Campaign: Probes and Rovers

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Introduction

The tough issues of rendezvous and EVA were worked out in the Kerbinai Program. But wait, there's one more step. As the scientists constantly remind you, they want to study the Mun with probes and rovers before planting a flag there. As Gene Kerman decided to announce to program's start to the public, the Kerbiets, always one step ahead, had already hit the Mun. Literally.

This campaign presents a mission manifest that allows you to take baby steps into Munar orbit, on its surface, and by weeks end, roving around its craters kicking up centuries-old Mun dust.

Specifications

• Length: 5-10 hours
• Difficulty: 5/10 (Adept)
• Skills needed:

1. Intermediate navigation via maneuver node (SOI intercepts within current SOI)
2. Intermediate orbiting
3. Intermediate landing (atmosphere-less bodies)
4. Basic rover design

• For version: Every version (tested on 0.20.2)

Recommended Mods

• Historical Rockets, Probes, and Stations series - Back to this mod again:
  • Soviet Probes - This mod includes multiple lunar probes launched by the Soviets during the 1960s in the lead-up to a moonshot that never happened.
  • US Probes - This mod includes many lunar probes launched by the US in the 1960s. Hang on to this mod, because it has many more probes you'll need later on.

Muna 2: Impact Probe

• Send a probe to impact the Mun.

1. Must impact something from Kerbin on the Mun (preferably with scientific instraments). Doesn't matter what as long as it isn't a Kerbal. The Kerbiets don't care.
2. This probes, and all future probes must have at least one antenna.
3. If you fail to impact, you can still complete the mission if you can eject your probe out of Kerbin SOI and orbit the sun. If you do, rename it Muna 1 and congratulate yourself on your first heliocentric spacecraft.
4. All probes after this mission must be self-sustaining.

(Tip: Make sure to shutdown a battery pack or bring a sun tracking solar panel to have enough electricity to control your spacecraft when you need it.

Muna 3: Mun Flyby

• Send a probe to take pictures of the Mun's far side.

1. Probe must flyby the backside of the Mun, or else orbit the Mun.

Muna 9: Munar Lander

• Land a self-sustaining probe on the Mun.

1. Probe must land on the Kerbin-facing side of the Mun.
2. Probe must land without losing any parts except as intended.

Muna 10: Munar Orbiter

• Send a probe to orbit the Mun.

1. Probe's orbit must be inclined at least 10 degrees.
2. Probe must orbit at a circularized altitude of 80 km.

Kervayor 3

• Land a probe in or near the big crater on the Mun, preferably near the north rim.

1. Probe must contain at least one retractable solar panel.
2. After landing, pretend there is a glitch that retracts the solar panel, and retract it.

Tip: Take a large battery so as the glitch can't be fixed and the solar panel deployed without power (This probe will be visited by a future Kerbollo mission to fix the solar panel.)

Muna 16: Munar Sample Return

• Return samples of the munar regolith to Kerbin for study.

1. Probe must contain some kind of retractable appendage which can reach the ground and touch it without tipping it over.

1. Probe must land on the Kerbin-facing side of the Mun.
2. Probe must reach out and touch the munar surface with its designated appendage.
3. Probe must return to Kerbin safely.

(Tip: you will need about 8000 m/s of delta V to accomplish this mission. Up until now, eyeballing the landing on the Mun has been easy. Getting back is another story. Feel free to calculate the delta V of your rocket to make sure it exceeds 8000 m/s, and make sure your Thrust Weight Ratio (TWR) is enough to get you spaceborn. Calculating these is up to yourself, or you can use the eyeball method. If you don't want to do the math, feel free to use a mod such as Kerbal Engineer Redux at this point. If you do, challenge yourself to only use it in the VAB prior to your mission unless you're fine with using mods.)

(Tip: Since Advanced SAS doesn't exist yet, this mission may require you to use a combination of standard SAS, fins, and RCS.)

(Tip: the Communotron 16 antenna is a good appendage since it doesn't tip your vehicle over; alternatively, you can download the Scoop-o-Matic as part of the Beaslty Science mod, which actually does dig into soil and produce results)

Munokhod 1: Munar Rover

• Land a rather large self-sustaining rover on the Mun.

1. Rover must travel for at least 5 minutes real time after landing.
2. Rover must be able to survive a Munar night and come back online when the sun comes back up.
3. Take a picture of your rover at someplace interesting and post it here.

(Tip: You will not need as much delta V as your Munar sample return mission. Actually a lot less. Feel free to minimize to save money. After all, the Kerbiets do everything on a shoe string budget.)

(Tip: Make sure your rover is well balanced to avoid accidents, and test it well on Kerbin before launching.)

Final Word

After the Kerbiets returned the first munar samples, Gene Kerbman and his intrepid team of space explorers at the Kerbal Space Center furiously scrambled to start the Kerbollo Program and save face by getting the first Kerbal to orbit the far side of the Mun in what many were calling the last lap of the Mun Race.