Can't find capsule for NEO mission

[Ark]

I'm getting really frustrated trying to find a realistic capsule addon for a NERVA-driven mission to an NEO. So far the candidates I've burned through are:

ESA CTV - My first choice, but some kind of bug nobody has been able to help me with keeps me from using 100,000x time acceleration, so the mission takes forever.

Dragon - Has a crippling bug that deploys the parachute or something whenever the altitude drops low enough, prevents rendezvous with NEOs or launch on a custom Velcro stack.

Antares - Second choice, but UMMU is all messed up and I can't transfer people out of the capsule so consumables will last long enough. Would have been perfect if it was still Spacecraft3 and I could use UMMUFA.

CEV-Orion - Would have been perfect, but UMMU doesn't work.

Soyuz - I can't get CVEL Soyuz to work anymore, and the nice new one with ISS Fleet doesn't have UMMU.

AMSO - Just...no, I really don't want Apollo hardware for this, so I haven't tried it.

Are there any other options? I'm really getting frustrated here, every candidate I would want to use seems to have some bug or other problem that specifically prevents me from accomplishing my goal. CTV is absolutely perfect except for the time acceleration thing. :beathead:

This is the sort of situation that makes me take month-long breaks from Orbiter, when you just run into problem after problem at every turn. :facepalm:

 

[ky]

The soyuz with ISS fleet has Ummu.And it works.I tried it the other day.

 

[Ark]

The soyuz with ISS fleet has Ummu.And it works.I tried it the other day.

It does? Cool, I'll see about giving that one a shot.

 

[IronRain]

UMMU on CEV-Orion does work here.. which one are you using?

 

[Ark]

UMMU on CEV-Orion does work here.. which one are you using?

[ame="http://orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=4437"]CEV-Orion[/ame]

I'm trying to use this one, and on scenario start I get a "Ummu not installed" message. I've reinstalled UMMU and run the patching utility and there is no change.

EDIT: ISS fleet Soyuz looks like it can work, but won't let you EVA unless docked, so it kind of spoils what I was planning on doing when I got there. The plan was to leave the NERVA stack in a rough orbit, land the Soyuz or whatever on the target, and perform an EVA.

 

[boogabooga]

UMMU works on CEV Orion in Orbiter 2006, but not 2010. I've noticed that too. Also, the launch position is wrong in 2010.

 

[C3PO]

Can't find capsule for NEO mission

Neither can NASA :rofl:

(I just had to. ..... As you were)

 

[Izack]

Maybe you could try using this:
[ame="http://orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=4334"]Poderosa II Mission[/ame]

UMMUFA should work with it.

 

[Tacolev]

If UMMUFA is on the table I'd suggest Thorton's Soyuz as another possibility.

 

[fausto]

Antares is UMMU unfriendly at the moment.. we're fixing many issues on Eridanus and we hope we can do the same thing on Antares after Eridanus release! :thumbup:

 

[Ark]

Antares is UMMU unfriendly at the moment.. we're fixing many issues on Eridanus and we hope we can do the same thing on Antares after Eridanus release! :thumbup:

I didn't mean to come off like I was ripping on everyone, it was just one of those Orbiter days where every different approach to achieving a goal is stopped by one factor or another. :lol:

I ended up using the Ponderosa 2, as Spacecraft3 craft are usually the most versatile and least problematic, even if they can be short on pretty features. Also, a 2-man crew makes more sense for that tiny hab module.

Launched it on a Proton, slapped an Antares LES on top. Used Kourou as the launch site, as this was envisioned as an international mission.

Cruising along on the Proton's upper stage.

Mated to the NERVA stack, ready for eject burn. I tweaked the NERVA config file for a little more thrust and a lot more ISP. Cruinthe is way off-plane and takes a lot of delta-v to get to.

Ditching the first two drop tanks. I have to pause the burn a few times to transfer fuel and keep the stack balanced.

Coming up on the target. The NERVA is parked a few dozen km above the surface while the Ponderosa spacecraft lands. Around this point I found out the touchdown points are set to the craft's centerline, so UMMU egress launches the Captain at escape velocity. :facepalm:

What was that about escape velocity? Nothing the scenario editor can't fix. Mission accomplished!

The burn back to Earth took almost all the fuel, so the NERVA is abandoned into an interplanetary orbit. The Ponderosa CM takes the edge off the approach velocity and sets up a suitable reentry angle. The entry velocity was going to be about 13 k/s, which is painful but probably not impossible with a good enough heat shield. Unfortunately I pressed "T" too many times and slammed into Earth, but I'm confident I had everything set for a good reentry. Let's assume the crew made a soft landing, then died of radiation poisoning from camping on top of the NERVA for about 2 years. :lol:

Thanks to Izack for suggesting it, I will probably come up with other uses for this capsule system in the future. It was a fun mission, sometimes you miss out by zipping around in XR2s and Arrowstars all the time.