Year 4

Year 4, Day 203 (Harmony Station First Landing)

sayburstuff Year 4 , , , ,

MinmusHSSLS01.png

Mission Planners determine that the first landing site for the Harmony Science team will be at the Greater Flats, at a site designated HSS LS01. Due to the very low gravity of Minmus, there are several additional biomes the team will check out, marked A through D.  (Officially they are catalogued as HSS-LS01-A, etc.

This will be the first mission that makes use of the new telemetry data gathered by the Minmus Surveyor probe, that has been carefully mapping the surface of Minmus for future exploration!screenshot948.png

Samner and Robart board the Automated Lander, and head down!

screenshot954.pngThe lander sets the crew down perfectly at HSSLS01-A, the Greater Flats.  This is the first time a mission has been conducted entirely by a science team – some of the pilots look a bit nervous about this!screenshot961.png

Next, on to HSSLS01-B, a hill on the Lowlands of Minmus!screenshot963.png

“This is a pretty precarious landing site! I don’t think we should plant a flag… just in case!  We’ll gather all the science data though!”

-Samner

Thankfully, the lander sets down nicely… while the team conducts SCIENCE!  The mission needs to stay on a timetable… communications with Kerbin are necessary, due to the remote systems on the lander!

screenshot964.pngNext, on to HSSLS01-C – the Midlands! This landing goes much better… however not much science is gathered.  Hopefully site “D” will have better luck! This time, a more precise landing along the Slopes of Minmus will provide some interesting data.  Probably another tricky landing though!screenshot966

Unfortunately, the last landing site doesn’t yield much more data. However, interesting research was conducted on the Great Flats, the Lowlands, the Slopes, the Midlands, some of it already known, but nonetheless valuable to Kerbin!

screenshot969.png

As the lander reaches orbit in the first leg of its rendevouse with Harmony Space Station, the crew gets a good look at the region they were just exploring.

“Wow – will you look at that!”

-Robart

screenshot973.pngThe lander docks with Harmony Space Station!  However, a small problem has become clear… the station is not equipped to handle refueling of the RCS thrusters that make docking possible!  A mission will have to be done soon to resupply the station… and Unity Space Station’s design has already been changed, swapping out two Life Support bays for RCS fuel. This will reduce the amount of time crews can inhabit the station, however it is doubtful a crew would be left without supplies for over a year!

 

 

Year 4, Day 202 (Unity Space Station Announced!)

sayburstuff Year 4 , , , , , ,

Unity Space Station.png

KSEA excitedly announces the next Space Station – Unity Space Station, set for a launch to Mun later this year!

Much like the Harmony Space Station, Unity will allow a small science crew to live for a long period in Munar orbit, conducting multiple Mun landings.

Engineers believe that the symmetrical design of the station will help deal with the problems Harmony had during its delivery to Minmus orbit.

KSEA’s most powerful launcher, a Sarnus V Ultra Heavy will take the station core into orbit, and the station’s last stage will take it into orbit with Mun.

Two Heavy Cargo Shuttle launches will construct the station in Kerbin orbit, delivering the two Habitat Modules!  Construction Unity will be the Enterprise‘s first mission!

 

 

Year 4, Day 200 (Shuttle Enterprise Announced!) 

sayburstuff Year 4 , , ,

Shuttle Enterprise

KSEA announces the development of a new cargo shuttle, the Enterprise!

With multiple missions complete, Shuttle Resolute has proven itself a reliable space vehicle. The orbital construction of thr Harmony Space Station, despite some of the problems, also showed the promise of a reusable orbiter!

However, a KSEA cost study of the Heavy Cargo launches showed that it was not always more efficient than traditional rocket launches.

Enterprise will launch using an updated launch vehcile that consists of two parts – a modified launcher, and a new second stage orbital vehicle, the Orbital Assist Vehicle (OAV).

With enhanced focus on recoverability, this new launcher should make the Heavy Cargo Shuttles the most cost efficient vehicles for orbital launches!

The launcher wont be the only exciting innovation though! Enterprise itself has an improved array of solar panels and a modified docking port which increases cargo bay capacity by 20 percent!

Enterprise also has a new lighting system that engineers say will make the shuttle look  “Super Cool”!

The new Cargo Shuttle will carry one of the two modules for the upcoming Mun Space Station, tentatively named “Unity Space Station!”

Year 4, Day 200 (Space Taxi Delivery)

sayburstuff Year 4

screenshot925.png

Resolute blasts off! Val pilots the launch, carrying the new Space Taxis into orbit!

screenshot927.png

Mission Control, this is Resolute – orbit achieved!

screenshot934.png

The first and second Space Taxis seperate…

screenshot936.png

The Space Taxi taxis toward the station…

screenshot938.png

…and docks!

screenshot941.png

Resolute come in a little hot… and overshoots the runway!

screenshot945.png

Thankfully, Val spins Resolute around and is ale to set her down!

screenshot946.png

Success!  This launch was also part of a cost study for the Heavy Cargo Shuttle – the report will be out soon!

 

Year 4, Day 196 (Space Taxi Announced)

sayburstuff Year 4 , , ,

SpaceTaxi.png
Engineers are excited to announce a new service vehicle that will soon be sent up to the Kerbin Space Station – the Orbital Crew Transfer Vehicle, or as it as become better known, the Space Taxi.

The small vehicle will allow much larger craft the ability to move crew without to and from the station, without dangerous docking maneuvers.

Construction begins on two Space Taxis, which will be launched on a Heavy Cargo Shuttle very soon!

Year 4, Day 196 (Refuelling Craft & Lander Arrive at Harmony)

sayburstuff Year 4 , , ,

screenshot919.png

The Refuelling Vehicle arrives at Harmony! screenshot921.png

The lander separates… and the Re-fueling Vehicle docks with the station.  Sadly, the fuel on the vehicle was much less than hoped… future refueling missions that aren’t carrying a lander should deal with this issue.  screenshot923.png

The Minmus Research Lander arrives at Harmony!  Now it’s time for Robart and Samner to get some real science done!  Even with the lower than expected fuel, the station has enough reserves for 6 complete re-fills of the lander.  As the lander is preloaded with fuel, this means the station can handle 7 complete landings, which on Minmus goes a long way!

“I think we should be able to visit every biome on Minmus – exciting!”

-Robart

 

Year 4, Day 193 (Frontier 6 Dips Into Duna’s Atmosphere!)

sayburstuff Year 4

screenshot912.pngFrontier 6 adjusts its orbit to skirt just barely the atmosphere of Duna – a somewhat dangerous maneuver, the craft may experience extreme heat, depending on the (unknown) density of Duna’s atmosphere.

screenshot918.png

Frontier 6 drops below 50k… and sensors indicate there is indeed an atmosphere.   The Atmospheric Fluid Spectro-Variometer reports fascinating new insights into the composition of Duna’s atmosphere! After the close pass, engines fire to avoid being dragged further into the atmosphere on future passes.  KSEA has begun to talk seriously about a mission to Duna, and Frontier 6 is providing some compelling new data!

Year 4, Day 189 (Frontier 6 Update – Duna!)

sayburstuff Year 4

screenshot901.png

Frontier 6 is getting closer and closer to the rusty red world of Duna!  screenshot907.pngFrontier 6 will enter the gravitational influence of Ike for a short period of time, then attempt to enter Duna orbit!screenshot908.png

Frontier 6 enters into a circular orbit of Duna… now engineers need to reassess what to do with this probe… especially since it has almost 4k of fuel on board… there’s a lot of debate about the next step!