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Testing the Kerbal Crafts

So, we have reached the point of testing crafts with live things on board!  Not Kerbals, yet.  I have two missions.  The first is a Mercury-Redstone carrying Ham the Chimp on a suborbital flight.  Also, Korabl-Sputnik 5 which will go into orbit and return with Zvezdochka the dog on board.  Both should return safely.  The Mercury needs to go first otherwise both will get accomplished by Sputnik 5. I was having a very strange problem where the craft was getting slower as it climbed.  I was finally able to pin it down to having RealChute installed.  I guess it is not really 1.1.3 okay.  The rockets worked as expected after it was removed. Both the Korabl and Mercury are ready to go.  The order does not matter since they require a specific crew to complete the contract (very cool) of the right animal.  I will launch the Korabl first to maintain the historical order. Excellent flight with the pooch!  Came in cool enough with a 20km periapsis for return. <Korabl Sputnik 5> So, I had a terrible time trying to do the Mercury suborbital.  I thought maybe the sims were the problem but it didn't work for 'real' either.  No matter how shallow I made the journey, I simply came down too hot and the parachute would come out but the craft would smash before it could work.  I tried an extreme shallow flight (max alt of just 75km and all the rest of fuel used to go horizontal).  I tried shifting the chute parameters to open earlier. Part of the problem was that I used the FASA Mercury craft in a previous game and it worked fine, so I was at a bit of a loss as to why this was happening.  I did remove RealChute (because it is not working in 1.1.3) but that did not seem to be the issue because it was the craft that was too hot. I realized the previous game had FAR (Ferram Aerospace Research) installed which alters the atmosphere values.  So, I added that to see.  Sure enough, that fixed it.  It seems you have to use FAR with the FASA craft, at least for now. <Mercury Redstone 2> I have the Vostok 1 mission on deck which is my first Kerballed flight!  However, before that I can send off Venera 1 (which uses Molniya probe) to Eve.  I ran the sims I have just enough dV at this time in my Venera setup to make the transfer, so here it goes! Venera 1 5297 dV.  Needs to get orbit an dtransfer (about 1500 needed for that).  The Eve flyby must be within 20,000 km.  I want to be closer (<400km) so I can get low and high science.  Just a camera and a few experiments on board.  Not a big science mission. I had done the flight manually before, but the roughness made me a bit short of dV.  I upgraded my MechJeb (which frankly is more realistic) so now I can make the tight tolerance. 45 dV in the tank as I begin the interplanetary jaunt.  I will achieve the mission, however, I will adjust to get closer to try and get more science.  Will there be enough? More than enough. I only need 5.1 to get to 300 km.  Should be a great flyby in 175 days! <Venera 1 Underway>  

Orbital and Early Munar Missions

Continuing with the orbital historical missions, next up is Vanguard 1 which is still orbiting today! Launch date: 1y, 2d Vanguard 1 Vanguard 1 craft (5102 dV) Must make orbit with a periapsis above 600 km (minimum altitude) and generating solar power. Good job (650 km orbit) <Vanguard 1> Explorer 6 just required changing the probe on the Vanguard setup.  Also added the probe camera so I could get science from orbit. Launch date: 1y, 2d Explorer 6 Explorer 6 craft (4910 dV) Orbit above 250 km.  Send science back to complete contract. <Explorer 6> I got the Luna 1 contract. That will require some construction (and fund adjustment as well since the decoupler costs 5 times the payment). Need to build and test using the Luna 2 craft since there does not seem to be a Luna 1 in my stock. I did a lot of sims trying to do a direct launch.  That just can't make it.  Even when I lighten the load a bit.  I am trying to use the Sputnik rocket.  I can make it if I go orbital first.  I realize I may be able to do a rendezvous by doing a turn but not circularizing and going straight to Mun.  I just don't know how to figure that out. I guess I should just do the circ and transfer approach. <Pre Luna> Luna 1 Trouble not unlike what happened!  My orbital burn was way early for some reason  (unclear why).  As a result, I ended up with a low periapsis and had to adjust before the Mun burn as well as using too much fuel.  Fortunately, it worked out and I flew by the Mun by "accident" of a bad burn. <Luna 1> Luna 2 has to hit the Mun.  That should be easy, I had to adjust Luna 1 to stop it. No problem. <Luna 2> Luna 3 was interesting.  The solar panels were broken (was that historical?) so I had to use reserve power sparingly to handle the mission.  It was a Mun flyby (nearer than 600 km) that sent back science and then entered Kerbin orbit.  I was able to pass by at 35km so I got some high and low orbit science.  I also got some nice photos because the Luna 3 has an onboard camera.  Despite the power issues, successful mission. <Luna 3> Next up is Discoverer-13 which was the first reentry recovery mission ever. I don't have a discoverer or Coronado probe (which was use) but I have a Stardust Return Capsule which will collect Goo and return it so I will do that to complete the contract. I will also transmit some science back as well to complete a second science contract at the same time.  This is pretty much going to use stock equipment I think. The Discoverer sim went fairly well although it is a much more manual mission.  I need to handle flying (no SAS).  It is a stubby rocket so you go up at half throttle.  Do the goo and return.  Should do well, plenty of dV for the mission (125 km orbit). <Discoverer 13>  

