Laythe Spaceport

Year 17, Day 170 (Endurance Lands at Laythe’s Peaks and Makes Important Discovery!)

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Mission Control OK’s the next landing, at Laythe’s peaks, along the equator! As the Laythe missions progress, a few things are already clear: solar panels do NOT work well this far out, and the Deep Space Relay Network needs significant improvements around Laythe! In fact, once the Endurance lands, all communications is lost with Kerbin! A new X-10 is under construction, that will launch to Jool at the next window to supplement operations and provide a backup!

Jeb, Bill, and Bob fly through the alien atmosphere, until they spot the landing site!

“That’s the spot! “
-Jeb

The X-10’s dual mode RAPIER engines allow very specific landing selection, something that can be tricky on atmospheric planets! Jeb pilots Endurance until it’s right on top of the target!

“Chute deployed – airbreakes deployed… VTOL bays open, firing vertical aerospikes!”
-Jeb

Endurance slowly decends to the surface!

“Hey, I see Vall back there!”
-Bob

“Huh? Val’s back on Kerbin!”
-Bill

“No silly! Vall with two ‘L’s’! The moon!”
-Bob

Endurance lands safely, and after getting all that sorted out, Jeb leaves to inspect the landing site!

“Hey! I just noticed, the indicator on the suit says the air here is close to Kerbin! I’m gonna take my helmet off!”
-Jeb

“You don’t know if it’s safe!”
-Bob

Jeb takes his helmet off and takes a few breaths…

“Seems fine!”
-Jeb

Bill and Bob climb out! Bill repacks the parachute, and checks on the X-10, while Bob starts taking samples!

“Remarkable! The air here seems very close to Kerbin! We might even be able to set up a sustainable colony here!”
-Bob

Jeb, Bill, and Bob excitedly discuss the possibilities opened up by the discovery that Laythe has a breathable atmosphere!

Year 17, Day 158 (Exploration Begins on Laythe!)

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Jeb climbs out of Endurance to set foot on Laythe!

“Looks just like the deserts back on Kerbin – except for the big Jool in the sky!”
-Jeb

Next, Bill squeezes his way out from the Science Bay into the cockpit, so he can get outside!

“That science bay has a seat, but that’s about it! It’s good to stretch my legs! Time to get this parachute repacked… easier here than up in orbit!”
-Bill

Bob decides to walk around the landing site to see what’s nearby!

“There seems to be a lot of … stuff!… on the surface…”
-Bob

“Oh hey – it’s a rock!”
-Bob

Bob does a thorough examination of the strange Laythe rock… but mostly plays ‘king of the hill’ and tries to plant a flag on top!

“Bah! The stone is too strong! I can probably chip away some sample bits though!”
-Bob

“Hey – speaking of flags, we need to plant one here!

Jeb plants the flag of the Kerbal States on Laythe, and everyone poses for their landing portrait!

“Once we get communications back with Kerbin, they’re gonna flip!”
-Jeb

Indeed – communication from the surface appears impossible, at least with the equipment Endurance brought along!

After a full survey of the landing site, the crew heads back up!

“Ok – future missions will be longer, but the mission plan is a quick down and back! Opening VTOL bays… activating Verticle Lift Aerospikes!”
-Jeb

“Fuel flow looks good!”
-Bill

Endurance slices through the sky, until the friction heats up the spaceplane!

Once the atmosphere is thin enough, Endurance’s RAPIER engines switch to orbital mode, and power the rest of the flight, to circularize the orbit around Laythe!

“OK… RAPIER engines switched to off… orbital maneuvering for Laythe Spaceport!”
-Jeb

Endurance reaches the spaceport, with just enough fuel to do so!

“That was a close call! We only had about 30 d/v left! We’re going to need to be careful and not stray too far from equatorial targets!”
-Bob

Jeb docks Endurance at the spaceport, and the crew warms up some snacks!

Year 17, Day 158 (Laythe Spaceplane ‘Endurance’ Lands on Laythe!)

