Campaign: Mun Race

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Introduction

Robotic probes and a rover were on the Mun. Most of them Kerbiet. The public wondered if the first flag planted on the Mun would be Kerbiet. The final lap of the Mun Race was on! With the first launch of Kerbollo Program, Gene Kerbin and rest of the Kerbicans at the Kerbal Space Center were making a statement to the world. They figured the Kerbiets were taking too much time playing it safe with the Mun with their robotic missions. They wanted instead to meet the President's demands to get a Kerbal to the Mun before the end of the decade, and the decade was already half over! Thus began the most incredible engineering endeavor the world had ever seen.

Before the week is out, you'll be landing on the Mun roving around fixing busted robotic landers.

Specifications

• Length: 40 hours
• Difficulty: Probably darn near the hardest thing you've done in the Kerbal Space Program short of docking.
• Skills needed: Navball navigation, Orbital Mechanics 101, Rendezvous, daft piloting skills, and wee bit of mission and vehicle planning skills
• For version: Every version (tested on 0.20.2)

KS-101: Command Pod Escape Tower Ejection Test

A number of advances in design and engineering were made after the Kerbinai Program. KSP engineers have finally developed the Probodobodyne OKTO2 remote command module, as well as the Mk1-2 Command Pod.

• Design and test an escape tower for the Mk1-2 Command Pod using Probodobodyne OKTO2 as your unmanned control unit.
  • Alternatively, 0.23.5 adds a Launch Escape System, allowing you to simplify the design process.

1. Vehicle must be unmanned and therefore contain Probodobodyne OKTO2 with Mk1-2 Command Pod attached.
2. Escape tower must be able to eject itself from the Command Pod using a control group.
3. Escape tower must fire and lift off Command Pod from the ground high enough to deploy parachutes. Abort control group must be used to initiate the Pod liftoff.
4. Parachutes must successfully deploy and land Command Pod soft enough that it does not damage anything.

KS-201: Command Service Module Flight 1 - Suborbital Reentry Test

After successfully testing an escape system for the new Command Pod, KSC engineers got to work on designing a Command Service Module (CSM), an orbiter that will be used for the Kerbollo missions.

• Design an unmanned Mk1-2 Command Pod orbiter using the Probodobodyne OKTO2 control unit and launch it into space on a suborbital trajectory, testing the Escape Tower ejection sequence once you've cleared the atmosphere.

1. CSM must be unmanned.
2. CSM must reach 70 km.
3. CSM Escape Tower must eject from the orbiter when above 70 km.
4. Command Pod must separate from the CSM while above 70 km.
5. Command Pod must land undamaged. This is a requirement for all future missions going forward.

KS-203: Command Service Module Flight 2 - Orbital Maneuvers

KSC engineers finally develop the Advanced SAS to better control the more complex launch system. In addition, RCS has been added and now it's time to test its ability to function as a true orbiter.

• Launch a CSM into 100 km orbit, then circularize. Then move up to a 200 km circular orbit. Feel free to start using ASAS on your vehicles going forward.

1. CSM must be unmanned.
2. CSM must reach a circularized LKO orbit of 100 km.
3. CSM must test its RCS balance while in space.
4. CSM must change its altitude to a 200 km circularized orbit.

(Tip: Test out RCS balance by entering Debug mode from the launchpad by hitting your modbutton+F12, for Windows, your modbutton is Alt. Once entered, select Hack Gravity to float your vehicle around the launchpad. Pretend you're as KSC engineer testing out your designs in a simulator. Hit modbutton+F12 again to get rid of the debug screen.)

Kerbollo 4: Command Service Module Flight 3 - Heavy Launcher Test

Kerbollo 1 ended in a terrible disaster. During a routine test, a fire broke out at the launchpad killing all three Kerbonoughts, Keen, Krissom, and Kite Kerman. Several redesigns of the Command Pod were necessary to ensure such an accident doesn't occur again. Being safe, Gene Kerbin insisted that the next few flights be unmanned tests of the new spacecraft being developed before committing any more Kerbonaughts to spaceflight. Also, KSC engineers were eager to get their new heavy launcher tested as well, and didn't want Jebediah messing up their test results with a joyride.

• Launch an unmanned CSM to 2,000 km.

1. CSM must be unmanned.
2. CSM must reach a circularized MKO orbit of 2,000 km.
3. CSM must deorbit leaving no debris.

Kerbollo 5: Munar Lander and CSM Docking Test Flight

With the development of the CSM nearing an end, it was time now for KSC engineers to focus designing and testing a Munar Lander, aka Lander for the Mun, aka LM. It was a name that stuck.

• Design and launch in a hacked gravity debug mode a Mun lander which will practice docking with the CSM and vice versa.

