Eve to Stay- colonization mission (now with Part 2)

[FlyingPete]

Part 1

Due to the extreme difficulty of reaching orbit from the surface of Eve, Buzz Kerman had long argued that the first Kerballed mission to Eve should be a one-way trip, with the aim of colonising the planet. Eventually, this was agreed, and three ships were initially sent from Kerbin. The first ship carried the surface base itself. The second was a stack consisting of part of an orbital station, a hybrid rover/aircraft for ground exploration and a small lander for a side-mission to Gilly. The third ship was made up of the other section of the space station and a return vehicle for the crew members not landing on Eve. A fourth ship was sent later, carrying a fuel station plus an improved ion-powered plane and a more substantial rover (more on that to come later).

We join the action in orbit of Eve, where the three ships have rendezvoused and docked.

All three payloads were brought here by a standardised nuclear tug. Tug01 and the base module can be seen at the far right. Tug02 and the station/lander/roverplane stack were docked to it using the medium docking ports on the rear of the tugs, with the science packages sandwiched between for now. The base will shortly make the descent to the surface, but for the time being the crew return/station ship and Tug03 have been docked as one piece to a side docking port.

Our intrepid explorers (Base commander Admund, chief engineer Gilbrett and scientists Gus and Obski) are all veterans of the space program, having logged many hours during the exploration of the Mun and Minmus. Lenke is still aboard the space station and will pilot the rover/plane hybrid down later. Hadson, Dangee and Malsy won't be landing on Eve, instead doing a side-mission to Gilly before returning to Kerbin.

After a short while, the landing site came into position under the Station's orbit. The eager colonists manned the base module and detached. One of the remaining crew was able to take this shot while on EVA, allowing us to get a good view of the base as it prepares to deorbit.

Admund: 'Separation confirmed. All systems showing go for atmospheric entry. I'm retracting solar arrays now.'

Lenke: 'Roger, Base 1. Eve station confirms go for descent. See you guys on the surface.

The base has accomodation for 12 Kerbals in the crew quarters above the three fuel tanks. The central section has the important science lab, and a lander can which will control the descent and later act as the operations center. The three refuelling arms will connect to the plane to fill its tanks. They also allow data transfer between the plane and station, so the onboard experiments can be analysed.

The entry flames were quite substantial in the thick atmosphere of Eve- good thing the base is made of high-durability alloys that can withstand the heat. Here we see the base descending to the target area between the hills. The lakes in the distance will hopefully be the subject of one of the first exploration missions, once Lenke has landed the Roverplane at the base.

Gus: 'Hey, Brett, what do you make of those lakes to the East?'

Gilbrett: 'Initial data suggested a lot of hydrocarbons. Who knows, there may even be some propellium in them thar waters. It would certainly be useful if we ever decide we want to leave.'

Obski: 'Maybe we find fish. Then we can have first barbecue on Eve.'

Admund: 'Honestly, comrade, do you ever stop thinking about food?' Okay stand by for parachute deployment.'

Given the previously unknown ground conditions on the surface of Eve, Dr. Von Kerman's engineers on Kerbin had opted for too many parachutes rather than too few. Three drogue chutes were deployed first, followed by multiple chutes attached to the four sections of the base.

Admund: 'Fifty meters. Speed- 4.5 meters per second. All hands, grab hold of something.'

Gilbrett: 'Contact! Speed: zero, altitude: 1435 meters above sea level.

Lenke: 'We copy you on the ground, Base 1. We got some guys up here about to turn blue, we're breathing again, congratulations.'

Admund: I'll save a bunk for you, Len. Get yourself down here and bring that plane with you. We've got chutes to untangle and a base to set up.

Lenke: Did I mention I'm allergic to hard work? I'll stick around up here until you've got things sorted out.

Lenke boarded the Roverplane and detached from the station/lander stack, taking with it the docking adapter connected to the retro pack. The four radially-mounted engines are used to perform the deorbit burn, bringing the craft onto its final entry trajectory. The retro pack is then jettisoned and the plane lined up. I like the sunrise in green you get at Eve.

Aerobraking flames were even more impressive here.

I'd miscalculated the trajectory somewhat, so Lenke found himself falling short of the target area, seen in the distance near the lakes. No matter, this is as much a rover as it is an aircraft, and Lenke would get some good driving experience.

Lenke: 'Plane 1 to base. I'm coming up about 40km short of the landing zone. There's a reasonably flat area close by, I'll make a landing there to conserve fuel.'

