Dunwin

Year 19, Day 174 (Explorer 7 Crew Explores Duna’s Southern Basin!)

sayburstuff Year 19 , , , , ,

Malcolm, Dunwin, and Shepely leave the lander and set foot on the dusty red surface of Duna!

“We made it!! The satellite scans show the anomaly is 800m away … Sorry we couldn’t land closer!”

-Malcolm

“It’s ok! I can walk that far, no problem! Should be plenty of life support and EVA fuel!“

-Shepely

Shepely heads west, toward the anomalous reading the survey satellite detected…

After a long walk, and a few ‘EVA hops’, Shepely arrives at the anomaly!

“Wow! It’s huge! Looks like another mysterious Monolith! The dimensions look identical to the one by the space center and I’m Mun and Minmus… Fascinating!”

-Shepely

Next, Shepely explores the region around the Monolith!

Not too far from the Monolith is a large Duna Rock!

“Hmmm… Can’t get much of a sample with my tools… We’ll need a rover arm to really get a good sample!”

-Shepely

Next, Shepely heads over to an odd rock formation…

The strange blueish hued stones are quite odd!

“Weird! These look like big stone blueberries! I’ll get a good sample!

-Shepely

After gathering some Duna Blueberry samples, Shepely heads back to the lander!

Malcolm helps Shepely load his samples into the lander, then all 3 Kerbals begin unloading the surface science equipment for Shepely to set up!

“This looks like a good spot! Good thing we brought the RTG power supplies… Not enough solar power is available down here!”

-Shepely

“Lookin’ good!”

-Malcolm

“Yeah! The ground science equipment should be fully deployed… The relay satellites in orbit should be able to have ongoing communication with Kerbin!”

-Dunwin

Before heading back to the Spaceport there’s just one thing to do…

Pose for a landing portrait!

“Smile! This is for the history books!”

-Malcolm

Year 19, Day 173 (Malcolm, Dunwin, and Shepely Land on Duna!)

sayburstuff Year 19 , , , , , ,

After taking a few days to recuperate and prepare, Malcolm, Dunwin and Shepely talk over their upcoming mission in the Crew Cupola of Duna Spaceport!

“Does it ever bother you that we’re sitting “up” but we’re flying “sideways”?
-Shepely

“Up, down, it’s all relative in space!  I just like going fast! “
-Malcolm

“Well, we’re not going anywhere fast sitting here!  Let’s get down to the surface!  I wanna see how this new lander performs!”
-Dunwin

After packing all their science gear (and some snacks) Dunwin, Shepeley, and Malcolm head over to the lander!

As the sun sets on the horizon, the lander sets out!

“Look at that sunset! So blue!”

-Dunwin

“That’s from the dust in Duna’s atmosphere! It’s the right size to let blue light in more than other wavelengths… and scatters it!

-Shepely

“Hmm – neat!”

-Dunwin

“Undocking! RCS reverse thrusters firing! Landing airbrakes deployed!”

-Malcolm

The lander fires it’s aerospike engine! This mission will be to investigate some anomalous readings detected from orbit!

Unlike previous Duna Landers that entered the atmosphere “engine first”, the Advanced Duna Lander enters “nose first” like a spaceplane!

The rear airbrakes provide just enough lift!

“Lander is on course for target… Atmosphere is slowing us down a bit more than expected… We’ll need a short engine burn to adjust our approach!”
-Malcolm

The engine fires, and the lander accelerates enough to stay on target!

“Oh wow! We’re really close to the surface! Speed is down to 200 m/s…. Is that enough to deploy the parachute?”

-Dunwin

“Not quite! Almost at target…. Almost… Deploy the chute!!”

-Malcolm

The landing parachute deploys! The airbrakes retract and the landing gear deploys! 

This is one of the most dangerous phases of the mission, as the landing gear and airbrakes must retract with the parachute cords clear so nothing gets jammed or tangled! The chute then lifts the nose up, and orient’s the lander for landing!