Beginning at the Beginning

Another new Kerbal game.  Nutopia Space Program is being started on KSP64 1.1.3 with a few new mods in addition to my old standbys. I am using Historical Progression contracts (instead of Historical Missions) and the Kerbal Academy as well.  Since this is all based on the US/Soviet programs, I added a bunch of parts mods for those rockets and probes to make it feel a bit more real and less repetitive. Anyway, here we go! Sounding Rocket 1 Basic Aerobee design.  Single engine. 3 Fins.  No chutes or recovery. 1621 dV. Launch date: 0y, 0d (The first of everything!) Sounding Rocket 1 Sounding Rocket 1 craft (1621 dV) Contract wants a height of 50km.  Let's see if this can do it. Okay, this did not get even close!  A bit confused to say the least.  Short of 7km! Need to look at this design.  I am not sure if I need RoverDudes Sounding rocket mod to do this right. I added the Aerobee SRB to the stack and got above 10km but definitely not good enough (2028 dV).  I think I will back out and add the sounding rockets. Sounding Rocket 2 Another design using the USI rockets. This turns out to have way less dV than even the previous, so they won't fulfill the contract.  However, the new science is great and will let me bulk up on some science and early parts. Total dV is only 255 in atmo (2 sec). Got some basic landing pad science from the 4 experiments.  Next up is lower atmo. Game crash... Make sure the battery is in the top part that doesn't get released! Low altitude science rocket netted  17.6 so more to spend! Sounding Rocket 3 is an Aerobee 100 series based craft.  2504 dV gets it above 18 km and it carries both temp and pressure in the nose cone.  This can generate three science levels (ground included) in one mission, so it is worthwhile. Sounding Rocket 3 mission went well.  Crashing down but providing Odd thing. It crashed but was not completely destroyed so it appears I could not get back to the space center and it reverted me.  Need to do that again, I think. This time I didn't make 18km (I added a decoupler so it would crash harder, 2135 atmo dV).  Okay.  I did get some good science though, so I will keep it. I ran it again without the decoupler and was able to recover so I got the science.  I am near 60 science now. <Sounding Xper> The Aerobee 350 setup gets me a bit closer but still not there.  However, very good science for $3500 launch.  So, I will do that. 23,400 m altitude reached. Now have 57 science after having spent a bunch. <More Sounding> I want to get that contract done (50km).  I have built a Scout-based rocket with 3982 dV.  I do believe this should hit 50km pretty easily at this point.  I am not putting science on it because I want to fulfill the contract and then have a better low orbit science mission. The rocket is 'Upper Atmo Test Rocket 2'. Wow!!!  4246 km!!!  I guess that did it! (Beautiful evening launch as well) Almost overheated from the big launch.  But it was okay in the end and contract was fulfilled. It looks like the next contract is a V-2 rocket that gets to space, so I can do a low/high orbit science transmit mission as part of this since I do need to destroy the rocket (no recovery). I added a fairing and bunch of experiments.  Also, set the thrust to 75% power.  Total dV is 3705 (3408 atmo) so I think this will get me a big science load and V-2 contract completion. Some tweaks (added  an aerobee probe top for power and transmission) and now at 3678 dV. Tricked out for a lot of science at both low and high orbit. (much power and even some solar panels!) 1409 km apoasis. <V-2 Contract> I spent some $$ for action groups so I have $63K only.  However, my science amount is 834!  (I am using the KEI mod so I am getting Kerbin science).  This is killer. First sim test of the Sputnik 1 craft came up just a little bit short on orbit.  Not as efficient by hand is part of the issue.  May try again with a bigger turn. I created the Sputnik 1A craft built on top of an R7 engine (like the real one).  However, it has that cost balance problem.  It is ridiculously overpriced for the time zone and contract.  I need to adjust the funding to deal with that. I have done a fair amount of simulations with the Soviet R7 rocket.  I needed to add an internal reaction wheel to keep it stable.  It is crazy expensive.  However, it does let me get Sputnik 1 into orbit using something very close to the actual design.  So, I think it is ready to go.  The craft name is Sputnik 1a (4474 dV) because my original craft did not use the R7. Launch date: 1y, 1d Sputnik 1 Sputnik 1a craft (4474 dV) Putting the first artificial satellite into orbit!  The space program begins. Success!!!  Almost circular 115 km orbit! <Sputnik 1> Launch date: 1y, 1d Sputnik 2 Sputnik 2 craft (4519 dV) Apparently the Sputnik 2 capsule is a bit lighter.  Even with Laika (sad) on board. Need to achieve orbit.  Success... <Sputnik 2> Now I have the contract for Explorer 1.  This also requires a science transmission from orbit.  I hope I have something I haven't transmitted yet! Explorer 1 is coming across nicely (great FASA) however I have no control at the top so I needed to add a reaction wheel to the first stage.  I am not sure what may be missing instead. The sim shows it is a little tricky.  The power drains when the AMP manager is on, so don't use that.  Also the stabilizer got funky (was on but wasn't on).  Either way, watch power carefully.  Turn off AMP mgr during most.  Plus, the Sargent engines are all solid fuel, so no nice clean orbit.  You get up there.  Be sure to get the low orbit science because you may end up above it!  (use the "U" key). Launch date: 1y, 1d (lot happening today!) Explorer 1 Explorer 1 craft (5086 dV) Get in orbit.  Don't forget the low orbit science (geiger). Got it. <Explorer 1> Vanguard 1 simulation went smoothly.  I need an orbit with a minimum periapsis of 600 km.  The sim accomplished that with some room to spare. I want to update my MechJeb.  I know how to do it manually, it is just easier with MJ.  