Admund: 'Roger Plane 1, road trip approved.'

Lenke managed to bring the plane safely down to the purple surface of Eve. Retracting the nose gear to bring the two rover wheels onto the ground, he then set out to cover the remaining distance over ground to meet up with the guys in the base.

Meanwhile, the crew of Eve Station had some rearranging to do. With the plane gone, Hadson detached the Gilly lander from the station and unpacked it from the docking adaptors. Skilful RCS bursts sent the adapters clear and out of the way. The lander was docked to a side port opposite the return module.

Next, Tug03 was undocked from its payload to allow the station to be built. The lab/crew quarters section has no control of its own, so the crew return module was used to maneuver it into position on the large docking port of the station core. Finally, the return module was brought back to the other side docking port, and Tug03 redocked to it. This will form the main ship for the trip to Gilly. When the time comes, the Gilly lander will be docked to the nose of the crew return ship, and the science packages (currently sandwiched between Tug01 and Tug02) will be taken along as well.

Gilbrett: 'Well hello, mister hotshot pilot. What kept you?'

Lenke: 'You know us explorers, can't resist landing in uncharted territory. I see you've got things going here, what's for dinner?'

Gus: 'Not so fast, there's no valet parking here. Get that plane secured and fuelled. Then we'll eat.' Obski says he can make something good with the ration packs until we can get the hydroponics operational.'

Lenke turned the plane around and connected to the refuelling arm, then climbed aboard the base to claim a bunk.

The fourth ship destined for Eve carried a large, 4-man rover, an ion-powered scout plane/rover, and a fuel station carrying both rocket fuel and xenon gas. Aboard the ship are Lusen and Chadoly Kerman.

The rover and plane were deorbited together, and share parachutes. This resulted in an odd spiral descent due to the plane's wings imparting torque to the combination. The two vehicles fell into the mountainous area east of the base.

Just as the parachutes opened fully, Chadoly- aboard the plane- separated the two craft. The plane dropped quickly away and Chadoly established a controlled glide, flying large circles to stay close to the rover, now descending upright under the parachutes.

Lusen: 'Rover to Plane 2. Chad, what's your status?'

Chadoly: 'Flying beautifully, this thing really handles in the thick atmosphere. I'm visual with the rover, everything looks good from here.'

Chadoly landed the plane on a gentle hill and watched as Lusen's rover drifted steadily to the surface. Lusen dumped the support structure carrying the parachutes and then drove over to meet up with his fellow colonist.

Meanwhile, the gas station was on its way down to Eve. The landing point was approximately 10km west of the base area, so it will be a short drive to refuel. Both planes have electric rover wheels so this shouldn't be an issue. We'll wait until the Kerbals inspect the gas station before we take a look at it.

Lusen and Chadoly ended up some 60km away from the base, so set out to explore the hills on the way over. Lusen, aboard the rover, decided to drive around the main peak with its steep slopes, whereas Chadoly opted to fly mostly over it to test the plane's performance.

The large purple sea in the distance looks interesting, but exploring anything other than the shores will need a boat of some sort.

Chadoly: 'Plane 2 to Base. Chadoly Kerman 39km out, requesting clearance to land.'

Admund: 'Chad! Good to hear from you, we saw your ship burning in overhead on entry. Looked pretty impressive from where we were standing. I guess we could use another player for some of the board games- clearance granted.'

Chadoly parked up his plane next to its rocket-fuelled counterpart, and headed in to explore his new home.

Meanwhile, Lusen was getting to grips with the rover's performance in hilly terrain. On flat ground, he could manage a steady 20m/s (no doubt helped by the aerodynamic cockpits used for seating). The low-slung rover was stable at 30 on descending slopes, but started to get twitchy and risked overturning much above that.

One very steep slope needed much braking to maintain control. Fortunately the brakes on all eight wheels could still bring the rover to a controlled stop even on this slope. Climbing hills wasn't a problem- one advantage of conditions on Eve is that traction is helped by the higher gravity.

With the first crew of seven all safely at the base, they posed outside for a photo. Next time, expeditions to the lakes will begin.

Edited January 22, 2015 by FlyingPete
Updating title to reflect added content

[Vanamonde]

These ships are giving me George Pal flashbacks.

[FlyingPete]

Part 2

The first exploration mission for the Eve colony was to sample the lakes to the east of the base area. Lenke Kerman was assigned to take the rocket plane with its experiments to the nearest one.

