Author: sayburstuff

Year 3, Day 307 (Explorer Crew Announced… and launched!)

sayburstuff Year 3 , , , , , , ,

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The crew for Explorer 1 is announced… the brave crew of Aurora 13 are chosen for the first interplanetary journey!  Mitster, Orlas, and Chrisnic excitedly put on their new Mission Patches, and head out to the waiting Crew Shuttle Adventure! screenshot283.png

Mitster pilots Adventure into orbit… the plan is to dock with Explorer, then the crew will be on their way!

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Edan lines up with Explorer, in a 80k orbit of Kerbin…

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Once in position, Endeavor undocks from its mission cargo (the atmospheric probe and LARC), and spins around, very slowly, until its lined up with the Crew Shuttle.

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Edan then uses the RCS thrusters to dock with the huge space craft!

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Mitster, Chrisnic, and Orlas all rush over to Endeavor.  Orlas gets serious, and starts going over all the mission parameters and scientific systems.  Mitster runs through the piloting systems, while Chrisnic does a survey of the ship (and checks out the great new Habitat section, that will make the journey to Eve much more comfortable!

“Good luck guys!
-Edan

The crew get comfortable and begin getting Explorer’s systems running!  It’s a long mission to Eve… so its important to make sure that everything on the new ship is in good working order before departure!

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Meanwhile, Edan takes Adventure back to the surface!

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Mitster dives Adventure, toward the Space Center, after cooling off from reentry!

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Uh oh!  A little too much speed… Adventure flies by the Space Center….

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Thankfully all Crew Shuttles have enough fuel for manuevering in just this kind of situtation… Edan pilots the Shuttle around, and heads back for a good approach!

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Ok… I’m in the pipe, five by five…

-Mitster

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Perfect landing!  Good job Edan!

 

 

Year 3, Day 274 (Frontier 5 heads to Jool!)

sayburstuff Year 3 , , ,

screenshot258.pngFrontier 5’s computer is instructed to commence its burn to Jool!  The probe will reach Jool around Year 6, Day 200, after a journey of 2 years and 370 days!

If calculations are right, specifically encounter Jool’s innermost moon, Laythe!  After the Laythe flyby, an attempt will be made to circularize orbit in the Joolian system.  Having never attempted such a thing, no one knows how it will go down!

Year 3, Day 272 (Aurora 14 Launches!)

sayburstuff Year 3 , , , ,

screenshot248.pngAurora 14’s crew is selected!  Val, Kimmy, and Bill will take the next Aurora Spacecraft to Mun!  This completes the “Explorer Six”, the pool of 6 astronauts that are in training to crew “Explorer” and the mission to Eve!screenshot252.png

The Aurora Spacecraft has had a slight adjustment made to its cargo bay, allowing more food and supplies to prevent a repeat of the near disaster that Aurora 13 very nearly became!

KSEA has decided to remove the on board power generator, and replace it with more supplies, as the solar panels have proven themselves for many missions as being a reliable source of energy for missions in the Kerbin sphere of influence. screenshot253.png

The first priority is to take the crew beyond Kerbin’s sphere of influence, and into ‘solar space.’ The mission will also be slightly less fuel efficient, demanding greater speeds of the spacecraft in order to maximize onboard crew resources. After reaching solar space, Aurora 14 will return to Kerbin’s SOI, and attempt a landing on Minmus, before returning to Kerbin.  It will be the most complicated mission attempted since Aurora 13! screenshot257.png

Val performs the docking and transposition maneuver, then ejects the orbital/insertion stage.  The protective cover over the Aurora Spacecraft’s engine is also ejected, and Aurora 14 rides the momentum out of Kerbin’s SOI!

 

 

Year 3, Day 267 (Explorer Launches!)

sayburstuff Year 3 ,

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Explorer launches! The mighty Sarnus V Ultra Heavy launcher makes a deafening BOOM! as the solid rockets ignite!

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The launch goes well! The solids eventually eject, and Explorer is taken into orbit, still protected by it’s launch fairing.

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The fairing ejects! Explorer and it’s cargo wait in orbit for a crew… All of Kerbin is excited to find out who will crew the first mission to another world!! Scientists estimate that Explorer should be ready to go in about 14 days!screenshot246.png

Explorer’s solar panels deploy, and the craft waits for its crew!

Year 3, Day 244 (Explorer Lander Changed)

sayburstuff Year 3 , , , ,

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At the last moment, due to concerns about the fuel budget, a change is made to Explorer’s mission profile.

The atmospheric probe will remain unchanged, but a new vehicle will replace the Low Gravity Lander: the Lander and Return Craft (LARC).

This new design adds a Aurora command module to Explorer, combined with a lander capable of exploring Gilly!  The original Atmospheric Probe for Eve will not be altered.

The mission profile still calls for returning Explorer to Kerbin orbit… But now there is a backup plan if fuel budgets get too tight! In that case the crew will board the LARC as it enters Kerbin’s SOI. Then the LARC will detach, and reenter Kerbin’s atmosphere. Explorer will be remotely piloted to an escape course that will eventually leave it in a solar orbit, safely distant from Kerbin!  Construction begins at once on the updated Explorer rocket!