Kerbalism Historical Concludes

So, I have changed my mind again! With the recent release of 1.1.3, I was planning to upgrade when I could.  My goal was to bring my existing games forward.  However, something happened on the way to that plan! A new historical contract pack (Historical Progression) was released and I think it will be a better journey than the Historic Missions pack I have been using.  The missions pack is great, but with nearly 600 missions in it, it can get very tedious.  For example, I am  now on my 7th capsule test mission (4 Korabl and 3 Mercury)!  They really are just the same mission.  Even worse are the built-in failure missions like failing to make orbit and having to crash.  This is really not moving anything forward. The coolest thing about the Historical Missions (even the tedious ones) is that the author did a great job of telling a bit of the history in the descriptions.  I have actually learned a lot of stuff from those that I did not know before.  That doesn't mean I want to create each and every one. The new pack focuses on missions that accomplished feats or firsts.  I think I will end up in the same place (nearing first kerballed mission) in a few days.  I may in fact still be that far in this one! So, I was able to get the mods I most care about in 1.1.3 at this point.  However, Kerbalism is not ready yet.  I do like it a lot though with its combination of life support, communications and malfunctions but a bit simplified.  A little extra challenge but not killer like RemoteTech.  So, I am going with TAC Life Support to try that out in the new game. So, on to the new game!  You will find it's blog here if you want to follow along.

Deeper Probes and Capsule Tests

It's been a while since I did Kerbalism.  I am back and am going to do a Mariner 3 and Ranger 5 mission set (using the Mariner 1/2 craft).  Than another Korabl test. Launch date: March 31, 1951 Mariner 3 (Ranger 5) Mariner Probe (6408 dV) Mun Flyby for Ranger (peri between 60km and 75km) and then off to heliocentric orbit for both to complete. Solid and uneventful mission. <Mariner 3> Another unmanned capsule test (Korabl-Sputnik 4) with orbit and successful splashdown. Launch date: April 10, 1951 Korabl-Sputnik 4 Vostok Base Historical 2 (4676 dV) Basic orbit and splashdown mission. 150 orbit, 5deg (50%) ascent path. (I actually had to do this mission again because I forgot I removed the parachute for the failure mission...duh) 887 dV available at 150km orbit.  Solid. Longer missions will require some sort of power source. <Korabl Sputnik 4> Got some science data from Mun.  Also, added the next (unkerballed) Korabl test!  How many did they have! Also will adjust the cash level to accommodate the overpriced Korabl missions.  

