Kerbal Space Program: Vall Landing

Mission: Land a Kerbal on Vall and return to Kerbin.


Jool: Jupiter
Vall: Europa
Tylo: Ganymede
Duna: Mars
Kerbin: Earth

The next great achievement for Kerbalkind would be a manned expedition to the Jool system. The Kerbals in engineering informed us we could build a smaller rocket by utilizing Jool's atmosphere to slow down during an encounter. Something about not needing brakes; which is usually an afterthought anyways! Vall, Jool's moon, was chosen as a target because there was reason to believe there might be life buried underneath the surface of the icy moon.

The Pancake 2 on the launchpad.

The Pancake 1 was redesigned to create a much more symmetric design. It was also now possible to remove engines in pairs during the last two stages. This approach allowed for a greater fuel efficiency during interplanetary travel as engines could be immediately removed when finished. The Pancake 2 utilized the new, massive engines and fuel tanks from R&D, which greatly simplified rocket design. The Kerbals no longer needed to strap dozens of orange fuel tanks to the bottom rockets with Kerbal equivalent of duct tape. Hooray for Kerbal ingenuity!

Various stages of the Pancake 2 while escaping from Kerbin.

Lemfry Kerman was chosen to be the pilot and sole crew member of the Pancake 2. Lemfry had just returned from traveling to Dres and was immediately hurried into the spacecraft before he had the opportunity to wash the dust from his face. We launched the Pancake 2 into Kerbin orbit and waited for a reasonable Jool transfer window. The nuclear engines were fired and Lemfry made his way towards Jool at a few kilometers per second.

Pancake 2 encounter with Jool.

Lemfry arrived at Jool and performed an aerobrake maneuver to remain within the Jool system. The maneuver was simulated a number of times to find the precise atmospheric height that slowed the Pancake 2 sufficiently without causing it become forever trapped by its overwhelming gravity. Lemfry adjusted his orbital plane and executed a transfer maneuver that would result in a Vall approach.

Top: Approaching Vall. Bottom: Vall descent.

Similar to our Dres landing, Lemfry used the last remaining interplanetary fuel during the first part of the Vall landing to capitalize on it's high fuel efficiency in a vacuum. The Pancake 2 approached the surface of Vall gradually and according to plan. Lemfry separated the spacecraft from the nuclear engines and rotated the lander into the upright position. The Pancake 2 landed on tidally-locked Vall while Laythe, another of Jool's moons, was passing in front of Jool over the horizon.

Softly touching down on Vall. Laythe can be seen passing in front of Jool.

The spacecraft touched down gently and Lemfry began working right away. Surface samples, temperature, and seismic information were collected. The laboratories on Kerbin would look to see if there were any signs of life in the icy surface upon Lemfry's return. A flag was planted and Lemfry took a photo of the Vall landing site before Laythe disappeared behind Jool.

At home in space!

Lemfry eventually returned to the Pancake 2 and launched spacecraft into low Vall orbit. Mission control planned a gravity assist maneuver with Tylo. Tylo is another of Jool's moons with a enough mass required to perform a gravity assist maneuver that would result in a Jool escape. While passing by Tylo, Lemfry decided to perform an unscheduled spacewalk and goof around while feeling weightless above the massive moon.

Hi Mom!

The Pancake 2 arrive back at Kerbin with little difficulty. Mission control was delightfully surprised to discover that engineering was indeed capable of designing a spacecraft with enough fuel to accomplish something of merit. The spacecraft approached Kerbin with a relative velocity of a few kilometers per second. The velocity was reduced by perform a hard aerocapture maneuver that resulted in a crash course with one of Kerbin's oceans. The parachutes were activated and Lemfry landed gently in the water. Unfortunately, the craft was rotated such that the escape hatch was facing downwards and Lemfry had to wait until being rescued before he could once again breath a sigh of relief on Kerbin. Nonetheless, Lemfry had made it back safe and sound!

Arriving safely back at Kerbin.