Year 13, Day 95 (Laythe Mission Planning)

December 17, 2019December 17, 2019 sayburstuff Year 13 Discovery, Laythe, Laythe Spaceport, X-10 Program, X-9 Program

With the successful test of Discovery KSEA now has a way to deliver Kerbals to Jool and return them (with their scientific findings!) to Kerbin. The last several weeks have been spent working out the rest of the landing plan. The landing target was an easy choice though….

Laythe! All of Kerbin was fascinated by the amazing photos sent back from Pathfinder 6, so that’s an easy choice! The next important decision is HOW to land.

The Super Duna Lander was the obvious first choice – this lander has been used over and over again by Explorer missions on Duna. Unfortunately the math just doens’t work out. Laythe is just too similair to Kerbin: high gravity, thick atmosphere. The more engineers looked at the problem the more thought a spaceplane might be the right answer. But which?

Despite KSEA’s large selection of spaceplanes, only one is truly a “SSTO” or “single stage to orbit” – the X-9! This plane will be the basis for the X-10 – a spacecraft designed specifically for landing and launching from Laythe! KSEA engineers have already started!

The Laythe Spaceport (also under design) will serve as a fuel and crew hub, with Discovery taking crew back and forth to Jool, and the X-10 operating as the primary lander. The chance to fly a plane on another world has sent applications to KSEA soaring!

“heh – soaring!”
-Gene

Year 13, Day 92 (Pathfinder 9 Heads to Plock!)

December 15, 2019 sayburstuff Year 13 Pathfinder 9, Pathfinder Missions

The Pathfinder 9 probe departs Kerbin orbit, heading to Plock!

Year 13, Day 91 (Pathfinder 9 Launches!)

December 15, 2019December 15, 2019 sayburstuff Year 13 Pathfinder 9, Pathfinder Missions

Pathfinder 9 launches from the space center! In 2 days the probe will leave Kerbin, heading to Plock!

Year 13, Day 75 (Pathfinder 9 Announced)

December 15, 2019 sayburstuff Year 13 Pathfinder 6, Pathfinder 9, Pathfinder Missions, Plock

KSEA announces a mission to the most distant world known: Plock! Pathfinder will be a slightly modified version of previous Pathfinder probes, instead of the 3-core probe design, one large lander will be used since Plock requires such a great amount of d/v.

Pathfinder 9 will be the second probe to Plock, Pathfinder 6 is already enroute… however there are concerns that Pathfinder 6 won’t have enough d/v to orbit.

Year 13, Day 74 (Explorer 6 Arrives at Jool System!)

December 13, 2019 sayburstuff Year 13 Explorer 6, Glenica, Jool, Laythe, Mitster, Sean

Explorer 6 enters the Jool system! In just 54 days the craft will arrive at Laythe!

Year 13, Day 10 (Explorer 6 Update!)

December 13, 2019 sayburstuff Uncategorized DSV-2 Discovery, Duna Spaceport, Explorer 6, Glenica, Jool, Laythe, Laythe Spaceport, Mitster, Sean

In just 60 days, Explorer 6 will enter the Joolian system! Computers on the spacecraft start waking up – transmitting data on the crew: healthy, lifesigns extremely faint from cryostasis but at expected levels. Radiation levels from Jool are high, as expected. Communication systems appear sufficient, barely, for communicating with Kerbin.

Explorer 6 was launched before Discovery had even been built, to test KSEA’s deep space capabilities. Ultimately, Explorer 6 will orbit Laythe, a world that on the surface looks very much like Kerbin! Eventually KSEA wants to land Kerbals on the planet – and to do that a permanent deep space station, like Duna Spaceport, will be required! Laythe Spaceport will hopefully be a destination for Discovery, and other Deep Space Vessels!

When the mission is complete KSEA will have learned a lot about deep space exploration – vital information for the space program to continue going further and further!

Year 13, Day 8 (DSV Refuelling Vehicle Launches and docks with Kerbin Spaceport!)

December 11, 2019 sayburstuff Year 6 DSV-2 Discovery, Jeb, Kerbin Spaceport

The DSV refuelling vehicle launches from KSC! Until the logistics hubs on the Spaceport can be retrofitted to allow for the delivery of Lithium and other fuels, these launches are the only way to refuel the Deep Space Vehicles.

The orbital stage finishes firing, then seperates…

… and rendezvouses with the Spaceport!

Jeb, piloting remotely from the Spaceport for the docking manuever, reports some difficulties…

“This thing handles like a pig – a space pig!”
-Jeb

The connection is (finally) made! The Spaceport registers a solid connection to the fuel pipe system, and lithium and monopropellant are pumped from the refuelling vehicle to Discovery.

Year 12, Day 422 (Construction Begins on DSV Refuelling Vehicle)

December 11, 2019December 11, 2019 sayburstuff Year 12 DSV-2 Discovery, Duna Spaceport, Kerbin Spaceport

Construction starts on a refuelling vehicle to deliver Lithium to Kerbin Spaceport, for use with the new class of Deep Space vehicles (such as DSV-2, Discovery.)

The craft will be a reffited version of the spacecraft used to refuel Duna Spaceport, and is set to be launched on the first stage of a Jool-3 rocket!