Next Gen Scans and Probes

With a big bunch of science, I can now develop a few new craft.  The first two will be scanners for the local system and return probes also for the local system. The scanners will be the Spectrum series. The return probes will be called Armstrong series. Sims of the Spectrum series. This went exceptionally well.  Other than adding the fairing jettison to the custom controls, it was perfect. The Armstrong will b every challenging.  Many steps and sims will probably be necessary to get this right.  The challenge on return will be waiting for the window as well.  I can use the atmosphere for braking, but it needs to sling back. First sim of the top of the Armstrong core shows that I need to keep the retrograde enabled during descent.  It leans big time to the side and it will probably cause some heat issues that I am not seeing in the slower orbital return speed. The engine also does not appear to be strong enough to to lift off probably.  It appears it will work for most but not Serran.  I also think I want to add material and goo gathering for low and high space, so I want another level.  Serran will be a special case all around I think since it has atmo as well. Did a sim from Mun landing to complete return.  Got a bit hot at the end.  I hope that isn't the case with others.  My fuel was actually pretty tight but Mun has the highest gravity, so that should not pose a problem for the others non-atmo.  Serran, again, special case. Overall, the sim looked pretty good.  I may be ready to start launching some real missions soon. My launch test went well, but 7431 dV I don't think will be enough.  I need to add boosters I believe. Now with boosters taking it to good orbit, I did a sim run to Eli and had 319 dV left in the landing stage.  Tight but good. Everything was going fine (plenty for return) until I warped past the landing and then ended up leaving Kerbin orbit with no more engines attached.  Oh well.  The sim looked good overall. Launch date: 1y 210d Spectrum 1 Spectrum core (7130 dV) Scan mission to Eli. The porkchop had just over 100 dV but the actual turned out to be about 1600.  Odd, but fine since I have plenty.  Need to be more careful with lander mission. 686 dV left with a 260km circular polar orbit.  Scans underway. <Spectrum 1 Scanning> It looks like Serran may be in good position to send its scanner.  Aptur and Mun are pretty frequent so it doesn't seem that they would get priority. Back to the return mission.  I may test the craft a bit more with an actual dip into Sonnah's upper atmosphere with return.  Could get me some good science and would be a good 'real' test. Launch date: 1y 219d Spectrum 2 Spectrum core (7130 dV) Scan mission to Serran. In 260km orbit.  1490 dV left.  Quite a bit! The transit was not very expensive.  Was a bit challenging to set up (porkchop set weird values) but I was able to get it really good with a low dV demand. <Spectrum 2 Scanning> Launch date: 1y 235d Spectrum 3 Spectrum core (7130 dV) Scan mission to Mun. The incline change is a massive 1341 dV!  I hope I have enough fuel! Needed to reset. Cannot make a 90 deg incline.  Get in orbit and get as high as I can I guess!  Really demanding a lot of fuel here for some reason I don't fully understand. The porkchop really messed up because this is a 3k dV mission.  Way off.  I really need to pay attention because the lander mission would be toast if this happened. Because I did the orbit first, the incline shift was within my range.  Mission rescued since I could not so the Survey without being in polar orbit Final orbit will be at 297x260km with an incline of 90. Final dV left is 47.  That's all! <Spectrum 3 Scanning> Launch date: 1y 240d Spectrum 4 Spectrum core (7130 dV) Scan mission to Aptur. Tricky getting to Aptur.  Not real impressed with the MechJeb interplanetary window launch.  Not sure what the point of it is. Good polar orbit (260) 1454 dV left. <Spectrum 4 Scanning> Small complication. It looks like we need to be lower for the survey scan.  (maybe due to the planet size) Therefore, I need to get that done when we return to gather the science from the other scans which are all in the ideal range for now. Armstrong craft This is a science return craft. 1 - Jettison Fairing 2 - Toggle Panels 5 - High Orbit Science 6 - Low Orbit Science 7 - Ground or atmo science (depend son the mission) 8 - Dust science for transmit Launch date: 1y 241d Armstrong Sonnah Armstrong Sonnah (8136 dV) This mission hopes to send a return probe into Sonnah's upper atmosphere. The ranges are 265k to 6000k for low orbit. Below 265k for upper atmosphere. Need to swing through and then get a higher periapsis to return to Kerbin. In orbit 200 km 4335dV in tank. 907 dV needed to swing just above Sonnah atmosphere. 3428 dV available. 1251 to make a 33mm circular orbit for return.  Looking good! 2166 dV left. 3 days to a 200 dV burn to get back to Kerbin.  Almost 2000 dV left with only minor adjustments afterwards! It worked!  We got it back!  519 science recovered not including the dust science and gravity science transmitted. What a mission! <Armstrong Sonnah> Correction, I now have 519 science.  It brought back about 100.  Not as awesome... <Scan Science Recovered> Also a little less than I hoped.  About 100 science as well. Working with the Armstrong Serran simulations.  Hard to get it to work right.  Lands hard now and kills the gear.  Don't even know if I can take off yet.  More parachutes! It appears the micro gear is just too weak.  Need to reassess. After multiple sims, I have to conclude my core lander designs (Armstrong) simply won't work on Serran. Even when I can land clean with a full two stage launch, I don't have enough dV to make orbit and return.  Despite the small payload, I will need a much larger craft to return from the surface.  I may use the Armstrong craft to do an orbital return from Serran so I can get the science from low/high space as well as upper atmosphere.  Similar to my Sonnah mission.  I may actually use the same craft that I used on Sonnah. Launch date: 1y 248d Armstrong Serran Armstrong Sonnah craft (8258 dV) A low pass of Serran with return. Mission went well.  Used most of the fuel so the land return will require much more (of course). 75 science earned and a little more returned. <Armstrong Serran>  

