[IRIS Pack] Project Hermes: Manned Mercury Landing Mission Debrief
- Thread starter 8BitCosmonaut
- Start date
As described above, the autonomous delivery vehicle uses a significantly more efficient flight path of multiple gravity assists around Venus and Mercury, only downside is it takes a very long time to reach its intended destination.
4] The vehicle departs for Venus.
5] First Venus gravity assist.
6] Second Venus gravity assist.
7] Third Venus gravity assist.
8] Fourth Venus gravity assist.
9] Fifth Venus gravity assist.
10] Sixth Venus gravity assist. On the sixth flyby however, the transfer vehicle fires its engine to bring down its perihelion to Mercury's orbital trajectory, since it helps speed things up, and it has the delta velocity for it.
11] First Mercury gravity assist.
12] Second Mercury gravity assist.
13] Third Mercury gravity assist, at this point, the perihelion has dipped too low of Mercury's trajectory, and the vehicle must perform a realignment burn to ensure a proper capture burn.
14] Fourth Mercury gravity assist,
15] Fifth Mercury gravity assist, second realignment burn is executed.
4] The vehicle departs for Venus.
5] First Venus gravity assist.
6] Second Venus gravity assist.
7] Third Venus gravity assist.
8] Fourth Venus gravity assist.
9] Fifth Venus gravity assist.
10] Sixth Venus gravity assist. On the sixth flyby however, the transfer vehicle fires its engine to bring down its perihelion to Mercury's orbital trajectory, since it helps speed things up, and it has the delta velocity for it.
11] First Mercury gravity assist.
12] Second Mercury gravity assist.
13] Third Mercury gravity assist, at this point, the perihelion has dipped too low of Mercury's trajectory, and the vehicle must perform a realignment burn to ensure a proper capture burn.
14] Fourth Mercury gravity assist,
15] Fifth Mercury gravity assist, second realignment burn is executed.
16] On the sixth encounter, the amount of velocity left to kill within the flyby period is small enough for the autonomous transfer vehicle to perform a successful Mercury capture burn, and with that, we can continue burning until we arrive at low Mercury orbit. After so many years, we have arrived, now it sits waiting for the crew's arrival.
22] Launch of the crew habitation module and Apollo CSM, docking with the propulsion segment. With that, we are ready to depart straight for Mercury.
23] Earth departure for Mercury, unlike the flight path you saw for the autonomous delivery vehicle, the manned delivery ship will be flying a much more expensive direct path, as our men cannot survive more than 15 years in deep space. The direct alternative brings the duration down to a far more tolerable 6 months to and back. The propellant tank bandolier ditches empty tanks in order to maximize its mass efficiency.
24] Upon arrival to Mercury's orbital trajectory, the crew ship reduces its aphelion until it's solar orbit matches close to that of Mercury's, the reason a flyby capture burn was not attempted was due to the nuclear engine's low thrust, and it will not be able to reduce its velocity in time for a capture before it leaves Mercury's SOI.
23] Earth departure for Mercury, unlike the flight path you saw for the autonomous delivery vehicle, the manned delivery ship will be flying a much more expensive direct path, as our men cannot survive more than 15 years in deep space. The direct alternative brings the duration down to a far more tolerable 6 months to and back. The propellant tank bandolier ditches empty tanks in order to maximize its mass efficiency.
24] Upon arrival to Mercury's orbital trajectory, the crew ship reduces its aphelion until it's solar orbit matches close to that of Mercury's, the reason a flyby capture burn was not attempted was due to the nuclear engine's low thrust, and it will not be able to reduce its velocity in time for a capture before it leaves Mercury's SOI.
25] After a 1 hour and 20 minute engine burn, we can finally attempt a Mercury capture burn safely.
26] We have arrived! The three crew members pile themselves into the Apollo CSM, and rendezvous with the autonomous transfer vehicle.
27] The lander's protective fairing is jettisoned to reveal the lander, the lander crew bid farewell to the CSM operator as they close the hatch and undock from each other.
28] Once the CSM is safely away, the lander ditches the docking port, separates from the nuclear propulsion segment, extends the gear, run final system checks on the lander, and prepares for descent.
