Kerbal Space Program: To Dres.. or Moho!

Mission: Dres Landing or When Gerlo Visited Moho

Departing from Kerbin.

Kerbalkind had landed and returned from Mun, Minmus, Duna, and Ike. The next closest orbital body to attempt a landing would be Eve. However, legend tells us that Eve is an inescapable and inhospitable planet where unwanted Kerbals are banished for eternity; never to see their loved ones again. Our scientists informed us that we should instead aim for either Dres or Moho, both moonless planets comparable in size to Kerbin's Mun.

We drew up plans for a Dresollo 1 lander which was an adapted version of the Dunollo 1 (with more RCS thrusters this time!) and plotted a course for Dres. The Kerbals constructed a simple craft in low Kerbin orbit which consisted of a large fuel tank, nuclear engines, and the Dresollo 1 landing craft. We had our ace pilot Gerlo and two other Kerbals board the craft and prepare for interplanetary travel.

Gravity assist near Eve.

However, our plans for a Dres mission were misinterpreted (mission control claims Gerlo refused to follow orders) and the Dresollo 1 set a course in the complete opposite direction for Moho. Gerlo renamed the craft the Mohollo 1 and took full control of the mission, much to the Kerbals' dismay.

The interplanetary voyage consisted of a gravity assist from Eve and the burning absurd amounts of fuel to acquire an orbit comparable to erratic Moho. Moho's orbital inclination was several degrees different than Kerbin's and was highly elliptical. Gerlo managed to have the Mohollo 1 arrive at Moho only after exhausting nearly all of the craft's fuel.

Landing on Moho.

A large amount of fuel was transferred from the landing craft to the nuclear engines in order to capture the craft efficiently within Moho's orbit. While there wasn't enough fuel to achieve a proper orbit, Gerlo achieved an unstable orbit that was on a direct course with Moho without an extreme amount of velocity. The Kerbals separated from their empty interplanetary transport and prepared for landing. The landing procedure was quite similar to Mun or Ike, however, the Kerbals landed with significantly less fuel remaining than expected.

Gerlo Kerman on Moho.

And again, we found ourselves with a number of Kerbals trapped on foreign orbital bodies with extremely little fuel. We would need to build a much larger interplanetary transport to rescue our trapped friends!