Year 4, Day 396 (KSS Crew Rotation!)

June 18, 2017June 18, 2017 sayburstuff Year 4 Bob, CTS-2 Endeavor, Jeb, Kerbin Space Station, Orlas, Robart, Shepley, Val

Endeavor completes a minor refit to its orbital maneuvering system. Ever since the rear cargo addition was added to the Crew Shuttles orbital handling has been off, it’s hoped that this update will make the craft easier to control during docking! In addition, air brakes developed during the Heavy Cargo Shuttle Program have been scaled down, and installed on Endeavor. Hopefully they assist in landing safety!

Today, Val pilots Endeavor to orbit, taking Robart and Orlas up to the KSS for a crew rotation! This might be the last launch to make use of the lower docking ports on the KSS, as engineers are designing a new Observation Lounge for the station, based on designs developed for Explorer 3! Getting the huge addition into space will help test how practical it will be for the Explorer crew!

Endeavor arrives at the KSS!

“This new orbital maneuvering system works a LOT better than the old design. We should refit the rest of the Crew Shuttles ASAP!”

-Val

Shepley, Jeb, Bob depart in the Intrepid, which is due for its own upgrades once it returns to Kerbin!

Jeb soars Intrepid down to the runway…

…for a perfect landing!

“Let’s get this thing refitted… I can’t wait to try out the new design!”

-Jeb

Year 4, Day 393 (Duna Spaceport Launches!)

June 18, 2017June 18, 2017 sayburstuff Year 4 Duna, Duna Spaceport, Sarnus-X

Duna Spaceport is launched atop the utterly massive Sarnus X rocket – the heaviest lifter yet!

The solid boosters eject spectacularly, flying away from the vehicle!

Duna Spaceport is ready to go! The station and the Duna Research Lander wait in a 100k parking orbit for their transfer to Mun… in exactly 399 days! It’s a long wait, but it’s needed to maximize the available fuel for such a long range mission!

Year 4, Day 392 (Aurora 16 Returns!)

June 18, 2017 sayburstuff Year 4 Aurora 16, Aurora Program, Dunwin, Edan, Harmony Space Station, Kimmy, Minmus, Mun, Unity Space Station

Aurora 16 splashes down, in the sea west of the Space Center! Kimmy, Edan, and Dunwin are all rescued – and the vast trove of data gathered on both Harmony and Unity Space Stations is collected!

Year 4, Day 381 (Aurora 16 Arrives at Minmus to Unite Explorer 2’s Crew!)

June 18, 2017June 18, 2017 sayburstuff Year 4 Aurora 16, Dunwin, Edan, Harmony Space Station, Kimmy, Minmus

Aurora 16 arrives at Minmus – just in time too! Food was starting to get a bit low… Edan and Dunwin were getting hungry!

Aurora 16 arrives at Harmony Space Station! Kimmy transfers over, and gets comfy for the ride back to Kerbin!

“You know… I’ve actually never been down to Minmus before! ”

-Dunwin

Indeed! Mission Planners quickly assemble a mission, HSSLS03.. an odd formation shaped like an arc, with lowland, slope, and midland biomes all within reach. Should be a good first landing for Dunwin!

“OK – here we GOooooo!”

-Kimmy

Kimmy and Dunwin head down to HSSLS03-A!

A great landing!

Dunwin is very excited, and immedeatly jumps out… then jumps UP!

Oh wow! I think I can see Harmony Space Station from up here!

-Dunwin

Kimmy leaves the lander, and starts taking some readings.

After a little time, everyone is back in the lander, heading up to the Station!

The Research Lander arrives back at Harmony Space Station. Dunwin heads over to Aurora 16, and Kimmy gathers up all the scientific data on Harmony Space Station, and takes it over to Aurora 16.

I don’t think I could pack any more research materials and surface samples into this Command Pod! There’s over 44 individual pieces of science on this vessel!”

