Year 21, Day 194 (Aurora Base Launches to Mun!)

June 18, 2021June 18, 2021 sayburstuff Year 20, Year 21 Aurora 27, Aurora 28, Aurora Base, Aurora Crater, Bob, Colonies, Gene, Jool X Rocket, Mun

Aurora Base is finally ready to launch! This complicated mission will involve one very large payload launched to Mun Orbit, then 3 separate landings delivering all the components of the station. The first landing will carry the Habitat and Science Modules. The second will carry the Greenhouse and Life Support systems. The third module will carry the Command Module!

In the evening of Day 194, the Jool X rocket blasts off from the Space Center carrying Aurora Base!

The second stage carries the Aurora Base modules to orbit…

… then to Mun’s Orbit!

Once in Mun orbit the three landings commence.

“Let’s keep our fingers crossed everyone! These landings have to be timed precisely for the modules to arrive undamaged!”
-Gene

The Habitat and Science modules descend to Aurora Crater!

Then land just next to the Aurora Rover from the Aurora 27 mission from Mun Spaceport!

Then, the complicated part! One module breaks off, and is piloted away using RCS!

Eventually the next detaches, and rolls to nearby safety!

“That wasn’t so bad! Just two more to go!”
-Bob, at the Space Center

The Green House and Life Support modules land next…

.. landing just next to the other modules!

Aurora Crater is starting to fill up with some very expensive Kerbal hardware!

Next, the Command Module heads down!

“Telemetry is good. Speed is good. Command Module should be good to set down – fuel’s looking pretty tight though! “
-Bob, at the Space Center

At the last second, the Command Module detaches from the descent vehicle, and the upper mounted RCS system (the same that’s used to deploy rovers in Aurora Missions) takes the Command Module to the surface of Mun!

“Looks like a good set of landings people! Let’s get some crew out there to get started!”
-Gene

A crew will be launching soon from Kerbin to construct the station on the next Aurora mission – Aurora 28!

Year 21, Day 108 (Aurora 27 Finds Possible Colony Site – But No Water!)

April 29, 2021 sayburstuff Year 21 Aurora 27, Colonies, Mun, Orlas, Summer

After traveling for several days, Summer and Orlas have still not found any water on Mun!

“These surface readings are a 1:1 match for orbital readings… there appears to be NO detectable water here at all! We can try digging with equipment in future missions… but I don’t think we should plan on any base that has water sourced from Mun itself!”
-Orlas

“Some good news though… we’ve found a nice flat area that is rich in most other resources! It’s also quite scenic!”
-Summer

Mission Control review the data… there’s a lot of disappointment that Mun seems to have no water, but Orlas helpfully makes a point:

“There are plenty of other worlds to colonize! We can use Mun as a testbed for future sites that may also not have water, for long term but not self-sustaining colonies!”
-Orlas

At the original landing site for Aurora 27, the lander is remotely piloted up…

…and then to the new site found by Summer and Orlas!

“Look! There it is! These new landers are so advanced!”
-Orlas

The two Kerbals drive the rover back to the lander, and camp out while Mission Control decides the next move!

Year 21, Day 105 (Aurora 27 Blasts Off – Heading to Mun Spaceport!)

April 28, 2021 sayburstuff Year 21 Aurora 27, Aurora Program, Colonies, Gilian, Mun, Orlas, Sarnus Va Rocket

Summer, Gillian, and Orlas blast off in Aurora 27 – launched on top of a Sarnus Va Rocket!

This will be Summer’s first command, and the first mission to Mun specifically to find water!

So far, orbital scans have indicated that there is NO water… but that can’t be right! Aurora 27’s mission is specifically to find water along the Mun’s equator!