Landings and Further Journey’s

I have been away from New Horizons for a bit but now I want to get going on the next two phases of the program which occur in parallel. The first is the local system landing missions.  That craft is designated the Erikson and will land and transmit science from the local worlds.  Later, the worlds will be scanned for new biomes, but this initial foray only makes a single landing on each, so that is not necessary. The second is the Magellan craft for heading to some other worlds in the Kerbol system.  Eve is first, but others will follow. It doe snot require an orbit, a flyby should work just fine and keep the rocket size down for now. Both of these craft need to be simmed and tested. Eriksen (misspelled) simulation. Standard ascent config: 98.9 turn, 15 deg 50%, alt 200 Sim went fairly well to Serran except I separated too early and ran out of juice (my panel is retracted for landing).  I will run the sim starting the Serran orbit to test the lander aspect. Landing sim went pretty well.  The heat generated on entry started at 35km and never caused any heat warnings (I was going about 1500 m/s so it may be faster).  I can keep the 2nd stage longer I think.  To land, you do need to apply some engine because the atmosphere is too thin and you come down too fast. I think this is ready for a real mission! Launch Date: 1y 160d Erikson 1 Erikson Lander craft (6609 dV) Serran Mission. This will be the only atmosphere mission of the Erikson series (at this stage) so it will use the parachute and atmospheric braking. Night launch! 811 dV needed for rough transfer to Serran (2824 avail) 212 dV needed for adjustment (~700k periapsis) Need 842 to land on the sunny side, so I will be using part of my lander fuel to do that (559 dV in 2nd).  I think it is okay because I only need a little due to the parachute and atmosphere. Speed is just above 1960 as it hits the 61k atmosphere. Probe fell over on landing.  Came down a bit hard.  Gamma doesn't work in atmosphere (great).  I was able to extend the panel and am getting science.  Not pretty, but functional! Barometer also does not transmit full value (?) The biome is called "Dead Continents" and is very rocky.  I can't get a picture because of the craft being on its side. <Erikson 1> Next up is the Magellan mission.  I am not going to upgrade the craft before I go with new science (or octo probes) because I just don't get enough from the lander.  I would need a lot of missions and multiple biomes, so I think it is time to head into the larger system! Launch date: 1y 169d Magellan 1 Magellan Core craft (8480 dV) Science mission flyby of Eve.  May go into orbit if I can. 697 dV needed for Sonnah orbit (40mmx47mm). 4159 dV available to start journey to Eve. 1521 required for push to Eve (1941 in stage, 4159 total) We have about a small adjustment in 354 days which has been put into the Kerbal alarm.  Until then! <Magellan 1 Underway> Taking a break.  Looking at my science (227.7) it looks like another lander mission and I may have enough for a telescope which could get me a bunch of science. Launch date: 1y 199d Erikson 2 Erikson Lander craft (7043 dV) Eli Landing Mission. 1049 for transfer to Eli (656 left in stage, 2164 total) In a 60k orbit of Eli.  252 dV left in the stage and the full 1508 available in the lander.  Should be golden! Solid mission.  Auto landing a little slow, I needed to do some manual adjustment along the way.  Good science and photos. Biome: Surface <Erikson 2> Got enough science that I can now explore the telescope options!  Going to play with making some telescope ships.  I have choices so I may try three variants. I simmed with the other new scopes and they don't really offer anything.  They take pictures.  Minor science (only one picture as well).  One is for surface (seems heavy-handed for that).  Guess I will go with my traditional space scope again. Lowell 2 needs another sim run/test.  But it seems ready to go! Simming Lowell 2 at 6505 dV (need polar launch).  Shift to 150 km orbit.  Looks like a good sim run.  Last engine is a bit wonky (requires heavy reaction wheel to compensate) but it is good enough and not needing to change. Launch date: Lowell 2 Lowell 2 craft (6505 dV) Space telescope mission.  Go into a high polar orbit to reduce movement.  150 km initial orbit. 'Final' orbit of 150km x 5.24mm. About 360 m/s near apoasis.  Not bad.  Still a bit shaky.  Better without the big reaction wheel active. I got more than 1000 science off that mission!!! <Lowell 2 First Light> So now the door is open to many new things.  I can upgrade my scanning capabilities and map all the planets in the Sonnah system.  I can build the octo probes which will allow me to do return missions from the planets as well as send out some interesting long distance probes.  I also can start doing some basic Kerbal missions and build up to build a space station which could bring even more science and then launch me into my next level of interplanetary exploration even deeper!  

