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!
The Laythe Spaceport launches atop the Jool DS-1 Rocket! KSEA was running out of superlatives to describe how big the rockets were getting, so DS-1 seemed liked a good name for the first really big deep space launcher!
The mighty solid rockets push the rocket faster and faster, until…
Having exhausted their fuel, the solids explode (safely) away from the rocket with a load “ka-chunk!” Each one is equipped with a small parachute and transmitter to aid in recovery and re-usability efforts!
The launch stage ejects, and the orbital stage fires, providing the bulk of the energy required for circularizing the spacecraft in orbit of Kerbin!
The protective fairing ejects, then the Interplanetary Transfer Stage fires for just a moment to finish the circularization of orbit.
Success! The station will remain in orbit until the window to Jool / Laythe opens!
That went about as well as it could! The station is reporting all systems are functioning properly. Good work team!
-Gene
Pathfinder 7’s second probe deploys! As the probes launch from Pathfinder 7 itself the vehicle’s center of balance changes. Thankfully, the reaction wheel works overtime to stabilize the spacecraft.
The probe’s RCS engines fire, and de-orbit!
The probe’s heatshield and re-entry shell protect the little rover inside!
Let’s open that chute the moment it’s safe… we’re going to need to slow this thing down as much as possible if we want those wheels to survive!
-Gene
The parachute deploys… and the little rover slowly decends to the surface!
The landing is a success! The little probe sets down safely!
We’re a little off target… let’s get that rover to head east. To the… Western Sea. Hmm.
-Gene
The probe sets off, toward the Western Sea.
“We’ll be watching it drive forever! It’s a shame we can’t just set the rover to head that way, and come back and check on it later!”
-Orlas
“It sure is. It sure is.”
-Gene
The first probe ejects from Pathfinder 7, and heads down through the atmosphere!
While the parachute deploys, Mission Control reports that the entry angle to reach the Impact Ejecta landing site was off… the probe will set down in the Highlands, west of the crater and completely off target!
Worse still, the landing was too fast, damaging the fragile little rover’s tiny, tiny wheels.
“Drat! It’s starting to look like the mini rovers aren’t a very solid design. We might have to go back to the drawing board for the Eve Mini-Landers! We still have two more to go… hopefully they do better!”
-Gene
Kerbal States | Kerbin Space Exploration Administration 