“Chute is deployed, gear is down and locked! Starting slow burn to decelerate!”

-Malcolm

The lander slows to just 1 m/s as it gently sets down!

“Mission Control, this is Explorer 7 Lander .. we have set down on Duna! All systems are good!”

-Malcolm

On Kerbin, cheers fill Mission Control! The new lander performed perfectly!

“Nice work everyone!”

-Gene, at Mission Control

Malcolm, Dunwin, and Shepely will rest for a day, then suit up and head outside!

Year 19, Day 171 (Explorer 7 Arrives at Duna Spaceport!)

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Explorer 7 performs a circularization manuever as it passes it’s closest point with Duna!

“I’m showing a circular orbit – nice work!”
-Shepely

Next, Malcolm performs the rendezvous maneuver, and intercepts Duna Spaceport!

“Firing thrusters… just need to get lined up with the docking port!”
-Malcolm

Explorer 7 moves in to dock…

…and makes a solid connection with the spaceport!

“OK!  Time to get out there and reposition the Advanced Lander!”
-Malcolm

“Be careful out there!  There’s a lot of hardware operating very closely!”
-Dunwin

“It’s beautiful out here! The station and lander look to be in great shape! Hard to believe the Spaceport has been here for 13 years!

-Malcolm

Malcolm uses his EVA pack to maneuver over to the Advanced Lander…

…then grabs the handholds and climbs inside!

“It’s nice and roomy in here! Much cozier than the Mun Landers!”

-Malcolm

Using only RCS thrusters, Malcolm detaches from the Ground Science cargo payload that came with the lander (and will remain attached to the Spaceport, to be used on future missions) and moves away from the station!

“The lander is oriented away from the station, and momentum is carrying us away… ejecting engine fairing!”

-Malcolm

The interstage fairing protecting the engine (which allowed the Ground Science payload to be carried inline with the lander) ejects! The momentum away from the Spaceport will carry the fairing out and away from the station!

The Advanced Lander drifts slowly over the spaceport!

“RCS thrusters firing… Forward momentum should be enough to dock…”

-Malcolm

“I show you at .1 m/s … Alignment good…”

-Dunwin

With a loud ‘CLUNK!’ and some mechanical ‘whirs’ Explorer 7 is docked and securely attached to Duna Spaceport! Malcolm climbs over and the Explorer 7 crew prepares for their landing!

Year 19, Day 155 (Explorer 7 Crew Thaw, Prepare For Duna Mission!)

sayburstuff Year 19 , , , ,

Explorer 7 is just days away from reaching Duna’s sphere of influence! Mission Control sends the automated signal to thaw the crew from Cryo-Stasis!

“Mission Control this is Malcolm on Explorer 7… we’re all thawed out and ready for our mission!”
-Malcolm

“… I could use something hot to drink though!”
-Shepely

Dunwin checks over the ship’s systems and makes sure everything is looking good!

“Explorer handled the transit just fine… all systems are good!”
-Dunwin

Year 18, Day 274 (Explorer 7 Launches, Heading to Duna!)

sayburstuff Year 18 , , , , , , ,

Malcolm, Dunwin, and Shepley all board Explorer 7! Outside the rocket, the loudspeakers count down to launch!

“10… 9…8…7…6…ignition sequence start….5…4…3…2…1…IGNITION!”
-Gene

“We have liftoff!”
-Gene

The powerful Sarnus Va rocket lifts Explorer 7 higher and higher!

Until orbit is reached! Then, with just 3 minutes to spare until the transfer window, Malcolm fires the engines!

“Engines firing…. We’re on course!”

-Malcolm

Explorer 7 soars past Mun on its way out of Kerbin’s SOI!

Hours later, the Advanced Duna Lander departs for Duna! The two spacecraft will arrive at Duna in 208 days!

“Ok, we’re on our way! Mission Control, we’re handing over vehicle control to KSC! “

-Malcolm

“That means it’s time to head over to the Cryo Section… And take a little nap!”

