A little closer to home: Ridin' dirty on Minmus

[Randazzo]

With Duna's "New Mexico Flyer" fuel operation running smoothly and recovery of the three kerbalteers after a mission nearly gone awry, it was time for a little something different. Perusing the contracts for something interesting, I found the usual fare. Send a probe into this orbit with no useful instruments, build a station supporting eighteen kerbals and fly it into Kerbol orbit never to be seen again, go tell us what the grass looks like over there, send a base to this desolate rock, etc. Closer inspection of the desolate rock base contract revealed an unusual clause: Base must be on wheels. Interesting. Intriguing even. Challenge accepted!

The "Ark" project quickly came into being, and a suitable base was constructed. Rigorous testing was performed and it was discovered that Ark could be blown up in numerous ways, mostly involving high speed. Monopropellant engines were added to help keep the wheels on the ground, a karbonite distiller and two drills were installed so Ark could manufacture it's own RCS fuel, and the mission was a go. A new Kerbal crew was hired, consisting of a Pilot, an Engineer, and two Scientists. Manned and ready, Ark launched for Minmus.

Landing was a touch awkward, but nothing exploded. After ditching the extra landing bits, science was gathered and the crew set off to drive up the nearest incredibly steep hill. Ark perfomed well, actually better than expected from testing. There was one hitch, as usual due to engineering oversight. A certain engineer (me) forgot to refill the RCS tanks after emptying them to test fuel flow, meaning Ark didn't have fuel for it's stabilizing RCS engines. First objective would be to wander around and hope to find carefully locate a Karbonite pocket and fill the tanks. This all went rather smoothly, the Ark only leaving the surface once or twice. A significant amount of science was gathered as well, as the Arks path took it through 4 different biomes(Flats, Slopes, Midlands, Lowlands). After cresting the first plateau and getting halfway up the second, Karbonite was found. Here the base was deployed on it's gear and drills were deployed, and the crew called it a day.

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In keeping with changing things up a bit, I tossed out all saved rocket designs to replace them with cleaner and more standardized vehicles. The "Armstrong I", a three-man Mun/Minmus excursion vehicle and the "Aldrin I", a one-man Mun/Minmus excursion vehicle are as far as I've gotten today.

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A new SSTO is also being designed for a mission to Kerbins north pole, since I've never been there. More on this in the coming days.

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Edited February 15, 2015 by Randazzo

[jsisidore]

I like your space bus.

[lajoswinkler]

The vehicle looks like a cute bug. I like it.

[Randazzo]

I like your space bus.

Thanks!

The vehicle looks like a cute bug. I like it.

It is reminiscent of a little bug climbing up a hill