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After years of designing, preparation, and waiting, the day is finally here… the Discovery crew will leave the Spaceport and take their Spaceplane ‘Endurance‘ to land on Laythe!

Even the mission profile has been carefully planned, as no spaceplane has ever landed on another planet!

“OK – ‘Endurance’ is undocked from the Spaceport… using maneuvering thrusters to reach safe distance to activate engines!”
-Jeb

Endurance’s solar panels deploy to soak up as much energy as possible, while the orbital maneuvering engine fires to drop the craft out of orbit!

“So far so good!”
-Bill

Airbrakes deploy to create more drag, slowing the re-entry of the spaceplane! From inside the cramped science bay, Bob is growing concerned:

“What’s going on!? It’s getting hot! I can’t see anything from this seat!!”
-Bob

“Everything’s fine! We’re through the worst of the heat now – on course for a chain of islands near the equator!”
-Jeb

“Switching RAPIER engines to ‘air-breathing‘ – looks like a lot of flat desert down there, setting down shouldn’t be so bad!”
-Jeb

“Slowing our speed, deploying Air Brakes… starting landing procedures. Hold on everyone!”
-Jeb

Endurance needs to be going as slow as possible before it deploys it’s landing parachute. On Kerbin this parachute wouldn’t do a very good job of slowing an X-10, however on Laythe (combined with the VTOL engines) it should do the job just fine!

The Air Brakes retract, and the parachute deploys! The aircraft pulls up until it starts to even out…

“Ahhhhhh!”
-Bob

“Hang on back there! We’re almost down!”
-Bill

The VTOL bays open, and the aerospike rockets fire to slow the spacecraft! The housing of the chambers is thermally lined to protect the rest of the spacecraft, nonetheless, the rockets aren’t meant to be fired for anything but short bursts!

“Just about there! VTOL is slowing us down to about 5 m/s…. we’re in the pipe, five by five!”
-Jeb

“Why do all the pilots say that before they land!?!”
-Bill

Endurance sets down on Laythe!

“Finally! What a rough ride! Opening science bays… deploying ladders… antennas and solar panels deploying!”
-Bob

The crew will do tests for a short time before heading out to the surface!

Year 17, Day 138 (Laythe Spaceplane Rendezvouses With Laythe Spaceport!)

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With Discovery now docked at Laythe Spaceport, the X-10 is remotely piloted to Rendezvous! With it’s transfer stage still attached the spacecraft is very unwieldy – but it’s important to use every bit of fuel – refills are hard to come by in the Jool system!

Endeavor arrives at the Spaceport!

“This is going to be a tricky docking… I better EVA over and do it manually!”
-Jeb

“OK – I have stepped outside the hatch… rocket packs on… heading toward the X-10!”
-Jeb

“Oh wow guys! Are you seeing this!?”
-Jeb

“…roger that Jeb – we see you!”
-Bill

“This thing is a lot bigger in person!“
-Jeb

Jeb detaches the X-10 from it’s transfer stage, and pilots it to the station! The inline docking port makes the procedure a little more challenging than normal!

“We read a solid connection – good job!”
-Bob

With that, all the components of the Laythe Mission are in place! The crew will start checking systems, and prepare for their first landing!

Year 17, Day 140 (Laythe Spaceplane, Laythe Spaceport Arrive at Laythe, Discovery Docks with Spaceport!

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The next spacecraft in the convoy heading to Laythe is the X-Laythe Spaceplane Endurance! It’s engines fire and the spacecraft is captured into a circular orbit of Laythe!

Later in the day, the Laythe Spaceport also finishes circularzing Laythe! The final orbit of the Spaceport is intended to be 60k, so the engines fire again to change the orbit!

Success! The Spaceport is put in a 60k orbit. The transfer stage (and the only engine on the station) will remain in place until it’s fuel is spent by the X-10!)

“Discovery – our boards show Laythe Spaceport is in it’s required orbit – you are clear to rendezvous!”
-Gene, at KSC

“Affirmative!”
-Jeb

Discovery performs multiple maunevers as it moves to rendevous with Laythe Spaceport!