-Kimmy

This crew transfer will leave the crew of Harmony Space Station without a scientist (or a way home, in fact) so Aurora 17 will likely be in utilized to rotate crews on Unity Space Station! Unfortunately, Gilian will be alone on the station for about a week.

“It’s OK guys… I brought lots of schematics to read! Good luck on Duna! Take lots of pictures!!”

-Gilian

It’s just a short 8 Day trip back to Kerbin!

Year 4, Day 360 (Aurora 16 Leaves from Mun, To Minmus!)

June 18, 2017June 18, 2017 sayburstuff Year 4 Dunwin, Explorer 2, Harmony Space Station, Kimmy, Minmus, Mitster, Mun, Unity Space Station

KSEA decides that it’s probably best to get Dunwin and Kimmy back to Kerbin to start their training for the Explorer 2 Mission to Duna! Edan takes Aurora 16 and pilots it from Unity Space Station in orbit of Mun, to Minmus!

“Bye guys! Have a fun trip to Duna!!”

-Luly

Kerlorf, Seely, and Luly remain on the station to train!

This will be the first time a vehicle has traveled from one Space Station to the other! The trip to Minmus will take 2 weeks!

Year 4, Day 342 (Next Unity Mun Landing Announced!)

June 16, 2017June 16, 2017 sayburstuff Year 4 Kerlorf, Luly, Mun, Unity Space Station

The next landing for the research team at Unity Space Station is announced! The landing will be at the far side crater, at site USSLS03-A. From there, the somewhat more dangerous investigation of the Farside Canyons will be conducted.

Luly and Kerlorf will be the crew for this landing!

“Before we go back to the surface I need some time to rest! We need to get more scientists up here!”

-Luly

“Well, in the meantime we can ditch the Munar transfer stage… we’ve finally used up all its fuel! ”

-Dunwin

Year 4, Day 359 (Unity Research Lander Returns to Unity Space Station!)

June 16, 2017 sayburstuff Year 4

Luly and Dunwin and blast off from the surface of Mun, and return to Unity Station! Everyone is eager to congratulate Dunwin on his selection to the Explorer 2 Mission!

“That arch is very mysterious… it needs better investigation in the future…”

-Luly

The Arch on Mun… waiting.

Year 4, Day 358 (Explorer 2 Duna Mission Announced!)

June 14, 2017June 22, 2017 sayburstuff Year 4 Blueprints, Duna, Duna Crew Vehicle, Duna Spaceport, Duna Surveyor, Dunwin, Kimmy, Mitster, Patches

KSEA excitedly announces that is their goal to land Kerbals on Duna – and the team has already been picked! Mitster, the commander of the Explorer 1 mission is chosen as the most experienced Kerbal at the KSC, while Dunwin and Kimmy are chosen as the brightest of the new recruits! Everyone is very excited at the new Mission Patches too!

Explorer2Patch

“Wow – what an awesome patch! I can’t wait to blast off to Duna!”

-Mitster

Explorer 2 won’t be the first craft to visit Duna however… Frontier 6 is currently in orbit of Duna, and has revealed interesting data about the red world of Duna, including multiple dips into the atmosphere that have indicated a landing is quite possible… however the actual content of the surface is still unknown.

The mission to Duna will be done in three parts:

The Duna Surveyor has already been launched, and will enter a polar orbit of Duna, mapping the biomes and charting altitudes of terrains. Surveyor was launched with a lot of fuel, so the departure to Duna will be in just 60 days! This will give Duna Surveyor a good 30 days to map at least some of Duna before Explorer 2 arrives!

