Minmus

Year 5, Day 56 (Aurora 17 Arrives at Minmus!)

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screenshot1503.pngAurora 16 arrives at Minmus, and Edan pilots the spacecraft to dock with Harmony Space Station!  Glenica has been waiting for a crew for sometime now!

screenshot1506.pngAurora 17 docks!  Edan and Shepley quickly transfer over to the lander, eager to get their turn down on Minmus!

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Mission Planners have decided the next area for exploration will be a region in the lowlands of Minmus designated HSS LS04-A, where orbital scanners have detected an unusual anomaly.

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The lander sets down – and already Edan spots the anomaly.

“That looks like one of those Monoliths!  Strange though, I’d swear it was green, not black like the others!”

-Edan

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Edan is right – the monolith appears to be the same dimensions as the others found, however it has a slight green hue to it.  How unusual!  Shepley performs all the scientific experiments he can, gets a surface sample, then the explorers return to the Research Lander! screenshot1519.png

Edan pilots the lander into orbit… screenshot1520.png

Then docks with Harmony Space Station!  The crew will stay for a short time before heading back to Kerbin.

Year 5, Day 39 (Aurora 17 Heads to Minmus!)

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screenshot1502.pngSamner, Edan, and Shepley launch on board Aurora 17!   Edan is particularly excited, as this will be his first landing! This is the first launch of the overhauled Aurora Mission, utilizing a longer term habitation module, similar to that on the upcoming Explorer 2mission!  The purpose is to make space flight more comfortable, and to give crews experience on maneuvers and working environments similar to those in future planned deep space missions.

 

Year 4, Day 381 (Aurora 16 Arrives at Minmus to Unite Explorer 2’s Crew!)

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Aurora 16 arrives at Minmus – just in time too!  Food was starting to get a bit low… Edan and  Dunwin were getting hungry!

Aurora 16 arrives at Harmony Space Station!  Kimmy transfers over, and gets comfy for the ride back to Kerbin!

“You know… I’ve actually never been down to Minmus before! ”

-Dunwin

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Indeed!  Mission Planners quickly assemble a mission, HSSLS03.. an odd formation shaped like an arc, with lowland, slope, and midland biomes all within reach. Should be a good first landing for Dunwin!

“OK – here we GOooooo!”

-Kimmy

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Kimmy and Dunwin head down to HSSLS03-A!

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A great landing!

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Dunwin is very excited, and immedeatly jumps out… then jumps UP!

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Oh wow!  I think I can see Harmony Space Station from up here!

-Dunwin

 

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Kimmy leaves the lander, and starts taking some readings.

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After a little time, everyone is back in the lander, heading up to the Station! screenshot1373.png

The Research Lander arrives back at Harmony Space Station.  Dunwin heads over to Aurora 16, and Kimmy gathers up all the scientific data on Harmony Space Station, and takes it over to Aurora 16.

I don’t think I could pack any more research materials and surface samples into this Command Pod!  There’s over 44 individual pieces of science on this vessel!”

-Kimmy

This crew transfer will leave the crew of Harmony Space Station without a scientist (or a way home, in fact) so Aurora 17 will likely be in utilized to rotate crews on Unity Space Station!  Unfortunately, Gilian will be alone on the station for about a week.

“It’s OK guys… I brought lots of schematics to read!  Good luck on Duna!  Take lots of pictures!!”

-Gilian

It’s just a short 8 Day trip back to Kerbin!

Year 4, Day 360 (Aurora 16 Leaves from Mun, To Minmus!)

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screenshot1354.pngKSEA decides that it’s probably best to get Dunwin and Kimmy back to Kerbin to start their training for the Explorer 2 Mission to Duna!   Edan takes Aurora 16 and pilots it from Unity Space Station in orbit of Mun, to Minmus! screenshot1352.png

“Bye guys!  Have a fun trip to Duna!!”

-Luly

Kerlorf, Seely, and Luly remain on the station to train!

This will be the first time a vehicle has traveled from one Space Station to the other!   The trip to Minmus will take 2 weeks!

 

 

Year 4, Day 348 (Harmony Research Lander Returns to Station!)

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screenshot1253.pngKimmy and Gilian return to Harmony Space Station!  They’ll rest for a few days before the next landing.

“There’s so much interesting science to find here on Minmus!  Building a station was really smart, we don’t have to have a big Sarnus V launch every time we want to check something out!”

-Kimmy

 

“Yea, but rocket launches are pretty exciting…”

-Gilian

Year 4, Day 296 (Harmony Space Station Upgraded, Harmony Crew Rotation)

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The RCS Refuelling Mission to Harmony Station above Minmus arrives!

screenshot1162.png…and docking goes surprisingly uneventfully!

Looks like a good seal!   This will give Harmony plenty of monopropellant fuel for future missions – good work everybody!

-Gilian

screenshot1163.pngSamner and Robart prepare to head home… (Robart takes the long way, enjoying an EVA before heading home) while Gilian and Kimmy prepare for the next Harmony Space Station landing!  Scientists are still figuring out the best location for HSSLS02!

screenshot1164.pngSamner, Val, and Robart head home!

Year 4, Day 203 (Harmony Station First Landing)

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Mission Planners determine that the first landing site for the Harmony Science team will be at the Greater Flats, at a site designated HSS LS01. Due to the very low gravity of Minmus, there are several additional biomes the team will check out, marked A through D.  (Officially they are catalogued as HSS-LS01-A, etc.

This will be the first mission that makes use of the new telemetry data gathered by the Minmus Surveyor probe, that has been carefully mapping the surface of Minmus for future exploration!screenshot948.png

Samner and Robart board the Automated Lander, and head down!

screenshot954.pngThe lander sets the crew down perfectly at HSSLS01-A, the Greater Flats.  This is the first time a mission has been conducted entirely by a science team – some of the pilots look a bit nervous about this!screenshot961.png

Next, on to HSSLS01-B, a hill on the Lowlands of Minmus!screenshot963.png

“This is a pretty precarious landing site! I don’t think we should plant a flag… just in case!  We’ll gather all the science data though!”

-Samner

Thankfully, the lander sets down nicely… while the team conducts SCIENCE!  The mission needs to stay on a timetable… communications with Kerbin are necessary, due to the remote systems on the lander!

screenshot964.pngNext, on to HSSLS01-C – the Midlands! This landing goes much better… however not much science is gathered.  Hopefully site “D” will have better luck! This time, a more precise landing along the Slopes of Minmus will provide some interesting data.  Probably another tricky landing though!screenshot966

Unfortunately, the last landing site doesn’t yield much more data. However, interesting research was conducted on the Great Flats, the Lowlands, the Slopes, the Midlands, some of it already known, but nonetheless valuable to Kerbin!

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As the lander reaches orbit in the first leg of its rendevouse with Harmony Space Station, the crew gets a good look at the region they were just exploring.

“Wow – will you look at that!”

-Robart

screenshot973.pngThe lander docks with Harmony Space Station!  However, a small problem has become clear… the station is not equipped to handle refueling of the RCS thrusters that make docking possible!  A mission will have to be done soon to resupply the station… and Unity Space Station’s design has already been changed, swapping out two Life Support bays for RCS fuel. This will reduce the amount of time crews can inhabit the station, however it is doubtful a crew would be left without supplies for over a year!