count is 364 at the moment.

- - - Updated - - -

Hey, liked the design of you ship!

I'm glad you like it.

Nice ship!

What's the main engine on the propulsion unit?

Thanks. The propulsion unit, which will be free after the third stage is removed, is made out of three engines: two LV-N and one LV-NB (KSPX) engine.

[lajoswinkler]

I suppose it's time for a total blueprinty image.

[xXIndestructibleEVAXx]

Awesome, can't wait for arrival!

[spaceman1999]

I may have missed this but why are the arms not attached outwards?

[jfull]

I think he's going to do that later, after aerobraking at Sarnus

[Tommygun]

They only let him use Mk1 capsule and Kron 3 doesn't have small docking ports on it. On the positive side, he needed some practice with tethering.

No harmonic wobbling reported yet. Engines were never on.

May I see your design?

My family rented a beach house for the next four days, so I can't post any pictures of my ships until later.

This place is big, I think the shower is as big as my bedroom.

[lajoswinkler]

I may have missed this but why are the arms not attached outwards?

Because they would burn up during aerobraking. Everything needs to be in the shadow of the shield.