KSEA is holding a planet-wide contest! Three winners will be selected to be the first non-astronaut Kerbals to launch to space to celebrate the 30th Aurora mission! This will be the first time a mission has non-specialist Kerbals, and the entire planet is clamoring for a chance to be on the flight even if they will just be tourists!
The vast majority of the population of Kerbin is desperate to join the space program, so many Kerbals see this as a chance to jump in line and get a chance to fulfill every Kerbal’s dream: to explore space!
The mission is a fairly simple one – travel to Minmus, land, and return safely to Kerbin. Malcom has been selected as the pilot!
Mission: Crewed mission to Mun. Land near Polar Mun Crater on Mun, perform scan with large scanning arm, return data to Kerbin.
Summer fires the Aerospike engine, and the lander begins its descent to the polar region of Mun!
“Systems look good! The surface is getting closer – I think that’s good too!” -Lobert
The lander continues its descent – heading closer and closer to Mun’s craggy surface!
“Alright… firing last landing burn… Lobert, check the new landing gear – they should be extending! “ -Summer
“Yep! They’re extending! I hope the new auto-level system works on that landing gear… the surface looks… pretty hilly! -Lobert
The lander is mere meters from the surface!
“Almost there… touchdown! “ -Summer
“We’re here! We set down on the surface of Mun! Oh wow! Let’s get our space suits on!” -Lobert
“That’s the right attitude! Let’s take it step by step though! Space is exciting but it’s also extremely dangerous – that’s what procedures are for!“ -Summer
Summer and Lobert go through the landing checklist – shutting down the engine, locking RCS system, making sure all their space suits are on snug, extend the landing ladder, activate communication systems, open side supply hatches, and finally ejecting the Rover using the RCS Skycrane!
Finally, they are ready to leave the lander! until they are finally ready, and climb down the ladder! Summer goes first, then Lobert!
“I feel so light! Oh my… there’s just … nothing but miles and miles of desolation! It’s incredible!” -Lobert
Immediately after the landing, the RCS Skycrane used to deploy the Rover fired, taking the vehicle up and away, landing nearby the Lander! Summer and Lobert discuss the plan: go to the lander, make sure it’s safe, then head out to look for the crater they need to study!
Lobert and Summer hike over to the rover!
“Looks in good shape – I read these deployments have a small chance to deploy the rover upside down, thankfully we should be good!” -Lobert
The two Kerbals climb into the rover, and head off!
“Tight squeeze coming up – arms inside!” -Summer
After driving (and dodging Mun rocks) Lobert spots a likely candidate, and Summer drives up to inspect it!
“Hmmm – this looks like what we’re searching for. Let’s deploy the arm and do a scan! -Lobert
The scanner arm deploys and begins an analysis!
“Eh, I’m not a scientist… but it looks like we have a full scan! Let’s get this back to Kerbin! -Lobert
After stowing the scanner arm, the two Kerbals drive back to the lander!
“Let’s get this science stowed – we need a nap too before we do more science too!” -Summer
The Kerbals climb inside the lander, and get into their space hammocks for a Mun-Nap!
Work is nearly done upgrading the newly recovered N-4 Booster. It will be the test bed for the next iteration of Neidon rockets, Neidon III! This upgrade will make use of new landing gear that provides heat shielding in addition to better aerodynamics, both during landing and take off.
The rocket has also had a new paint job, rotating the logos and markings which engineers say make the rocket “42% cooler!”
As the Aurora 29 crew prepare for their transit to Mun, Mission Control supervises the return of the N-4 booster!
Using RCS thrusters, the N-4 Neidon Rocket drifts to a safe distance from the Crew Vehicle and then fires a precise short burst to return to Kerbin!
“Re-entry has started, tracking give me status on trajectories! -Gene
N-4 Soars through the atmosphere, heating up as it hurtles toward the Space Center!
The rocket transitions from hypersonic speeds to subsonic! The gear deploys…
… and the booster slowly approaches the Space Center!