Early Capsule Tests

I wanted to build an historical style Vostok capsule (which is what is used for the Kohrabl contracts) and using the parts form the Soviet mod (and a few from FASA) I created a pretty good one!  Vostok Base Historical.  Here is the problem, the costs of the parts are not play balanced at all, so the rocket costs are 10 times the value of the contract.  Even the sims are killer. So, I can use this (which I would like to) in which case I will need to go in and adjust my current cash periodically to compensate.  Going in and adjusting each part will take forever so that is not worth it.  To highlight how silly it got, the R2 fins were $50k a piece!  They upped the price to nearly $400k for the craft, plus, they did not work.  I needed to replace them with the Kerbal adjustable fins or the craft was unflyable in the sim. The other option is to either "Kerbalize" the launcher with stock parts or use FASA parts.  Since I am using the FASA parts for the American program, I would prefer to not do that. I have to say, when I ran the sim with the original parts, it was a very cool launch with the craft slowly going up and slow turning until I reach a roughly 130k circular orbit.  Return went well also. In the meanwhile, I may launch a couple more probes for contracts and work a bit on the Mercury craft since that is coming up as well. My sim test of the Mercury suborbital went perfectly.  A little concern about the parachute that even with the shielding on it it got a bit heated on re-entry.  I guess that is part of the risk! I actually don't have any active probe contracts so I am going to go ahead with my historical Vostok and adjust the money later (give myself a small profit for the launch).  Due to the size and cost, this has a 21 day construction period. Launch date: March 16, 1951 Korabl-Sputnik 1 Vostok Base Historical craft (4658 dV) Need to put it in orbit. Don't need to return but I will to test the craft further. Tough on the ascent as you have to work to maintain control, but it went off very smoothly in general.  Mission was a complete test success! <Korabl 1> So, I am a little bummed because the Korabl mission also satisfied the Mercury Redstone test and the Ranger 1 mission.  I will run a sim for Mercury Redstone just to feel good about that, I think.  I may still do the Ranger mission though. I also received the 2nd Sputnik mission to do. Venera-1 is also on the table, but it is quite a while for the window so I am not sure what to do with that. I have received the Ranger 2 mission but it does not appear that I have a specific Ranger 2 probe so since it is just an orbital mission, I will use the Korabl 2 mission to satisfy it.  I don't have a Venera probe either but I will still do that one separate. I picked up another contract from FASA for a Duna mission.  This will pay some money and get me some science in the future (it will fulfill Ranger as well) so I built a Mariner probe-based Duna flyby craft.  I may go into orbit when I get there, we will see. <Pre Duna> Launch date: March 18, 1951 Mariner 1 Duna Mariner Probe craft (6298 dV) This is a flyby (possibly orbit) science/contract mission to Duna. Launch requires a hard turn to 70 deg after 100.  After that, go to 150km and circ before heading to Duna. Duna High/Low Space at 140 km. The tuning adjustment occurs in 24 days (alarm was way off for some reason).  109 arrive at Duna. Great science in Kerbol orbit. <Duna Underway> Launch Date: March 20, 1951 Mercury Redstone 2 Mercury craft (3113 dV) Suborbital test of the Mercury capsule.  Monkey on board! Needed to adjust the decouplers, the top one was firing with the bottom one.  Bad.  Needs to fire 2nd. Something odd happened where the power almost completely drained.  Now it is recharging from the small panels I added.  Also, the craft cannot be controlled.  We're gonna have a sick monkey. Safe splashdown. <Mercury Redstone 2> On Mariner 1.  The probe camera is not a camera.  Bummed.  I did not put a camera on the probe because I intended to use that.  Well, it gets good science! Running a sim on the Vostok craft using the new Mechjeb features (ascent). The MJ worked great.  I encountered other issues.  The Engineering Redux board was blocking the door of the craft so I could not EVA.  I fixed that, added a tower, adjusted the boosters to fit better and added a vent so now it is even cooler for the mission! Because of the changes I saved it as #2 in case I messed it up. I have begun building out Korabl-Sputnik 2.  If I take off with an incline of 18 deg I can cover Poppy-1 as well which I will because I don't have a specific Poppy craft to make it fun. Launch Date: March 24, 1951 Korabl-Sputnik 2 Vostok Base Historical 2 craft (4654 dV) Launch at 18 deg incline to handle Poppy-1 as well. This is unkerballed 2nd capsule test flight. Hard to believe, but I forgot to put the parachute back when I changed craft core!!! Did not do well... -Mission Failure- <Korabl 2 Fail> Now, that screw-up notwithstanding, it was a solid flight that would have easily ended successfully and I did fly it.  It was only swapped because of a weird issue with the Engineer Redux mod (blocking the door internally).  The problem is that I now have the Mercury Atlas Test Flight contract and filling this again will fill that as well.  So, I am going to run the Atlas mission and that will fulfill this mission as well (Poppy is already fulfilled). Many Atlas sims run.  I ended up needing a reactor wheel buried in it and adding fins.  Even when I went straight up with a capped acceleration at 25, the craft would start to turn.  Vernier engines could not stop it.  Could be FAR.  Anyway, I needed to add the fins.  It's okay, they don't mar the look too badly and I was able to sim it into orbit. Another note is that the Atlas also seems to be overpriced for contract purposes. It is not as bad as the Vostok set, but you can't really make any money on doing contracts using an actual Atlas rocket.  Since that is a less interesting part of the game for me I will adjust the money after running a few of these missions. Sims looked good.  Ready to fly the Mercury Atlas 4 contract (with Korabl +) Launch date: March 25, 1951 Mercury Atlas 4 Mercury Atlas Core (4280 dV) This is a test of the Mercury orbital mission.  Need to drop the boosters at 30km. Unusual ascent profile for the Atlas: 5.3 km or 512 m/s to start turn.  Turn 50% to 10 deg. Orbit Altitude 150km. Should have been 10km!  I turned early and almost lost control. In orbit, solid at 150km.  Ready for return. 145 dV in retro package.  Need 105 for 20km periapsis return. Good splashdown and recovery. <Mercury Atlas 4> Sim test of Ranger core.  Should be fine.  Basic rocket and plenty of power. Wow.  Ascent profile needs to be 30km or 1000 m/s turn!  Way up there or it topples over.  It's fine, inefficient but there is plenty left. So, I have no ability to turn the probe!  I need to add just a little something... Limit accel to 20 until reaching 40km. Set turn to 5 deg. I think we are at good enough for a launch. Launch Date: March 26, 1951 Ranger 3 Ranger Core craft (5784 dV) Basic Mun flyby and then into heliocentric orbit (escape Kerbin).  I can get some science if I go below the 60km low space point. Leaving accel limit on until shutoff. That worked fine. Once it is just the probe, the reaction wheel is way overpowered.  This is not a good design.  I need a different design in the future for Rangers. Some science (not all I expected, it seems I already had the gieger data, and I am not sure what is up with the probe). <Ranger 3> Launch Date: March 28, 1951 Mercury Atlas 5 Mercury Atlas Core (4280 dV) Another orbital monkey test.  This will be a late afternoon/dusk launch! Take off.  Orbit.  Splash down. Perfect flight. <Mercury Atlas 5> I have both the Ranger 4 and Korabl-Sputnik 3 missions on tap.  Both are being built.  Both are different failure missions.  I don't like these since they result in failure and you sometimes don't fail right!  But, you need them to do the next ones, so... Launch Date: March 28, 1951 Ranger 4 Ranger Core craft (6067 dV) The solar panels were removed because the craft needs to run out of power on its way to Mun as part of the 'failure' contract. The mission went well.  The game got in a funky state where I could not eliminate a dialog box though so I had to exit and restart, but I hope my save was okay. <Ranger 4> Launch Date: March 31, 1951 Korabl Sputnik 3 Vostok Base Historical 2 craft (4676 dV) This needs to get into orbit and then crash on return.  Another failure mission. I achieved orbit but it did not register.  Everything was as it was supposed to so I will manually close the contract. <Korabl 3>  

