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!
KSEA announces plans for a new space station- for Minmus! This station should provide long term habitation for a small team of scientists to perform multiple landings and other research on Kerbin’s very small neighbor!
3 separate Discovery Rocket launches should accomplish the mission, with the planned Aurora 16 launch delivering both the crew and the lander! Should the mission go well, a similar station is planned for Mun! Once funding is available, construction on the Station’s core will begin!
After several years of development and many setbacks KSEA excitedly announces that design testing of the Heavy Cargo Shuttle is complete! Now it’s time for ‘real-world’ testing of the prototype vehicle, HCS-1 Resolute.
Construction begins on the Resolute and its launcher!
After a long wait, KSEA administrators finally release designs for the first interplanetary vessel: Explorer!
Utilizing many lessons learned from the KSS, the vessel will be the largest crewed vehicle and also the most comfortable: astronauts will get beds to sleep in, proper facilities, and much, much more room.
The Deep Space Vehicle, or DSV, may leave Kerbin orbit with a docked payload consisting of an Atmospheric Probe to land on Eve, and a low gravity lander meant for exploring Gilly. There is also consideration being given to sending a the payload as a separate launch, to conserve deltaV!
All told, Explorer’s first mission will be quite the undertaking… once it is finally done!
The risk is high… Some KSEA staff want to launch unkerballed to test Explorer’s capabilities. This would set the program back a few years, and is somewhat controversial!
After exhaustive modeling and testing, KSEA scientists and engineers excitedly unveil their new space vehicle – the KSS Crew Shuttle!
Construction begins at once, with an automated launch scheduled immediately after the first vehicle is made.
Unlike previous spacecraft, the KCS is, hopefully, entirely re-usable. The first stage (the KCS-Launch Vehicle, or KCS-LV, is a massive, automated space plane that carries the shuttle nearly to orbit. After the Launch Vehicle’s fuel is exhausted, the Crew Shuttle detaches and heads into orbit!
The test vehicle will be named Adventure – some remain skeptical about the practicality of a space plane for moving crew between the station and Kerbin, but KSEA is always willing to try the next big thing… even if it’s a tiny shuttle!
After a very long design and simulation phase, the final X-5 design is released! The new design will hopefully allow KSEA to explore the far reaches of Kerbin’s surface. The first flight will be a test flight to the airfield, then a longer mission to the rumored pyramids in the deserts, west of the Space Center!
KSEA excitedly releases the plans for the Sarnus V launch vehicle! The Sarnus Rocket itself has been through several trial runs while construction the Kerbin Space Station, and with just a few modifications to the basic lifter design a Mun Mission should be quite possible!
The Launch Stage blasts off, firing the primary engine as well as the two (recoverable) solid rockets. The solid rockets detach, and the main engine carries the rocket to an altitude of about 90k. Along the arc of the launch (once the primary engine stops firing) the Orbit/Munar Insertion Stage fires as the Luanch Stage detaches and falls back to Kerbin. Once orbit is achieved, the same stage carries the Aurora Spacecraft and the Mun Lander toward Mun! Along the way the craft performs a docking and transposition manuever. The Aurora Spacecraft itself will then orbit Mun, and the Lander will head down.
That the plan, anyway! A test launch will be done as soon as funds can be found to build one of the things!
KSEA unveils the design for the Mun Lander! A prototype is being built to experiment with on Kerbin, and allow crews to practice the vehicle! The lander itself is designed to operate in the very low gravity of Mun and Minmus… the practice lander will be built with a heavier engine to allow more thrust, simulating the Munar environment.
Once training is complete, the Aurora Program will have a Crew Vehicle, a Lander, and the powerful Sarnus V-Heavy rocket to carry them both to Mun and beyond! All of Kerbin is abuzz with excitement!
In response to the near loss of Aurora 3, KSEA designs the next iteration of the Aurora Crew Vehicle, the Mk4. With better onboard supplies and an enhanced power system utilizing solar panels the new ACV should be a good platform for future KSEA missions!
Construction begins on the next massive KSS upgrade – a new science hub with additional solar arrays. This new hub will (hopefully) be the starting point for several other science additions… putting them on the far side of the station ensure greater levels of safety if the experiments get too dangerous!
Ingeniously, the delivery stage of the module will double as an emergency escape vehicle, the RCS system has been balanced to work in tandem with the rest of the module for delivery, and the remaining fuel will let the Escape Vehicle re-enter Kerbin’s atmosphere. Future delivery modules are planned to use the same design to allow several Escape Vehicles to be docked in case of an emergency.
