Iron Hill Project Thread

[TMac3000]

Debated posting these in the screenshot thread, decided to post them here instead.
The cot has been finished.

The mass spectrometer is still a work in progress, and if you haven't seen a mass spectrometer, that doohickey on the left is the centrifuge

 

[Felipi1205]

Looking good! :thumbup:

 

[TMac3000]

Now if only I could figure out how to use Blorbiter to export it. I installed the thing, but I can't find it anywhere in the add-on list

---------- Post added at 08:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:54 PM ----------

KSC Weather Forecast:
Cool and partly cloudy, with a low of 64*F (18*C). Wind from the east at 6 mph.
Great flying weather

 

[sorindafabico]

Chronus waiting rendezvous:

 

[sorindafabico]

DOCKED.

 

[TMac3000]

Bay doors closed and gravity wheel started. Also sent Mattyv back to Chronus. Sorry dude, you have to stay home

Now waiting on RickD to call the next chat meeting, so we can transfer the cargo...

 

[TMac3000]

My first time aboard Odyssey She's quite spacious--still a little cramped, but she's like the Ritz compared to Apollo 12

There's a really space-age looking coffee machine the galley; I can't figure how to use the damn thing. Guess I'll stick to instant

 

[RickD]

Next chat meeting is tonight at 0400 UTC May 2 (tonight at midnight EDT). We will be moving cargo, hopefully much faster than last time.

Rick

 

[TMac3000]

Nuts, we missed the planned launch date
Oh well, the window is still open. Setting the launch for 16:00 UTC tomorrow...

---------- Post added at 06:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:07 PM ----------

Okay, here's how we will do this...
Once Sorendafabico and Mattyv are back on the ground, they will act as mission control. So the mission will be your baby for the next three months Your job will be to see that we make it safely to Mercury, and answer any questions we might have.

The update schedule will be up to you. During the Lunar mission, Mojoey and Felipi sent nightly updates. But since this going to be a much longer flight, I suggest nightly updates until we clear SOI, and then updating at 5-day or 7-day intervals after that (plus milestones like orbital insertion, of course)

 

[sorindafabico]

The increase of delta-v of the new THI is near zero, anyway (I suppose).

 

[mojoey]

My first time aboard Odyssey She's quite spacious--still a little cramped, but she's like the Ritz compared to Apollo 12

There's a really space-age looking coffee machine the galley; I can't figure how to use the damn thing. Guess I'll stick to instant

cursing at it for 20-ish minutes worked for me

 

[n122vu]

Indiana is actually pretty much in the Eastern Time Zone. Evansville and Gary I think are the only places that are in the Central Time Zone.

And to make things even crazier, it used to never observe daylight savings. It would jump from the Eastern to the Central. Until 2005 I think, when they decided to institute DST and go into the Eastern Zone, except again for Gary and Evansville, which already observed DST. Gary did it to stay on the same time as Chicago, which it is pretty much a suburb of.

I was at school at IU when they switched over to DST, and let me tell you, there was some chaos going on there. Like nobody was on time, for anything. Even people's phones were not ready for the adoptation, and showed the wrong time for days. That is the Hoosier state for you.

Hope this isn't too far off thread topic, but actually there are 12 counties that are on Central time
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...nKgT8y7KpOC9gSg5ezCAQ&ved=0CEcQ9QEwAg&dur=486

Prior to 2005, It was crazy. Part of the state was on Central, and the rest of the state was on what was called Indiana East. Basically, Indiana East didn't change time at all, while all the time zones around us changed when Daylight Savings Time changed in Spring and Fall. Half the year, we were on the same time as New York, Atlanta, etc. The other half of the year, we were on the same time as Chicago, St. Louis, etc.

When they changed time zones in 2005, some of the counties around here (Dubois, Pike, for example) were originally on Central, based on decisions made by politicians.
http://www.masson.us/countymap7.jpg
However, communities drummed up signed petitions, and the state allowed us to change.

 

[RickD]

Odyssey now has 31 units of cargo loaded.

 

[sorindafabico]

We had a calm reentry, but a problematic landing. Chronus' landing gears are broken. I landed like a newbie, don't know why... =/

Well, we'll have a lot of time to fix it, but I don't know how the crew will get out of the ship.

 

[TMac3000]

Eeek! Oh, you barbarous creature, you hurt my baby!
Just kidding
Okay, next steps:
1) Get Chronus towed back to the VAB for repairs, via scenario editor
2) Wait about 1 day, and then do the repairs via text editor
3) Get yourself and Mattyv to the infirmary for treatment of cuts and bruises
4) Insurance will cover most of the damage, but I'm billing you for the deductible

But In all seriousness, things like this happen sometimes in spaceflight; it's the risk we take! Think about what happened to Brian Binny with SpaceShip 1
No worries, she'll be good as new by this time tomorrow The important thing is that you guys didn't die...

---------- Post added at 10:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:32 AM ----------

Okay, the ship was loaded onto a scenario editor--err, flatbed--and towed to the VAB. We've lifted her up off of her belly so you can get the elevator open. Seriously, somebody needs to develop an emergency slide for the docking port

Injuries: Sorendafabico smacked his face on the HUD in the impact and has eight stitches in his forehead. Mattyv's right arm is in a sling, but he'll be back to work in about a week.

Now you just need to go back to the crew hut
And the next time Chronus launches, you'll have to taxi her a lot farther (since the Azure is over near the runway)

 

[TMac3000]

Disregard last upload. Will post a new one after the launch

---------- Post added at 12:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:54 AM ----------

We are going to Mercury!:woohoo:

Odyssey ignited her main engines at 16:12:27 May 2. The engines were shut down again at 16:24:24 UTC. Total delta-v was 7.416 km/s. Arrival at Mercury is predicted for August 15, 2012.

I would like to take a moment to thank all of our team members. I have asked an awful lot of you, and you have all delivered in spades:thumbup: It was your enormous dedication, skill, and enthusiasm that brought us to this moment.

But it's not over yet We still have a huge amount of work to do! We have seen our first B-Crew sign up: Interceptor has pledged to join us after he gets settled in his new home For the next three months, everybody can relax, and we can start making some serious plans about what's going to happen when we land on the Iron Planet.

 

[TMac3000]

Houston, we have the first telemetry batch for you.
Odyssey is 208,000 km from Earth. We expect to clear SOI some time tonight

Oh, and our pilots are back in the A-Crew hut

 

[Felipi1205]

The trip that we did before in one week, we're going to pass in just TWO DAYS! We're fast, huh?

 

[TMac3000]

You bet! We burned the mains for about 12 minutes

 

[Felipi1205]

:huh: And I was thinking that my TLI of 1 minute was long... :shifty: