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Topic: Year 4 day 66 - Duna Direct Flight 2

squeegee started this discussion 8 years ago #76,122

Kermington Post - 4/66 3:25MET - SpaceK is targeting launch of Duna Direct Flight 2 from the historic Kerpollo Launch Complex 39A at KASA's Kape Kerbnaveral Space Center in Kerbflorida. The 3 day launch window opens on year 5 day 367 at 4:19 MET. This will mark the second launch of SpaceK's new Giga-Dong Launch System, a three quarters of a million ton version of the Katurn 5 used to launch the Kerpollo missions.

Details surrounding the tragedy of the First Duna Direct mission are still scarce as officials continue to deny allegations of negligence amid what appears to be a cover-up. The only survivor of the 5 Kerbal crew, Valentina Kermin, has not made any additional statements since briefly appearing in the days following her recovery. Investigators are slowly beginning to piece together a chilling tale of incompetence and hubris, and of the Kerbal toll, a tragic story of starvation, thirst, mechanical failures and self sacrifice.

KASA administrators issued this statement when asked to comment, "Space travel is dangerous and difficult and challenges can only be met with the minimal equipment available on hand. There is no fixing the irreparable, and sometimes impossible choices must be made by the brave Kerbals who choose to venture into the unknown. We overcome, and adapt, and out of the amalgam of experience comes resilience." - Warner VonKerman

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Anonymous B joined in and replied with this 8 years ago, 4 minutes later[^] [v] #896,028

Anonymous C joined in and replied with this 8 years ago, 43 seconds later, 5 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #896,029

squeegee (OP) replied with this 8 years ago, 8 minutes later, 14 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #896,030

pictured: Duna Direct 1 Crew a few hours after a successful landing.

Duna Direct 2 will be in route to the red planet for 304 days before arriving on year 6 day 247. The crew will remain on the planet for 1 year and 86 days before making the 315 day trip home in year 8. The total mission will take 2 and a half years and will be the longest planetary stay of any previous KASA mission.

squeegee (OP) double-posted this 8 years ago, 34 minutes later, 48 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #896,039

squeegee (OP) triple-posted this 8 years ago, 13 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #896,041

5/366 Duna Direct 2 sits on the pad preparing for launch

final launch window selected:
Departure
Year 5, day 367 at 5:02:24
Arrival
Year 6, day 244 at 5:04:48
Time of flight
303 days 0:02:24

(Edited 4 minutes later.)

squeegee (OP) quadruple-posted this 8 years ago, 8 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #896,043

T-minus - 1 hour, 2 minutes, 24 seconds.

Anonymous C replied with this 8 years ago, 3 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #896,044

squeegee (OP) replied with this 8 years ago, 18 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^] [v] #896,045

@previous (C)
while we're waiting for the launch window i can talk about why it's called Duna Direct. this type of launch doesn't require any orbiting of Kerbin, the ship will be launching directly into the phase angle of the Kerbin-Duna Transit which requires launching at a specific time. it's the most fuel efficient way to make the transfer but leaves no time for any kind of rendezvous. no building anything fancy in orbit and fueling it up with half a dozen launches, everything goes in one shot.

it's Kerpollo at 3x the size. little more than. it would be like building a 25 million pound Saturn 5 to launch a slightly bigger Apollo ship to mars.

(Edited 5 minutes later.)

squeegee (OP) double-posted this 8 years ago, 33 minutes later, 2 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,051

Liftoff, no explosions yet, that's good.

squeegee (OP) triple-posted this 8 years ago, 2 minutes later, 2 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,052

first stage is spent. i think that was more than half the weight or something.
edit: oh, easily, that's like more than 500 tons.

(Edited 1 minute later.)

