Kerbal Space Program: Moho Rescue

Mission: Rescue the Kerbals stranded on Moho.

Unmanned Pancake 3 lander approaching the surface of Dres.

Moho had proven to be a very a challenging target for operations. The closest planet to Kerbol had been avoided for quite some time because of its high orbital velocity and steep orbital inclination made encounters very challenging. When Gerlo Kerman, rogue Kerbalnaut, commandeered the Dreollo 1 landing craft and guided the it to Moho, mission control knew the poor Kerbal would be stranded on the unwelcoming planet for many decades.

There was one rescue attempt, before developing the Pancake 3 rocket, which had failed miserably and was purged from records. With the invention of the Pancake 3, there was renewed hope in rescuing the Kerbals from Moho. However, one problem was that the Pancake had room only one Kerbalnaut, and mission control needed to rescue three. The solution was simple; two chairs were strapped to the outside of the spacecraft and the unlucky Kerbals would have to ride outside the craft for the duration of the voyage.

With this plan, an unmanned Pancake 3 spacecraft was launched to Moho!

Two Kerbalnauts enjoying the view outside.

The Pancake 3 arrived at Moho and performed insertion burns as it done for many similar missions. The landing location was spotted and mission control guided the spacecraft to within a few kilometers of Gerlo Kerman. The stranded Kerbals EVA'd over to the Pancake and boarded their ride home, with Gerlo Kerman forcibly claiming the comfortable seat on the inside.

The return trip to Kerbin was uneventful. The landing, however, was quite terrifying. The parachutes failed during the last kilometer of descent and the engines needed to be fired to be soften the imminent explosion. The two kerbals unfortunate enough to be on the outside of the spacecraft ejected at the last minute to prevent their bodies from being destroyed by the exploding Pancake. Their bodies were thrown down the side of a mountain and battered tremendously.

Fortunately, everyone survived and the kerbals had made it back from Moho in a manageable number of pieces!

Surviving the parachute failure!

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!