The crew for Discovery’s mission to Laythe is announced: Jeb, Bill, and Bob!
The original three applicants to KSEA will be together again for the biggest mission in Kerbal history!
The crew shuttle Intrepid is rolled out to the launchpad, while Jeb, Bill, and Bob get outfitted to leave!
KSEA is relieved to announce that the Laythe Spaceplane ‘Endurance‘ transfer went much better than the first Laythe Spaceport! The interplanetary Spaceplane is headed (quite fast) to Laythe/Jool!
“The only thing left to do now is get a crew up to Discovery and send them to Jool too! It was just about as complicated when we first sent crews to Duna Spaceport. Hopefully this gets a bit less hectic!”
-Gene
The second attempt at launching a Laythe Spaceport is underway… this time on a Jool DS-2 Rocket! This absurd rocket straps several Jool Rockets together in an attempt to create a rocket with a lot of deltaV, and a lot of punch!
“I sure hope this works… we don’t have any more parts to build another one in time for the Jool transfer window!”
-Jeb
The launch stage exhausts it’s fuel and then ejects the protective fairing over the station!
With no time to spare, the transfer stage fires!
Laythe Spaceport flies away from Kerbin heading to a Jool/Laythe encounter!
Laythe Spaceport leaves Kerbin as planned… however the spacecraft seems to have some serious flaws.
“This thing just doesn’t have enough power to make the burn! We’re going to have to abort… it’s a good thing we were making a duplicate station for future missions… we’ll have to bring that thing out ASAP!”
-Gene
Indeed – plans for a future station had (thankfully) already been in the works, utilizing an even bigger launcher. KSEA scrambles to save the Laythe Spaceport mission!
Critics of reusing Explorer 5 were correct! The spacecraft didn’t have enough deltaV to overcome the high speed approach of Duna. Perhaps KSEA should have known better!
“Hmmm. Well, we all make mistakes! Back to the drawing board! It would be nice to have a spacecraft that can reach Duna without being quite a DSV-class vehicle!”
-Gene
To that end, KSEA begins work retooling what would have been Explorer 7 to use the Explorer design but with a more re-usable layout in mind!
Explorer 5 leaves Kerbin orbit! Some scientists think the spacecraft is capable of a second trip to Duna. Others think it’s a waste of a perfectly good spacecraft! Time will tell…
Explorer 6’s mission at Jool’s tempting moon Laythe is complete – and it’s time to come home!
“It’s a shame we have to leave.. but don’t worry. We’ll be back! “
-Sean
As Explorer 6 drifts past Laythe for the last time, the crew prepares to return to cryogenic sleep for the long trip back to Kerbin!
“It’s a good thing we’re heading back to cryo-sleep… we just finished the last snack!”
–Mitster
“The sooner we go back into cryo-stasis the sooner we can get on the next Deep Space craft headed back… this time with a lander! By the time we’re back at Kerbin I bet Laythe Spaceport will be ready!“
-Glenica
As an experiment, KSEA decides to test the capabilities of the Explorer 5 spacecraft. Having returned from Duna, is it capable of entering Duna orbit again, and returning safely to Kerbin orbit? If so it would provide a much more cost effective means of transporting Kerbals to and from the red planet.
The new Discovery-class spacecraft design is certainly capable of the trip, however it is overkill to the extreme – DSV-2 Discovery could travel to Duna, return to Kerbin, and repeat the trip without ever needing to refuel!
Gillian, Shepely, and Seely (the current crew on Kerbin Spaceport) start work refuelling Explorer 5 for it’s next mission!
The third Pathfinder 7 probe heads down, after deploying from the Pathfinder 7 spacecraft. Since so many probes have missed their targets, a much larger landing zone, the northern polar region, is selected.
The heat shield glows bright as the probe decends through Eve’s thick atmosphere…
Finally, the parachute deploys and the heat shield seperates. The surface of Eve glows an eerie shade of green…
Finally – the little probe sets down on Eve! Sensors indicate a successful landing at the north pole of Eve!
“Finally a successful deployment of the mini-rover!Nice work everyone!”
-Gene
While the final Pathfinder 7 probe was a success, the general agreement at KSEA is to rework the planetary probes – the mini-rovers are simply too fragile and have limited scientific and power abilities!
The Laythe Spaceplane Launcher takes off from Cape Kerman!
The launcher is a variant of the Jool Rocket.
The solid rocket boosters eject!
The protective fairing ejects next, as the spacecraft continues its orbital circularization!
Safely in orbit, the deep space communication dish deploys, and LCV-1 Endurance waits for its orbital window!
Kerbal States | Kerbin Space Exploration Administration 