The twin aerospikes are really a bit overpowered for use here. One would have been better, but caused issues in launching the plane from Kerbin. The best technique seems to be to make an initial climb, then use the plane mainly as a glider, with short engine bursts to maintain altitude.

Lenke quickly concluded that the most fuel-efficient way to travel was to not use any, and glided down to the surface for a landing. With Eve station on the far side of the planet, contact with the base was lost once he dropped below the hills. There isn't much weight on the nose wheels, so down elevator/torque was used to improve traction. In rover mode, it's possible to drive at 15-20m/s at 3x warp.

After an hour's driving and flying, the target lake came into view. Lenke kept his altitude roughly the same by following the contours of the hills, for reasons which will become apparent.

One efficient way to operate this vehicle is as a glider that has the ability to drive to the top of a hill. By pointing straight down the hill and extending the nose gear, the plane quickly launches itself into the 'air' and glides smoothly. Best glide speed appears to be around 25m/s, with a pitch of 10 degrees nose-up.

The slight ridge ahead caused Lenke to land briefly, but was then able to coast over it and take off again on the other side without stopping or using the rover wheels. He then covered the remaining by gliding with height to spare.

The third and final landing of the trip brought Lenke to the shore of this lake. He parked up on a peninsula just across from a small island.

Lenke: 'Mission log, Lenke Kerman recording. Have landed on the shore of a small lake. Commencing EVA to collect surface samples.'

Lenke wandered down the gently sloping beach to the water's edge. Unfortunately here he must have dropped the memory card for his camera, as the pictures from the trip over were strangely missing when he returned (aka: I've lost them somehow)

Lenke: Entering the lake. Appears to be a substance other than water. Instrumentation detecting quantities of propellium, hexagen and blutonium.

Given the possible elements in the lake, Lenke opted not to spend too long at its shores. On the way home, he chose a route through the nearby mountains to test the plane's performance in hilly terrain.

At some points, the two rover wheels struggled for grip due the the limited weight on them. Short engine bursts were needed to push the plane over steeper sections.

The last climb saw Lenke unexpectedly airborne and back in radio contact. He fired the engines briefly to gain height, then settled into a gentle homeward glide.

He touched down with about 20km to travel and reverted to rover mode. During the drive back, he drove uphill as much as possible to take advantage of the gliding ability. At one point though, he went rather too quickly downhill and burst a tyre. Lifting off into the air, he landed safely and stopped to fix it.

Soon enough Lenke found himself back with the others. Admund insisted on attacking him with a compressor to blow any remaining lake 'water' off before letting him inside.

Before sunset, Lusen Kerman decided to survey the gas station outpost to the west of the base. The Ion plane needed refuelling, so it would be a good test of the route and hardware. The Ion plane is much lighter than the liquid-fuelled one, so is much more responsive as a rover. The 10.6km were easily covered by a combination of both driving and short gliding hops from the tops of hills. The plane is very stable in aircraft mode, flying at between 15 and 20 m/s. This makes transitioning between modes simple.

The hills to the north look like an interesting target for exploration.

Lusen: Plane 2 to Base. I've reached the gas station area. The lander seems to be in good condition, only one leg to repair. One of the refuelling arms appears to have broken off somewhere though. The other two look good.

Gilbrett: Roger that, Lusen. See if the fuel pumps work. Did you remember the procedure?

Lusen: If not, I blame the teacher. Attempting fuelling now.

After several attempts, the plane was connected to the gas station by its wing (the nose and tail are both at the wrong height, whereas the dihedral angle of the wings make them adaptable) and fully refuelled. The sun was quickly dropping behind the hill, but Lusen took a few minutes to check out the debris pile a few meters away. When using a claw for refuelling, you have to switch to the gas station (or whatever part has the claw) just before the two ships connect. Otherwise, the planet disappears and bad things happen.

Parts of the booster had apparently survived lithobraking. A probe core, fuel tank and a few sections of girder had landed close together. Too bad they're too large to haul back to base for reuse.

Lusen then set off home. A large part of the journey was covered by air, followed by a relatively slow climb over the top of the hill. Another fifteen minute journey and the base came into view.

While parking up, Lusen noticed one of the tyres on the other plane had mysteriously sustained a puncture, so fixed that before heading in for the night. The base flag has also apparently blown away somewhere and will need to be replaced. Another day though.

Thus ends the first day on Eve.