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: Mods and Minmus Science

I've been experimenting with a number of mods recently. I already had Kerbal Attachment System installed, because I believe the ability to refuel a spacecraft without docking it should be included in the base game, but I wanted to explore the magnitude of mods which exist for the game. I was particularly looking for mods which made bases and space stations worthwhile. I copied my existing KSP directory and added the following mods:

• Procedural Fairings - Introduces fairings which cover payloads.
• Kerbal Alarm Clock - Allows creation of alarms which interrupt time acceleration.
• TAC Life Support - Introduces life support (food, water, oxygen).
• Kerbal Engineer - Displays spacecraft information (thrust-to-weight-ratio, delta-v).
• Infernal Robotics - Introduces a number of small gadgets (hinges, washers).
• KSP Intersteller - Introduces future tech (nuclear power, antimatter, FTL travel).
• Kethane - Allows mining of Kethane from moons & planets which can be refined into fuels.
• Biomass - Introduces modules which can grow food or create oxygen.
• TAC Fuel Balancer - Provides a convenient way of moving resources throughout a craft.

The inclusion of these mods has meant that I've needed to start a new game in career mode. This isn't very problematic because I'm already familiar with the game concepts and it allows me to revisit places I haven't visited in a while. The 0.23.5 patch rendered my previous career mode corrupt and effectively turned into sandbox mode, thereby making collecting science meaningless. In my new game, I'm collecting science again and re-experiencing the challenges of hauling science equipment.

Minmus Mobile Science Lab

As part of this science gathering process, I created a Minmus Mobile Science Lab that was capable of gathering science from at least five of Minmus' biomes in a single expedition. I've been wanting to experiment with building a lander that utilizes nuclear engines, but haven't found the opportunity. Nuclear engines are highly efficient in the vacuum of space, however they have an absolutely horrible thrust-to-weight ratio (TWR) and are so long and heavy that building a lander that utilizes them becomes challenging.

I was able to use Kerbal Engineer to determine what the Science Lab's TWR would be before I launched the spacecraft and could be confident the lander would operate on the gravitational weak moon of Minmus. The mission was very successful and I collected a ridiculous amount of science from Minmus' flats, lowlands, slopes, highlands, and poles.

I have one more mission to report on from my previous save game, however I will likely switch focus to my moded save game moving forward.

Kerbal Space Program: Eeloo Landing

Mission: Land on and return from Eeloo.

Eeloo: Europa

Launching the Pancake 3.

Eeloo is the outermost and least explored planet in the Kerbol system. Although approximately the size of Kerbin's moon, Eeloo has somehow managed to clear its immediate orbital neighborhood and become locked in a 2:3 resonance with the significantly larger Jool. It is covered with large sheets of ice which are assumed to be cracked as a result of gravitational forces causing tidal flexing on Eeloo.

The origin of this gravity is unknown and was described as dark matter by an overexcited group of Kerbal scientists when reporting their results to news outlets. Nonetheless, there are a number of mysteries surrounding Eeloo which warrant further investigation. We are interested in discovering if the laws of physics continue to operate as expected that far into space.

A successful orbital insertion at Eeloo.

This Eeloo mission was very similar to our recent missions. Sigfried Kerman, the renowned Kerbal pilot, was chosen to pilot the reliable, interplanetary Pancake 3 spacecraft. Lemfry, our seasoned kerbalnaut, would be resting after his recent decades in space during our Jool missions. Sigfried represents our efforts to expand our available crew and provide experience to younger Kerbals.

Descending to the surface of Eeloo.

The journey to Eeloo was long and dreadfully uneventful. Sigfried performed a rendezvous and orbital insertion with Eeloo. While descending towards the surface of Eeloo, Sigfried remarked on how overwhelming desolate the planet appeared. The notable terrain features were the collision regions between ice sheets and were observable only while several kilometers above the surface. There was nothing of note on the surface of the planet or in the immediate vicinity.

Eeloo landing site.

We were unable determine how Eeloo managed to clear it's orbital neighborhood or discover the gravitational source of tidal acceleration on Eeloo. Nonetheless, while the mission was unsuccessful and largely uneventful, we now have landed kerbals and probes on every planet in the Kerbol system. What remains is rescuing Gerlo Kerman from the surface of Moho and performing a landing and return on both Eve and Tylo.