Anonymous D joined in and replied with this 8 years ago, 38 seconds later, 2 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,053

squeegee (OP) replied with this 8 years ago, 3 minutes later, 2 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,055

no need for the emergency launch abort tower either, past the point of no return now

squeegee (OP) double-posted this 8 years ago, 4 minutes later, 2 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,056

ok, so here's how that ended up working, the ship did like a spiral around the planet so the ship came over the top of KSP during the transit burn. pretty cool. the ship achieved orbit, but never really did a complete circle, just a giant spiral that sling shot the ship beyond Kerbin's Sphere of Influence.

squeegee (OP) triple-posted this 8 years ago, 6 minutes later, 2 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,058

side note, the launch was delayed by 3 hours to get a slightly better window. the end result is a nice intercept right along the equator of Duna - like a million miles away though. that'll require a small 1.5m/s correction in around 125 days.

FuckAlms !vX8K53rFBI joined in and replied with this 8 years ago, 2 minutes later, 2 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,059

squeegee (OP) replied with this 8 years ago, 1 minute later, 2 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,060

all that's left to do now is drop the transfer stage and reconfigure the ship for the more than 300 day voyage.

squeegee (OP) double-posted this 8 years ago, 5 minutes later, 2 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,061

thanks for the lift!

squeegee (OP) triple-posted this 8 years ago, 4 minutes later, 2 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,063

look at that though, the force of the stage decoupling threw the ship millions of miles off course. it's a pretty small correction overall, but that little 1.5m/s correction became a 4.5m/s correction. i'm going to keep it though, because i want to get far away from the debris from staging, and this way it'll just get further and further away forever basically. i can spend 3m/s on peace of mind.

Anonymous B replied with this 8 years ago, 5 minutes later, 2 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,066

squeegee (OP) replied with this 8 years ago, 11 minutes later, 2 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,069

time to reconfigure for interplanetary transit. first problem arises when several RTS thrusters fail to translate service module. manual control was taken and docking was performed by hand.

squeegee (OP) double-posted this 8 years ago, 5 minutes later, 2 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,072

not sure why the translation thrusters aren't working as intended. assholes.

squeegee (OP) triple-posted this 8 years ago, 4 minutes later, 3 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,074

docked and with solar panels in place (they act as heat shielding too kinda, just not a big deal considering we're getting further from Kerbol).

feel like the stack separator floating nearby needs to be dealt with... we'll call this problem two, i thought those things exploded into pieces. really don't want to slam into it at 500m/s when slowing down at Duna.

squeegee (OP) quadruple-posted this 8 years ago, 3 minutes later, 3 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,075

One of the mission engineers was sent on a space walk to go and deal with it. this is probably the reason for the explosive C4 in the EVA tab... i didn't think to bring any, so Matble the Engineer will just have to go kinda push it away.

Anonymous B replied with this 8 years ago, 1 minute later, 3 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,076

squeegee (OP) replied with this 8 years ago, 1 minute later, 3 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,077

success! not really sure where he pushed it though... just away. probably won't be a problem.

squeegee (OP) double-posted this 8 years ago, 2 minutes later, 3 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,078

squeegee (OP) triple-posted this 8 years ago, 5 minutes later, 3 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,080

while he's on EVA Matble went ahead and connected up the rover to a wench used to lower it to the ground after landing.

next we wait 125 or so days and make a small correction to fine tune out trajectory to just above the atmosphere of Duna where a braking maneuver will eventually be performed.

squeegee (OP) quadruple-posted this 8 years ago, 3 minutes later, 3 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,081

oh fuck. who forgot to pack the board games?

cccuuunnttt !RwordOooFE joined in and replied with this 8 years ago, 2 minutes later, 3 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,083

Anonymous B replied with this 8 years ago, 7 minutes later, 3 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,084

squeegee (OP) replied with this 8 years ago, 22 minutes later, 3 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,089

127 days later and we have a very nice looking encounter lined up

squeegee (OP) double-posted this 8 years ago, 6 minutes later, 4 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,090

things are looking good on the, uh, life support end. got plenty of food and water for all 5. lots of air. no problems there.