2nd Generation Explorations

I used up a bunch of science to add experiments and more Mechjeb capabilities so I could automate some stuff.  To start, I want to do an orbital material return mission which should bulk up my science a bit to get some bigger rockets and then score a telescope to get some of that science! Orbital Return (craft name, 4472 dV) Launch date: 1y 67d This has a bit of a tricky liftoff.  It needs to be held on accel and turn 20 deg to prevent a tip.  Since this overall craft is a single mission version, I don't think the instability is a concern. It will make orbit at 125km.  Increase its apoasis to 275 km so I can retrieve high orbit material science. Remember to get science in the upper atmosphere! Flawless mission. Solid science. <Orbital Return> I have now built an orbital probe with a few more experiments on it.  This is a testing probe for the next generation of system probes (and maybe further as well). Clark 1 Clark Probe ( Launch date: 1y 68d Clean launch. Testing going smoothly.  Getting a little science.  I have enough dV left (1755) that after going to higher orbit I may transfer to another body! 1598 dV at 275 km orbit.  Maybe a Sonnah pass? Requires 809 to go to  4000km Sonnah pass (low orbit science).  Ended up with a 2500 km periapsis. Electrostatic Analysis only works in near space.  Got the RPWS science for Sonnah as well.  The mag and scope had been done before. With 788 left, I am not sure what I can do, exploring the possibilities a bit. Using 650 to go into a big Kerbol orbit for the hell of it. I will get some more science out of it. Unfortunately, the ship got turned around with the panel facing away and used up it's reserve power.  I don't know if I will ever get powered again so it may be dead in space.  I am doing a save and am looking at running forward to see if I get some sunlight on the panel.  I think I might. <Clark 1> So I tested it and it does get power back but it takes almost a year.  I don't want to burn that time so I will simply have to use another ship to get high Kerbol science.  Anyway, that might be a good mission anyway because it will force me to make a better probe in prep for other worlds.  I just need a little more science... - Reset to Clark 1 I have updated the Clark Probe (5645 dV) and it looks like I can do a pretty good Eli mission. I do want to use the flipping solar panel though, the Probes+ version is driving me a bit crazy by not getting pointed right. Other research shows this may be a perfect time for a while for an Eve orbit.  May need to send something off to get some stuff out of it.  Maybe make a more advanced probe after an Eli mission? The other cool thing would be to get a sample return mission from Sonnah.  Maybe the craft descend into the atmosphere and after it collects the samples from the lower atmosphere, it fires rockets and returns to orbit.  That would be very cool to pull off! Clark 2 Clark Probe craft (5643 dV) Launch date: 1y 153d Eli probe mission with the 2nd generation probe.  If i can get enough science, I can create an upgraded craft for my first interplanetary outside the Sonnah system to Eve. After I arrived, I decided not to orbit Eli but to let it flyby and enter Sonnah Orbit.  I have 1097 dV left and maybe I can do something else with Clark 2.  I already have a probe in orbit, so another one doesn't really help.  In the meanwhile, this is not a great science mission (okay) and I got all that so maybe I just head out to space or something?  I don't know.  If I can encounter another system body, that may work too. <Clark 2> Did a full sim run to Eve using Clark Test craft.  It made it.  I had about 350 dV left after going into a 225x1000 orbit of Eve (which looks drab with a thick cloud layer).  But the science was huge!  I need to put together this mission.  I will shoot for 8000 dV (craft had about 7700) to give me a bit more flex.  Eve has no moons. My Sonnah sample return sim did not go so well.  The ship could not point up and I think I will need a ton of dV to make that work.  I need to do more sims before really trying it. Clark 3 Clark Probe craft (5603 dV) Launch date: 1y 157d A Mun mission with the Clark craft.  This should get me enough science to upgrade my interplanetary craft. The auto stuff did not work.  I was able to manually create a transfer maneuver. Pretty cool!  That did work and I am able to make orbit. I did get my science to break 90 so I have new stuff I can add for my deeper probes. <Clark 3> I want to spend a bit of time constructing the Magellan craft (which will be my interplanetary core) and also the Lowell-1 which would be our first space telescope. In building Lowell 1 I realized the camera does not act as a telescope.  I need to spend 300 science to get some real space telescope, so I will save the Lowell moniker. Next craft to build will be a system lander to get some surface science (no return).  Then I need an system return craft for orbital goo and material collection (and space dust).  This all should get me some good science so I can start evolving my kerballed program.  

