After camping out on Moho for 64 days (a record!) Mirphe and Samner blast off, leaving behind all the science gear and the rover!
“Systems nominal… fuel supply will be… well, a little tight!” -Mirphe
“What’s that mean!?” -Samner
“Well, as long as I don’t make any mistakes whatsoever we probably have enough fuel to rendezvous!” -Mirphe
“Probably!?” -Samner
Thankfully, after reaching orbit there is *just* enough fuel to rendevous! The remaining fuel is a very low 12 d/v supply!
“Ok – we’re lined up … moving in to dock!” -Mirphe
“Welcome aboard! It was getting boring up here! Next time we visit we need to bring a lander that can fit everyone!” -Gillian
Samner stows all the scientific data and samples, while Gillian gets the reactor powered up!
The lander is undocked, and drifts away from Endeavor!
“Course set! We’re ready to head home!” -Mirphe
Endeavor powers up it’s nuclear engine and the spacecraft departs Moho!
The journey to Moho has taken much more fuel than initially planned – the lack of an atmosphere or any moons means very little natural assistance with slowing down!
Endeavor flies away from Moho, heading home!
Meanwhile, the crew enters cryostasis!
“Mission Control… this is Mirphe on Endeavor! Samner and Gillian have successfully entered Cryo-Stasis.. handing over Vehicle to Mission Control! Endeavor Out!” -Mirphe
“See you soon Endeavor!” -Gene, at Mission Control
Endeavor arrives at Moho! The engines begin automatically firing to capture in orbit. Meanwhile, the crew is woken up from Cryo-Stasis!
“Brrr! We must have arrived! I need to get to the command module, I hear the engines firing!” -Mirphe
Gillian and Samner wake up too, and start preparations for entering orbit!
The burn to capture orbit is nearly 15 minutes long!
It takes a while, but eventually the final orbit is reached…
A very close 15k orbit above the surface! Another burn occurs to take Endeavor’s inclination closer to Moho’s equator – everything is being done to get as much deltaV out of the onboard lander as possible!
“Mission Control, this is Mirphe… Ideal orbit achieved! Endeavor preparing for crewed Moho Landing!” -Mirphe
Back at mission control, everyone cheers!
“Get some rest for the surface mission Endeavor!” -Gene, at Mission Control
The crew for DSV-4’s first mission is announced – Pilot Mirphe, Engineer Gillian, and Scientist Samner! The crew board Aurora 25, carrying the Moho lander and a Rover!
The rover is the exact design of the most recent Aurora mission – Aurora 24, using the RCS deployer.
Aurora 25 blasts off!
“All dials look good… systems nominal.” -Mirphe
The solids detach, and the second stage ejects shortly after, bringing Aurora 25 to orbit!
“Now we just need to rendezvous with Endeavor!” -Gillian
“Easier said than done! These DSV payload/crew missions are one of the most complicated piloting challenges!” -Samner
“Roger that! Good luck!” -Gene, at Mission Control
The Aurora 25 Crew Vehicle moves in to dock with Endeavor!
“Success! We’re docked! Switching controls over to the Moho Lander… starting Lander Docking Maneuver!” -Mirphe
The lander detaches from the rover, and slowly moves in closer and closer to Endeavor’s cargo bay! The primary communications dish is retracted to avoid any incidents!
“Almost there…. got it!” –Mirphe
Next, all cargo is unloaded from the Aurora Crew Vehicle, which disconnects!
“OK Mirphe… sensors show the ACV is clear of Endeavor. You’re good to remotely pilot the rover on over!” -Samner
Mirphe pilots the rover, using about 20% of it’s RCS fuel.
“Ok, rover captured! Let’s get the cargo bay closed and head out!” –Mirphe
“Reactor at full… radiators show nominal flow… crew and supplies stowed… I think we’re good to fire the engine!” –Gillian
“Course has been fed into the computer, we’re ready!” –Samner
With that, Mirphe fires the Colossus Engine, and the nuclear engine carries Endeavor on it’s way to Moho!
“Burn almost complete!” -Mirphe
Endeavor’s engines stop firing, and the spacecraft appears to be on course for Moho! In a few days the crew will enter cryo-stasis and rest for their interplanetary voyage!
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.
Explorer 5 docked at Kerbin Spaceport. Discovery can be seen docked in the background.
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!
Kerbal States | Kerbin Space Exploration Administration 