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

[Windspren]

What about a large scale Eve mission? Kerbal Planetary Bases is a great mod.

[lajoswinkler]

Neidon has moons now btw.

This is great news, thank you for reminding me!

The next mission will be sent to Neidon using KSP v.1.0.4.

Ablate will have to wait for v.1.1.x.

[lajoswinkler]

~ Ministry Of No Better Things To Do special report ~

After the ground based telescopes on Kerbin discovered a natural satellite of Neidon, the MONBTTD has ordered a transaction of funds for a Kaos 2B mission, a repeated flyby of the Neidon system, but this time on a hyperbolic trajectory, to cut short the time needed to reach it.

Kaos 2B is a nuclear thermal probe with the latest passive heat dissipation technology.

- end of report -

Kaos 2B was launched using 2 Mainsail engines and two 2.5 m liquid fuel boosters.

Second stage circularized the orbit and increased the speed of the probe over second cosmic, to get away from Kerbin.

Third stage was nuclear, using one LV-N engine that accelerated the probe beyond third cosmic speed and set it to hyperbolic trajectory with Neidon and Thatmo.

Fine tuning of the trajectory was done with the help of two linear RCS thrusters with attenuated thrust.

One year, 48 days until Thatmo flyby.

[Sylandro]

That's fast!

[Zaddy23]

Speaking of fast, about how fast is it exactly?

[lajoswinkler]

More than 17.5 km/s relative to Kerbol right after the engine shutdown.

[Zaddy23]

More than 17.5 km/s relative to Kerbol right after the engine shutdown.

That's nothing short of impressive O_o

[lajoswinkler]

Perhaps, but it's necessary to get there in reasonable time.

Three hours before Neidon periapsis. Main antenna is no longer directed towards Kerbin. Instruments are scanning the planet.

Telescope sweep discovered one more satellite, visible as a tiny speck few pixels wide at this resolution. Its distance from Neidon is enormous.

[lajoswinkler]

Kaos 2B finished the flyby.

First it went through the ionizing belts of Neidon.

After that, really fast flyby a bit over 20 km above Thatmo's ground. Instruments had to work fast as the flyby occured at >11 km/s.

Results:

- Neidon has lethal ionized belts, as all gas giants have

- Thatmo has a retrograde orbit

- Thatmo has a very young icy surface with plains and mountains, proving the satellite is geologically active, probably because of tidal heating

- tenuous atmosphere has been detected over Thatmo's surface with suggested maximum pressure much lower than Duna's at its deepest part

- previously unknown satellite has been discovered, named Nissee, in an enormous, eccentrical, highly inclined orbit around Neidon; nothing is known about it except that it's very tiny

Conclusion - a manned mission to Thatmo and Nissee will be needed to investigate surfaces of these satellites and to bring back the rock samples.

[Sharkman Briton]

Heck yeah!

[lajoswinkler]

Kerbals are working on a Kron 5 prototype.

So far, less than 13.3 km/s of delta v have been pumped into the design, which is a typical value for Kron ships.

I'm still considering to send only three Kerbals because that way I could use a smaller cryonic module.

Serious changes will have to be made because this voyage will use a hyperbolic trajectory and active braking. It would all be much easier if I'd just stick with 2.5 m parts and not use some parts at all, but I'm forcing this to be a 3.75 m ship equipped with proper modules.

signature images: a, b, c, d, e, f, g

Edited January 1, 2016 by lajoswinkler

[DMSP]

Let's do this.

[lajoswinkler]

Jebediah during a field test of the 2500 m/s lander and some instruments. Oh yeah, the lander needs a name.

Meanwhile, the ship repurposed its outer science lab storage space for oxidizer tanks. These will allow the lander to land on Thatmo two times.

I've also increased the diameter of the radial tanks a bit, so delta v of the completed ship is almost 13.4 km/s. It still lacks life support systems. I'm still not satisfied because I'd like 15 km/s with a reasonable TWR of around 0.10.

I might need to add another row of tanks and one more set of LV-NB engines, or increase the central pillar tank a bit. We'll see.

Kron 5 won't have any struts outside. There is no need for them, so the part number will be significantly lower.

Edited September 13, 2015 by lajoswinkler

[MageofRadio]

I propose the lander be named Salacia, wife of the Neptune the Sea God, and mother of Triton.

[Yukon0009]

How about Thamocina?

[_Augustus_]

Call it Pos.

'nuff said.

[Sharkman Briton]

What about Ophelia? Or Eagle? Or even better, Phoenix or Juliet.

[GabrielG.A.B.Fonseca]

I suggest that the lander should be named Siren.

In Greek Mythology, Triton, whom Thatmo is an analog for, was a merman; Half man, half fish.

[Red Dwarf]

Hmm... how about the Gildenstern? Or maybe Puck? Puck actually kind of sounds like a good name for a lander. It's kerbal, and it ties in with the theme, even!

a̶l̶s̶o̶ ̶m̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶D̶M̶S̶P̶ ̶t̶o̶t̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶w̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶t̶ ̶d̶u̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶k̶r̶o̶n̶ ̶4̶.̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶l̶a̶s̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶t̶ ̶w̶i̶n̶n̶e̶r̶s̶ ̶g̶o̶t̶ ̶n̶a̶m̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶d̶i̶b̶s̶ ̶:̶P̶

Siren is a pretty cool name, though

[Sylandro]

Name it Nereid, after the Greek sea spirits.

Or Ranger, because Thatmo kinda looks like Mann's Planet from Interstellar.

[DMSP]

Maybe it could be named "Eclipse"?

I dunno why...

[lajoswinkler]

I kind of like the name Siren. And yeah, there was that contest with the reentry speed.

[Sharkman Briton]

My body is ready!!!!

[GabrielG.A.B.Fonseca]

If the lander is actually called Siren, this should be the patch:

P.s.: Couldn't resist the lame joke...

Edited September 16, 2015 by GabrielG.A.B.Fonseca

[VASMIR]

Name it Calibrations, have it piloted by Garrus Kerman