Kerbal Space Program: Joolian Moons - Bop

Mission: Land a Kerbal on Laythe, Pol, and Bop in a single trip and return to Kerbin.

Part 1 - Laythe
Part 2 - Pol

Approaching Bop while attached to the interplanetary transport.

Lemfry approached Bop, the alleged home of the deep-space kraken. This fourth-nearest "moon" of Jool was situated between the tiny Pol and the enormous Tylo. Bop's orbit is noticeably irregular and makes the captured asteroid more difficult to encounter. As Lemfry neared Bop, it became clear that the asteroid, although less rugged than Pol, was home to a very mountainous landscape.

Lemfry enjoying the low gravity on Bop.

The landing procedure was no different than the one executed on Pol. The Pancake 3 lander was separated from the interplanetary transport, which was left orbiting the asteroid, and gently touched down on the low-gravity surface. On the surface, Bop was far less interesting than Pol, with only a few larger rocks scattered throughout and a very homogeneous landscape.

Lemfry exploring the Bop landscape.

Lemfry spent several days exploring the asteroid in search of the deep-space Kraken. The landing site, which was located within the largest impact crater, was searched thoroughly. Furthermore, the north and south poles were examined. These sites were Mission Control's best guess as to where such a creature might make its home. However, no such creature could be found on the desolate surface of Bop.

Removing deadweight before the return trip to Kerbin.

Returning to the Pancake 3 lander and ascending from Bop, Lemfry rendezvoused with the interplanetary transport. The distribution of fuel was rearranged and the outer four nuclear engines were separated and left in orbit around Bop. Lemfry considered making a quick stop on Vall, Jool's icy moon, thereby pushing four moon landings in a single mission, but ultimately decided against it.

Landing gently back home on Kerbin after decades in space.

Lemfry waited for the transfer window to Kerbin to open up and ignited the single nuclear engine of the Pancake 3. The journey home from Jool was largely uneventful, save for Lemfry's constant bragging to Gerlo about all the fun he was missing after having become stranded on Moho. Lemfry finally encountered Kerbin and entered its atmosphere without difficulty. The landing was only slightly complicated because the Pancake 3 was designed to have it's parachutes support only the innermost piece of the lander and not the entire vehicle. The landing required a small retrograde burn to help combat the force of gravity. Nonetheless, Lemfry returned safely to the surface of Kerbin.

Kerbal Space Program: Joolian Moons - Pol

Mission: Land a Kerbal on Laythe, Pol, and Bop in a single trip and return to Kerbin.

Part 1 - Laythe

Approaching Pol with the interplanetary transport.

After a successful first mission stage, Lemfry departed from Jool's innermost moon, Laythe, and rendezvoused with Jool's outermost moon. As the Pancake 3 spacecraft approached the small moon of Pol, the rugged features and coloured landscape of the alien world became distinguishable. The landing was expected to require very little fuel and consequently most of the fuel was removed from the lander and placed into the interplanetary transport. Lemfry placed the craft into low-orbit around the moon, separated the lander, and prepared for descent.

Landing on Pol. Various large rocks cover the surface.

The Pancake 3 lander descended by first removing all horizontal velocity and then performing a two-stage burn while descending. Lemfry feared the spacecraft might land directly on top one of the many spiraling rocks which peppered the Polian surface. However, these rocks were avoided as Lemfry touched down on the side of a gently rolling hill; a half-dozen meters away from one such rock.

The Pol landing site. A sharp rock was narrowly avoided!

Lemfry performed a variety of scientific experiments and collected samples which would be analyzed on Kerbin. There were many questions which needed to be answered about the obscurity of the moon. How did the landscape become so rugged on a moon with no atmosphere? What was the origin of the spiraling rocks? Was the moon volcanically active? The scientists on Kerbin would hope to find answers. In the meantime, Lemfry boarded the Pancake 3 lander, ascended from the moon, and docked with the interplanetary transport. Lemfry set a course of another of Jool's moons and alleged home of the infamous deep-space kraken.