1. Lander and CSM must both be unmanned.
2. CSM must dock with the LM
3. LM must dock with the CSM

(Tip: Put RCS on both your Lander and CSM to ensure control.)

• Design a launcher capable of launching an unmanned LM and unmanned CSM into LKO orbit of 100 km.

1. CSM must dock with the LM.
2. LM must undock and redock with the CSM.
3. Deorbit both the LM and CSM to eliminate debris. Going forward, you are required to eliminate debris as much as possible.

(Tip: Put an Probodobodyne OKTO2 on any stage that will remain in orbit after a launch so you can maintain control of it to deorbit it later.)

(Tip: Put a docking port somewhere on your orbiting stages so you can rendezvous with a tanker later if need be to help it deorbit).

Kerbollo 6: Trans Munar Injection and Direct Return Abort Test

Gene wanted one final unmanned mission, this time to test out the new launcher, and the capability of the CSM to execute a direct return abort while engaged in a Trans Munar Injection, in case any Kerbonaughts forget to bring something important from Kerbin to the Mun.

• Launch the LM-CSM craft to the Mun and return before reaching the Mun.

1. All spacecraft must be totally unmanned.
2. Launch the LM-CSM package on a Trans Munar Injection with periapsis above 100 km and below 300 km.
3. Direct Return the CSM to Kerbin before reaching the Mun.

(Tip: If necessary, eject any remaining stages and spacecraft from the CSM on a crash course for the Mun prior to your direct Kerbin return.

Kerbollo 7: Manned CSM and LM Rendezvous and Docking Test

It was time to put a few brave Kerbonaughts on the line to test out the new spacecraft. This time it would be Wally, Walt, and Don Kerman's time to show their stuff.

• Launch your LM-CSM into LKO orbit of 100 km with three Kerbals aboard. Exchange two Kerbals in the Command Pod with the LM while in orbit.

1. Vehicles must reach 100 km circularized orbit.
2. CSM must dock with LM.
3. Two Kerbals must EVA to the LM from the CSM.
4. LM must undock and change its orbit to 85 km.
5. LM must rendezvous and dock with the CSM.
6. Kerbals in the LM must EVA to the CSM.
7. Command Pod with all three Kerbals must land in water safely.

Kerbollo 8: Korman, Anders, and Lovell Kerman - Far Side Explorers

• Send three Kerbals to orbit the far side of the Mun and return.

1. Must orbit Mun at altitude of 75 km.
2. Take a picture of Kerbin-rise for the papers from within the windows of the spacecraft and post it on the forum.
3. Must complete 10 orbits of the Mun.

Kerbollo 11: The First Manned Mun Landing

The Mun Race finish line! The Kerbicans score it spot on, but not without some hair-raising moments of great suspense. Neil Kerman, Buzz Kerbin, and Kollins Kerban would become national heroes...well ok at least Neil and Buzz..and "that other guy." Budget limits set by the government require that you update your lander to be able to carry science packages which will be set up on the Mun.

• Update your Mun Lander design to be able to carry at least two scientific experiments which will remain behind. (No rovers until Kerbollo 12)

1. Must consist of a computer core each.
2. At least one must contain extractable solar panels.
3. At least one must contain a dish antenna.
4. At least one must contain a Communotron antenna.

• Land at least two Kerbals on the Mun and return them safely to Kerbin.

1. Must land at least two Kerbals on the Mun.
2. Must plant a flag on the Mun. (post your pic on the forum)
3. Must setup at least 2 self-sustaining experimental packages on the Mun.
4. All Kerbals that participate in the mission must return safely to Kerbin together.

• Hard Mode

1. Deorbit the LM in Mun orbit and return home in CMS
2. Three Kerbals total on mission
3. Feel free to imitate the Apollo 11 moon landing as close as possible

Kerbollo 12: The First Pinpoint Mun Landing & Rover

Now the Kerbicans show off. They land near a malfunctioned probe launched earlier in the Kerbal Space Program, and fix it! Instead of waiting for Kerbollo 15, Gene Kerbin decided to move up the Mun Rover program to Kerbollo 12 to give this mission some maneuverability.

• Build and test on Kerbin a small rover with two command seats.

1. Must be carried on the Kerbollo 12 Lander.

• Lander must carry rover and 1 science instrument.

1. At least one Mun rover and science instrument must be carried on the Lander.

• Land a Kerbal on the Mun and repair the Kerveyor 3 lander by extracting its stuck solar panel.

1. Must land within 3 km of Kerveyor 3.
2. Must ride the rover to Kerveyor 3 with one or more Kerbals.
3. Must extend solar panel of Kerveyor 3 via EVA.

Final Word

Mun travel became routine after Kerbollo 12. The world went back to watching grass grow, that is, until Kerbollo 13 radioed back to the world "Kerbin, somenet nu amelborp!" which roughly translated means, "Kerbin, we have a problem."