Continuing Unkerballed Missions

The contract is for Explorer 10 and Pioneer 4.  The Pioneer requires a Mun encounter and then a fling out to space.  Explorer requires an apoasis above 18mm.  I will focus on Pioneer and see if Explorer works. Launch date: March 3, 1951 Pioneer 4 (Pioneer Base 3 Craft, 5153 dV) Goal is a Munar Flyby.  2nd goal is 18mm apoasis. Rough launch as I turned to quickly on the 2nd turn and rolled a bit.  I think it is recovered. Very rough circ orbit as it started to spin especially after the stage separated.  Did recover it and am in a 150km circ orbit. I was able to make both missions complete.  Ran out of power but it was fine. <Pioneer 4> It looks like I have a Luna mission to do and that will also take care of Explorer 11.  I have three scan missions which should also get me some bucks.  Still heading towards the kerballed missions. There has been an update to Historic Missions that I would like to get in place before I continue those.  However, in the meanwhile I do have some scanning missions I can complete. I built RADAR Scanner and am now building three vessels to scan Kerbin, Mun and Minmus for contracts.  Nice little stack of change, some science, and altimeter data to boot! Launch date: March 5, 1951 Kerbin RADAR Scanner RADAR Scanner craft (5929 dV) Remember to Turn On Fuel Pump, use ignition start, cap acceleration at 30 m/s, do the turns slowly (it turns quickly), shoot for 90 deg inclination and end up around 260 km circular orbit for scan. G (gear) releases the fairings. Lock gimbal before doing circ. Good orbit.  Engines shut down.  Scan underway. Quicksave. Had some power issues.  Not sue why, it says I am generating more than spending, I don't know.  Not much more though but good enough to probably get my 85%.  I did forget to set the incline!  I handled that. Launch date: March 6, 1951 Mun RADAR Scanner RADAR Scanner craft (5929 dV) This is a Mun mission, so lower orbit (150km) and transfer with an incline and peri set from SOI change. Dusk launch! Forgot to Turn On Fuel Pump! 998dV left when in solid Mun orbit.  Success! Quicksave. Still confused on power.  Says I am generating .16 and using .13.  Says .o3 in power window.  Losing power?!? Launch date: March 6, 1951 Minmus RADAR Scanner RADAR Scanner craft (5292dV) Minmus mission. Minmus orbit.  1056 dV left.  Even better than Mun! <RADAR Set> Got analysis science from Kerbin and Mun scanners. (100%) I have Pioneer and Luna missions to do. Launch date: March 10, 1951 Luna 3 Luna Base Craft (swapped probe core, 5828 dV) Need to swing by Mun and go into Kerbal orbit. Below 600km periapsis of Mun. Forgot the Eng Redux Board.  Bit of a pain, but mission should be fine. Had a cool camera on board for photos. Success (also handled Pioneer 5 while I was at it). <Luna 3> Got the contract for Korabl Sputnik!  I am getting close to kerballed missions. Also, since I have a Pioneer 5 probe (and that is the only mission it was used), I will use that for Pioneer 6 since that probe was used on 4 different missions.