“Looking good! Stay focused, that Booster is almost home!” -Gene
The booster touches down! Despite the excellent performance of the Neidon II, work is already underway to upgrade the booster with more capable landing gear!
“That’s right – the Neidon rocket is getting another rework! We’re pretty sure this will be the last one for a while, but we’re going to upgrade the landing gear and add a reserve fuel tank to the craft. Hopefully this gets rid of the lingering instability some of the rockets have had! ” -Gene
Ground crews around the Space Center begin final preparations for the launch of Aurora 29!
Among the changes:
Simulations showed that the Sarnus solid rocket boosters were insufficient for carrying the Aurora 29 paylod (due to the heavier Munar transfer stage.) Heavier Jool Rocket boosters will be attached instead, with a few segments removed!
Multiple simulations and calculations have been done on the new Vincent Lander. These have shown that the existing landing gear are insufficient for the craft’s high mass. A new landing gear system has been installed that should allievealleviate this issue for both Mun and Duna. The margins to fit within a standard DSV bay remain very tight however.
Due to a small clerical error Edan, who was scheduled to be the engineer on the mission, has been replaced with new recruit Lobert, on his very first mission! (Edan it seems is in cryogenic sleep on board the DSV Explorer, currently en-route to Sarnus!)
“I could have sworn I saw Edan around the water cooler last week… well, Lobert you’re up. This is one heck of a first mission! -Gene, at Misson Control
Lobert has been seen jumping and looking very excited for the mission! Only a few lucky Kerbals get to be selected for the Space Program!
“I can’t wait! I’m going to practice in the simulator room non-stop until launch!” -Lobert
A nearby target is chosen for the new MPV Probe – Minmus! In addition to a full testing of the probe’s capabilities the mission will also hopefully serve as a full survey of Minmus for future colony sites.
Despite being one of the earliest bodies in the Kerbol system to be explored the site has not had a full survey done looking for water, or to find a proper site for a colony!
“First Mun and Minmus, next Duna! But the real first step is matching the inclination with Minmus!” -Gene
After the inclination with Minmus is set, the probe fires its engine to intercept Minmus!
“Just six days and we can start testing this probe in Minmus orbit!” -Gene
History: The First Kerbal Landing on Minmus! Year 2 Day 370
Before the Aurora 29 launch engineers wanted to test the core Neidon II rocket on a uncrewed payload – while the engine systems did not change the aerodynamics were altered enough to warrant a test launch!
The new MPV (multi-payload-vehicle) probe was chosen to be the test-payload!
“We want to make sure Aurora 29 is a perfect launch – and that means being safe!” –Gene
The refit Neidon Rocket (N-2) blasts off from the space center!
“Telemetry shows the rocket is behaving normally – the new aerodynamic features are having minimal impact on performance at launch!“ –Seely, Supervising from Spacedock 2
As N-2 reaches orbit the rocket seems to be performing perfectly!
The protective fairing on the probe ejects, and the MPV-Probe drifts slowly away from N-2!
Next, the rocket flips orientation using RCS, fires a precise thrust of the engines…
And begins soaring through the atmosphere!
“All departments – watch for any anomalies – how are we looking?“ -Gene, at Mission Control
“So far, so good – we are apraching the transition to subsonic …!“ –Seely, Supervising from Spacedock 2
Re-entry of the Neidon Rockets have always suffered from instabilities at the supersonic/subsonic boundary – everyone holds their breath as the rocket passes the barrier…
“Oh wow! N-2 maintained attitude through the transition – she’s flying like a spaceplane toward landing!“ –Seely, Supervising from Spacedock 2
“Great work people!” -Gene, at Mission Control
N-2 begins its landing burn, just east of the main launch platform!
“Landing gear is deployed… hydraulics have locked… telemetry nominal…” –Seely, Supervising from Spacedock 2
N-2 sets down perfectly! Crews will recover the rocket soon!
Kerbal States | Kerbin Space Exploration Administration 