AQUARIUS X TAKES KERBALS WITHING ARMS REACH OF THE MUN

KSP - Year 4, Day 304

Aquarius X launches from Kerbin taking Flight Commander Charlie Kerman, CM Pilot Wehrdun and MEM Pilot Tomdun to the Mun and skims its surface. This tasking was as much a live mission as you could get without actually touching down on the Munar soil. The MEM took Charlie and Tomdun within just 6km of the surface.

A view from the base of the tallest and most powerful rocket

built to date

Aquarius X heads for an all-up Munar intercept

This was the second time that the Selene launch vehicle had successfully taken both the CSM and MEM to Kerbin orbit. And it was the second time that it had fired the CSM on a trajectory that would take it into Munar orbit. However, it was the first time that it had fired both the CSM and MEM combination on a Munar transfer. As with all the manned missions so far, it performed this task without fault.

After Wehrdun carries out a visual inspection of the MEM, the

landing module drifts away to start its descent to the Munar surface

So, the three astronauts had both the CSM and the MEM and were on the way to the Mun. The Flight Commander and MEM Pilot manned the Munar Excursion Module, separated from the CSM once in Munar orbit and descended to its surface. Why didn't they touch down?

'Well, we could have,' said Charlie Kerman in an interview after. 'We had everything we needed to touch down onto the surface of the Mun. Except Mission Controls' blessing, of course. Had we done that, however, we would have had to have stayed there. We would never be able to leave. The b******'s short-fulled our ascent module, which meant that we would have never been able to reach orbit. We needed to hit the abort switch eight kilometers above the surface. We sunk down a further two kilometers before the ascent stage negated our descent, which was something that hadn't been considered during the flight plan. But luckily we still had enough fuel to get into orbit and hook back up with Wehrdun in the CSM. Problem is, I will have to go through the rest of my life wondering whether it would have been worth it to have just stayed up there. Well, that's providing I don't get to go back!'

Tomdun had no choice but to abort the mission 8km from

the Munar surface, but makes the most of the views

Luckily, they did have enough fuel to get back to the CSM. After docking and crew transfer, the upper stage of the MEM was discarded and programmed to crash back into the Lunar surface. Aquarius X was a dry-run for the landing of the live mission. All hardware and software, short of the landing legs and a static-surface launch of the MEM's ascent stage, has been tested and is expected to be signed off for a full Munar landing. Aquarius XI is the next mission in line and although not official yet, everyone is taking it as set to be the first manned Mun landing. And it will be Jeb's crew due to fly.