After a few orbits, Jeb pilots Discovery to within 100m of Laythe Spaceport!

“It was a good idea putting those great-big RCS thrusters on these DSV’s… it feels just like I’m manuevering an Aurora Crew Vehicle!“
-Jeb

“Almost… almost… got it! Docking complete! Discovery is now docked with Laythe Spaceport!!
-Jeb

“Alright – we need to start getting ready for the X-10’s arrival! Power down nuclear reactor… switching power supply lines to Station Power…. tape put over all throttle controls, engines disabled!”
-Bill

Year 17, Day 137 (DSV-2 Discovery Arrives at Laythe!)

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After a very long journey, Discovery finally arrives at Laythe! With a loud “ding!” the cryogenic systems finish thawing all three Kerbals: Jeb, Bill, and Bob! Mission Control has started the insertion sequence to capture into Jool’s orbit – and now the engines fire to transfer into a Laythe orbit!

“Wake up guys! The computer says we’re here!!”
-Jeb


“I’m awake… I’m awake!!”
-Bill

“Me too!”
-Bob

“Mission Control – Discovery Crew here – we’re doing good! Assuming control of DSV – firing thrusters to enter Laythe orbit! “
-Jeb

Success! Discovery has circularized it’s orbit around Laythe, a pleasant 60k altitude above the moon!

“It almost looks like Kerbin!”
-Bob

In mere days the Spaceport, and the X-10 Laythe Spaceplane will perform similar maneuvers to enter Laythe orbit!

Year 17, Day 124 (DSV-2 Discovery Nearing Jool!)

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The Deep Space Vehicle Discovery is finally nearing Jool – and it’s watery moon, Laythe!

Along with it are two other components of the Laythe Mission, the X-10 Laythe Spaceplane, Endurance, and the hub of the entire mission, the Laythe Spaceport!

Jeb, Bill, and Bob remain in Cryo-Stasis – remote systems show they’re doing fine! The convoy of spacecraft arrive at Jool’ SOI tomorrow, and will perform circularize it’s orbit in 11 days!

Once there, the crew will thaw out, and prepare for the landing segment of the mission – a dangerous endeavor, as they’re the only Kerbals in the area!

Year 14, Day 272 (Laythe Spaceplane ‘Endurance’ Leaves Kerbin!)

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KSEA is relieved to announce that the Laythe Spaceplane ‘Endurance‘ transfer went much better than the first Laythe Spaceport! The interplanetary Spaceplane is headed (quite fast) to Laythe/Jool!

“The only thing left to do now is get a crew up to Discovery and send them to Jool too! It was just about as complicated when we first sent crews to Duna Spaceport. Hopefully this gets a bit less hectic!”

-Gene

Year 14, Day 270 (Second Attempt Launching Laythe Spaceport)

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The second attempt at launching a Laythe Spaceport is underway… this time on a Jool DS-2 Rocket! This absurd rocket straps several Jool Rockets together in an attempt to create a rocket with a lot of deltaV, and a lot of punch!

“I sure hope this works… we don’t have any more parts to build another one in time for the Jool transfer window!”

-Jeb

The launch stage exhausts it’s fuel and then ejects the protective fairing over the station!

With no time to spare, the transfer stage fires!

Laythe Spaceport flies away from Kerbin heading to a Jool/Laythe encounter!

Year 14, Day 270 (Laythe Spaceport Leaves Kerbin !)

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The Laythe Spaceport – lost in space!

Laythe Spaceport leaves Kerbin as planned… however the spacecraft seems to have some serious flaws.

“This thing just doesn’t have enough power to make the burn! We’re going to have to abort… it’s a good thing we were making a duplicate station for future missions… we’ll have to bring that thing out ASAP!”

-Gene

Indeed – plans for a future station had (thankfully) already been in the works, utilizing an even bigger launcher. KSEA scrambles to save the Laythe Spaceport mission!