A space station, to be called Duna Spaceport, along with a lander, will be launched into an equatorial orbit of Duna, providing a home in space, and fuel reserves for multiple landings. The station will launch with the Research Lander stowed above it in the fairing, and move to its proper docking port once the station arrives at Duna. Besides an onboard science lab, the Duna Spaceport will feature some of the most impressive deep space habitats available – the Observation Lounge for the crew to relax in is one of the most notable features of the station, with its giant windows!
The Duna Spaceport Research Lander is a re-usable lander, designed to land on Duna and return to the Spaceport to refuel. The vehicle carries an array of all the most sophisticated scientific instruments known to Kerbal-kind!
A crew vehicle and habitat module will be the last component, taking a crew of three in an Aurora Crew Vehicle, which for simplicity sake is being called the Crew Vehicle Mk. 6) with a habitat module similar to those found on the KSS and other space stations stowed below. Once in orbit a docking and transposition maneuver will be undertaken, and the craft will travel to Duna, docking with the Space Station there! The crew vehicle and habitat section will return to Kerbin, while the station and lander will will remain in orbit for future missions.

Explorer 2 has led to the development of several new technologies and innovations. The innovative use of existing Aurora-era technologies combined with the habitats developed for the Orbital Station above Kerbin, Mun, and Minmus, and the utterly massive Sarnux X Launch Vehicle, which will claim the title of “most powerful machine ever built” upon its completion!

Dunwin is informed of his place on the mission while he’s on-mission, on the surface of Mun:

“Uh – Dunwin – the Administrator’s got something he needs to tell you. Pretty important.”

“Uh oh!”

-Dunwin

Dunwin – you’re going to DUNA with Kimmy and Mitster! Congratulations!

Ow wow!!! I can’t wait!

-Dunwin

Kimmy, on Harmony Space Station above Minmus, is just as excited!

“Oh wow – I get to go!? I can’t wait!”

-Kimmy

Back at KSC, Mitster is itching to get some more experience in before the flight to Duna!

“I need to be ready for anything!”

-Mitster

Duna Spaceporta.png

Year 4, Day 357 (Unity Space Station Landing 2)

June 11, 2017 sayburstuff Year 4

Mission Planners announce the next Mun Landing site: USS-LS02-A, the rim of the East Crater, and USS-LS02-B, the center of the crater! This time it’s Luly and Dunwin’s turn to head down!

Dunwin, a rookie scientist, is excited that his first Space mission is a Mun landing! With the RCS and LFO fuel reloaded on the Research Lander, Luly and Dunwin head down!

Wait! Wait! Mission Control! I see something out the window!!

-Dunwin

There’s little time for anyone to react, and the lander sets down in the East Crater!

Luly and Dunwin hop out, and while Luly conducts the scientific experiments for the missions, Dunwin jumps in place, excited to check out the strange formation he saw!

“OK – let’s get back in the lander and head up there! That must be the anomaly Mission Control wanted us to check out, at USS-LS02-B!”

-Luly

The Research Lander takes off!

“There it is – an arch, just like you said. Strange!”

-Luly

The Lander sets down a short distance from the strange… Arch.

“Let’s head up there and check it out!”

-Luly

Luly takes off, to land on TOP of the Arch!

Dunwin isn’t far behind!

The two are very excited with their discovery!

Year 4, Day 350 (X-5 Research Mission 1)

June 11, 2017June 11, 2017 sayburstuff Year 4 Anomalies, Kerbin, Mitster, Orlas, X-5 Program

x5 research missions.png

A new research mission to study Kerbin is launched. The X-5 will be taken out by Mitster and Orlas – recently returned from Eve! A Gravity Sensor is installed in the cargo bay.

“Here we go! Reaching optimal altitude for the X-5… 9000km!”

-Mitster

The X-5 flies over X5RM01-A – and Orlas notices something!

Looks like we made a mapping error – woops! The X-5 has already explored this canyon, and the Monolith that’s down there!

-Orlas

We better keep moving anyway… that looks like it would be a tricky landing!

-Mitster

X5RM01-B isn’t very far away, and Mitster takes the X-5 down for a landing. Orlas hops out, and checks the scientific instruments… then the jet takes off again!