230 days in, 98 days until Duna insertion burn

(Edited 1 minute later.)

squeegee (OP) triple-posted this 8 years ago, 13 minutes later, 4 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,093

@896,083 (cccuuunnttt !RwordOooFE)
are you dumb? you should totally get high too, this is getting really good.

less than a day away from the next maneuver

squeegee (OP) quadruple-posted this 8 years ago, 2 minutes later, 4 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,094

insertion burn in progress, aiming for an orbit near to 100km. this will allow for easy pickup of a lander launched to 70km because reasons of how orbitals mechanic.

squeegee (OP) quintuple-posted this 8 years ago, 1 minute later, 4 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,095

parked and circular.

cccuuunnttt !RwordOooFE replied with this 8 years ago, 2 minutes later, 4 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,097

squeegee (OP) replied with this 8 years ago, 8 minutes later, 4 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,101

year 6 day 271, mission time 329/1024 days.

life support: nominal
systems: nominal, exception translation thruster malfunction service module

on course for lander mission and dehabitation of service module for more than a year.
off schedule due to more fuel efficient launch window, technically about 30 days behind original arrival time. this shouldn't effect the Duna departure window happening around year 7 day 333 or so.

squeegee (OP) double-posted this 8 years ago, 9 minutes later, 4 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,103

it has, uh, apparently just come to the attention of engineers that no one included a carbon dioxide scrubber on the lander and that there may not be enough oxygen on board the lander to sustain a mission as long as 500 days. and if the mission is scrubbed early to get the crew back aboard the service module then there may not be enough food and water aboard to sustain them for the voyage home plus whatever amount of time they lose from the ground mission. what goes down with the lander stays with the lander, the return launch system drops a majority of the mass behind to achieve orbit.

squeegee (OP) triple-posted this 8 years ago, 14 minutes later, 4 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,110

crew transferred to the lander, undocked from the service module

squeegee (OP) quadruple-posted this 8 years ago, 1 minute later, 4 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,112

maneuvering thrusters work just fine, performing a slow descent to a lower altitude.

squeegee (OP) quintuple-posted this 8 years ago, 1 minute later, 4 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,113

squeegee (OP) sextuple-posted this 8 years ago, 1 minute later, 4 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,114

going to settle in a couple of km lower and give the service module lots of room

squeegee (OP) septuple-posted this 8 years ago, 1 minute later, 4 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,116

do do doo doot doot doo

squeegee (OP) octuple-posted this 8 years ago, 44 seconds later, 4 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,117

what do you mean there's only 340 days worth of food!

squeegee (OP) nonuple-posted this 8 years ago, 27 minutes later, 5 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,118

retro burn, planned descent into the flatter lowlands

squeegee (OP) decuple-posted this 8 years ago, 2 minutes later, 5 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,119

the rover mounted on the side throws off the balance enough it's best to roll it underneath so you only have to compensate for 1 axis.

squeegee (OP) undecuple-posted this 8 years ago, 2 minutes later, 5 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,121

hovered a bit and found a nice flat area to set down

Duna Direct 2 lands and has main engine shutdown.

squeegee (OP) duodecuple-posted this 8 years ago, 53 seconds later, 5 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,122

welcome to your new home, Pablo "Kerman"

(Edited 21 seconds later.)

Anonymous B replied with this 8 years ago, 2 minutes later, 5 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,123

squeegee (OP) replied with this 8 years ago, 2 minutes later, 5 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,124

or should i say, Pablo Kermanstein?

squeegee (OP) double-posted this 8 years ago, 1 minute later, 5 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,125

@896,123 (B)
i'm not doing anything, this is all Werner VonKerman's doing. it's an alternate solution he says.

i just report the news.