29] Mercury landing. Rover released and panels extended. This lander can support a crew of two for 14 days, for three days, the crew will be exercising on the lower compartment in order to get used to Mercury's gravity before they attempt an EVA.
30] Meanwhile, the lone astronaut pilots the CSM back to the main ship, he will be handling communications between the two astronauts on the ground and ground control.
26] We have arrived! The three crew members pile themselves into the Apollo CSM, and rendezvous with the autonomous transfer vehicle.
27] The lander's protective fairing is jettisoned to reveal the lander, the lander crew bid farewell to the CSM operator as they close the hatch and undock from each other.
28] Once the CSM is safely away, the lander ditches the docking port, separates from the nuclear propulsion segment, extends the gear, run final system checks on the lander, and prepares for descent.
29] Mercury landing. Rover released and panels extended. This lander can support a crew of two for 14 days, for three days, the crew will be exercising on the lower compartment in order to get used to Mercury's gravity before they attempt an EVA.
30] Meanwhile, the lone astronaut pilots the CSM back to the main ship, he will be handling communications between the two astronauts on the ground and ground control.
31] Two weeks later, it is time to leave. The ascent stage flies back to low Mercury orbit and rendezvous with the main ship. Ground samples and scientific records are transferred along with the two men.
32] It's time to go home! The lander ascent stage undocks from the main ship, as it prepares its engines for one final long burn.
33] Earth arrival, once the ship flies past the moon, the Apollo CSM can undock with all its precious cargo.
34] The Apollo SM burns through all of its propellant to slow itself down enough for re-entry to be safer and tolerable.
32] It's time to go home! The lander ascent stage undocks from the main ship, as it prepares its engines for one final long burn.
33] Earth arrival, once the ship flies past the moon, the Apollo CSM can undock with all its precious cargo.
34] The Apollo SM burns through all of its propellant to slow itself down enough for re-entry to be safer and tolerable.
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Wow....the first big Mercury land I ever seen
Mate, you're a man not a dog.
This is bloody good work. Having watched the planning stages, I'm not surprised but still impressed with how it's turned out. Not that anyone should be surprised. Absolute accuracy and top tier mission conception and planning is not just your thing, but what you are the best at.
One of the most worrying aspects of manned missions is keeping them fed and hydrated, I've only researched the food supply needed by all three astronauts for a half year mission, what I was having trouble with was the amount of water needed, because the water purification system I've been reading up on was technology from the year 2000 onwards. Which was very inaccurate for a mission dated between the late-1960s to the late-1970s, because during this time period, spaceworthy water purification technology was still in its infancy.
According to my research, an astronaut consumed around 830 grams of food per meal each day with packaging weight included, in order to feed all three men for at least 7 months, we will need around 1600 kg of food (assuming the food is hydrated).
However when it came to water, information was kinda all over the place, from what I can gather, an astronaut can use from 11-50 liters of water a day. Assuming the minimum, one astronaut needs 11kg. Without a recycler, we will need at least 20.7 tons of water for this mission, that is insane.
At that point, I've given up and just assumed the purifier had an efficiency of 99%, where 150kg of water can be reused for 3 months, and gave the crew a total of 3200kg of drinking water.
All of this weight was simulated in-game using parachutes and probes.
I have not factored in the weight of a water chlorination system and Lithium Hydroxide CO2 scrubbers as I assumed them to be negligible. This could be a serious error.
To be honest, research for this mission was slightly rushed. I promise to do better in the future.
According to my research, an astronaut consumed around 830 grams of food per meal each day with packaging weight included, in order to feed all three men for at least 7 months, we will need around 1600 kg of food (assuming the food is hydrated).
However when it came to water, information was kinda all over the place, from what I can gather, an astronaut can use from 11-50 liters of water a day. Assuming the minimum, one astronaut needs 11kg. Without a recycler, we will need at least 20.7 tons of water for this mission, that is insane.
At that point, I've given up and just assumed the purifier had an efficiency of 99%, where 150kg of water can be reused for 3 months, and gave the crew a total of 3200kg of drinking water.
All of this weight was simulated in-game using parachutes and probes.
I have not factored in the weight of a water chlorination system and Lithium Hydroxide CO2 scrubbers as I assumed them to be negligible. This could be a serious error.
To be honest, research for this mission was slightly rushed. I promise to do better in the future.