-Shepely

The 3 Kerbals prepare to head over to the Cryo Module to enter Cryo-Stasis! The mission schedule has them starting suspension tomorrow!

Year 18, Day 272 (Malcolm, Dunwin, and Shepely Selected for Explorer 7 Duna Mission!)

sayburstuff Year 18 , , , , , ,

KSEA announces that Malcolm, Dunwin, and Shepely have been selected as the crew for Explorer 7! Explorer 7 itself is rolled out to the launchpad, and the crew will board tomorrow! In the meantime, everyone’s talking about how colorful the new patches are!

Malcolm and Shepely have never been to Duna, however Dunwin, the mission engineer, is a veteran!

The Advanced Duna Lander is already in orbit, and will leave a day after Explorer 7!

The Explorer 7 Duna Mission will make use of the Advanced Duna Lander’s capabilities to target landing sites that were out of range of previous missions. Additionally, many of the new surface experiments deployed and tested on Mun by the Aurora 18, 19, 20, and 21 crews will be deployed on Duna!

Year 18, Day 108 (Aurora 21 Returns to Kerbin!)

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Having completed their mission at the Munar Arch, Tamre, Malcolm, and Dunwin take off!

They dock with the Aurora 21 Command Module, in orbit, and Malcolm returns the spacecraft to Kerbin orbit!

“Mission Control wants us to do more precise landings near the space center to recycle parts! That means we need to use up the extra fuel for entering orbit, THEN doing our descent burn!”
-Malcolm

Success! Aurora 21 splashes down in the waters right next to the airstrip!

Year 17, Day 345 (Training Flight of X-10 Wanderer!)

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The X-10 Wanderer is done, and having passed basic safety tests is ready for a test flight! Val, Glenica, and Dunwin prepare to take the plane on a test flight – first to test basic landing systems, then to test a water landing! This will also be a good training flight for future crew to Laythe!

The VTOL Aerospikes work well enough on Kerbin to provide vertical thrust, however the plane can only maintain vertical flight for a short time!

“Let’s head over to the pyramids, that should be an interesting place to land!”
-Val

Val sets Wanderer down right next to the pyramids! Unlike Endurance, Wanderer has much bigger parachutes to deal with the higher gravity of Kerbin!

Val, Dunwin, and Glenica all get out…

…and have a good look around the pyramids!

“Wow, these are right near the Desert Site! Hey, we should call it the ‘Pyramid’ Launch Complex!”
-Glenica

After everyone has a good look around, Wanderer takes off!

“Everyone keep hold of your life preservers! We should set down slow enough, but I have no idea if Wanderer is going to even float!”
-Val

All horizontal thrust is cut, and Wanderer slowly drifts down to the water!

With a loud “kursplursh!” the X-10 sets down in the water!

“Oh wow! I can’t believe it worked! If the X-10 sets down slow enough, it’s just fine!”
-Dunwin

Indeed – Val gets out and confirms the space, er, watercraft, is just fine!

After a little VTOL blast to get out of the water, Wanderer heads back to the Desert Site… now called the Pyramid Launch Complex!

“Pyramid Launch Complex… I’m in the pipe, five by five!”
-Val

Wanderer touches down, right where it took off! KSEA relays the information back to Laythe, however engineers are divided on actually trying this stunt on Laythe!

Year 17, Day 328 (Kerbin Spaceport Docking Expansion Arrives at Spaceport!)

sayburstuff Year 17 , , ,

After being launched to orbit by a Jool Va rocket, the latest expansion of the Spaceport has arrived! The docking port expansion was needed due to the congestion at the spaceport – mostly caused by the new centrifugal ring taking up so much space!

The docking port is brought in closer and closer…

…unit it connects! The station’s engineers head over to make sure everything is safe!

“Looks good! I think we’re ready to start using this for docking procedures!”
-Dunwin, on board Kerbin Spaceport