(Edited 35 seconds later.)

squeegee (OP) triple-posted this 8 years ago, 18 minutes later, 5 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,126

ok, looks like we can reasonably make it back to Kerbin early, but the longer they can manage to not starve on the ground the more likely they'll make it so a successful return trip. this will be a longer trip, but there's plenty of food in the service module for that. more than likely.

year 7 day 191 5:03:36
arrival 8 - 171 - 3:10:48
405 days
1,166m/s dv

squeegee (OP) quadruple-posted this 8 years ago, 5 minutes later, 6 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,127

squeegee (OP) quintuple-posted this 8 years ago, 23 minutes later, 6 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,131

first and only real bit of work to do on this mission is to unstow the new rover using a wench to help lower it. mostly it's helpful as a tether so the rover doesn't rolling off faster than kerbals can run and end up crashed in a crater.

squeegee (OP) sextuple-posted this 8 years ago, 1 minute later, 6 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,132

had to get out and kick it off the landing gear, but all 4 wheels are on the dirt

squeegee (OP) septuple-posted this 8 years ago, 3 minutes later, 6 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,134

347 days is a lot less impressive than over 500, maybe i can push it to a year - 426 days - if i, well, i mean there are ways... rationing...

squeegee (OP) octuple-posted this 8 years ago, 26 minutes later, 6 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,140

year 6 day 285

after 13 days carbon dioxide has risen to lethal levels and 2 crew have died from air toxicity. so food isn't a problem anymore! everyone is going to die though if they don't get back to the command module as soon as immediately possible.

squeegee (OP) nonuple-posted this 8 years ago, 4 minutes later, 7 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,142

at night electricity levels drop to zero preventing all systems from functioning properly.
at this point i'm just documenting stuff for the eventual lawsuits

squeegee (OP) decuple-posted this 8 years ago, 39 minutes later, 7 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,151

right, so the launch was all kinds of fucked up. without electricity there were no reaction wheels and the RCS thrusters weren't meant to even be used with the ascent stage of the lander. but poorly placed RCS thrusters and an engine with vectoring are what's keeping this thing even close to the intended heading. launching at night was a bad idea, but i wasn't sure the surviving crew even had one more night left in them before dying in the toxic air inside the lander.

squeegee (OP) undecuple-posted this 8 years ago, 2 minutes later, 7 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,153

it wobbles it's way into orbit after a lot of fussing about

squeegee (OP) duodecuple-posted this 8 years ago, 1 minute later, 7 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,154

the autopilot on the currently dormant and unmanned Service Module is fired up and an intercept is plotted and executed

squeegee (OP) tridecuple-posted this 8 years ago, 3 minutes later, 7 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,155

after a few alignment orbits the service module finally slid up beside the lander ascent stage. the crew had to EVA 1 at a time over to the Service Module command pods because some pencil pusher forgot to requisition a docking collar for the ascent stage.

squeegee (OP) quattuodecuple-posted this 8 years ago, 5 minutes later, 7 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,157

with only 3 souls aboard the food and water can be stretched to well over 2 years. the carbon dioxide scrubber will ensure available oxygen supplies are extended to cover the entire rest of the trip. engineers and KASA administration breathe a huge sign of relief. They have improved their mission survivability by 40% at this point! that's... something!

squeegee (OP) sexadecuple-posted this 8 years ago, 16 minutes later, 8 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,159

year 7 day 119
aaaand, they're all dead. ran out of oxygen. "they were supposed to have been breathing oxygen in the lander. on the surface. for hundreds of days. the service module was never meant to be a lifeboat!" - Werner VonKerman

(Edited 4 minutes later.)

squeegee (OP) sedecuple-posted this 8 years ago, 27 minutes later, 8 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,162

the Duna Direct 2 Service Module was powered down and renamed the "Duna Direct Orbital Memorial" in honor of the now 9 lives lost. it's a solemn day, but all feel a great sense of purpose and duty to explore the furthest reaches to claim profitable oil reserves before the filthy non-Kerman Kerbals get their off-tinted fingers on it.

Anonymous B replied with this 8 years ago, 28 minutes later, 9 hours after the original post[^] [v] #896,163

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