Hey thanks man!
By the way I'm really liking this "caravan method" you guys have brought up to me during the planning phase, originally it was an idea from Blazer during his attempt at Project Le Verrier, not really intended for maximum efficiency but to prevent excessive lag, only reason I disliked it was because it lacked the AWE and GLORY of a massive mothership.
Now I can see that it boost delta V gain by a whole lot, and breaks the parts down easier for the computer to process. My previous Mission Le Verrier was the equivalent of forcing a Big Mac down someone's throat without chewing.
I can't wait for the exoplanets update for IRIS so I can start designing Project Le Verrier and Constellation Saturn 2.0
By the way I'm really liking this "caravan method" you guys have brought up to me during the planning phase, originally it was an idea from Blazer during his attempt at Project Le Verrier, not really intended for maximum efficiency but to prevent excessive lag, only reason I disliked it was because it lacked the AWE and GLORY of a massive mothership.
Now I can see that it boost delta V gain by a whole lot, and breaks the parts down easier for the computer to process. My previous Mission Le Verrier was the equivalent of forcing a Big Mac down someone's throat without chewing.
I can't wait for the exoplanets update for IRIS so I can start designing Project Le Verrier and Constellation Saturn 2.0
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The documentation associated with this top quality mission is just.... chef's kiss. I'm in love with this mission.
Ah, this is something I can provide some information about, as I found a website™.
Carbon Dioxide Scrubbers
Depending on how many crew and the length of the mission, saying there was a regenerative scrubber (various types also described on that page) might be better.
Ah, this is something I can provide some information about, as I found a website™.
Carbon Dioxide Scrubbers
Depending on how many crew and the length of the mission, saying there was a regenerative scrubber (various types also described on that page) might be better.
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Don't apologise. You take more into account than 99.9999% of the gamebase does. The numbers may be off, but that's through a lack of information more than any sort of 'that'll do' mindset.
Hell, I'd not even know where to start with the food and water issue, and I've lived at reach for weeks at a time. The left and right ball parks for what I'd need to do so are huge.
In one context, I could survive for a week quite easily on 8 litres of water (one for cooking, 7 for drinking) and around 15kg of food per day.
In another, I'll burn through 5-6 litres a day just for drinking. And I ate lots haha.
It'd also all depend on the person and the environment. I've no doubt NASA will have a lot more precise data laying around after 20 years of having people in low orbit depending on individual metabolisms and mission durations. Like short term, under-budgeting food isn't gonna kill anyone. I lost just shy of 10% of my bodyweight in a month on a particular dogshit exercise and didn't die.
But several months in deep space, coupled with the natural atrophy of weightlessness, that isn't going to be acceptable so I think NASA is going to allocate a lot more food mass and a reserve just in case so they keep the weight to maintain effectiveness on arrival at destination and on return to Earth.
Hell, I'd not even know where to start with the food and water issue, and I've lived at reach for weeks at a time. The left and right ball parks for what I'd need to do so are huge.
In one context, I could survive for a week quite easily on 8 litres of water (one for cooking, 7 for drinking) and around 15kg of food per day.
In another, I'll burn through 5-6 litres a day just for drinking. And I ate lots haha.
It'd also all depend on the person and the environment. I've no doubt NASA will have a lot more precise data laying around after 20 years of having people in low orbit depending on individual metabolisms and mission durations. Like short term, under-budgeting food isn't gonna kill anyone. I lost just shy of 10% of my bodyweight in a month on a particular dogshit exercise and didn't die.
But several months in deep space, coupled with the natural atrophy of weightlessness, that isn't going to be acceptable so I think NASA is going to allocate a lot more food mass and a reserve just in case so they keep the weight to maintain effectiveness on arrival at destination and on return to Earth.
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Like my Jovian tour and Grand Tour... One capsule to everywhere and home again.
A week. Excuse an old man. An army ration pack is about 1.8-2kg per day. Although I never ever kept everything in the box (there are somethings men shouldn't eat), I always supplemented it with extra items in what we call 'an all in one'.
A week. Excuse an old man. An army ration pack is about 1.8-2kg per day. Although I never ever kept everything in the box (there are somethings men shouldn't eat), I always supplemented it with extra items in what we call 'an all in one'.