Explorer and Discoverer Program Update

Explorer 06

Explorer 06 entered the orbit of Dres and send back many data points, but for some reason, scientists still found the planet boring. They did notice a large canyon as if a space weapon tore a hole in the surface.

Explorer 07

Explorer 07 did it magical dance, it had prepared for 138 days ago and slingshot from a polar orbit of Eve to a polar orbit of Gilly. Neat little moon, if it has ore, it would make a great fuel depot.

Explorer 08

screenshot99

Explorer 08 made a boring correction burn but ended up with a free capture at Jool using Tylo as a break. Followup maneuvers were already planned.

Discovery 02

Discovery 02 launched to Moho in a landing configuration. The window was optimal and by removing some instruments and installing landing struts it was a minor change to the design.

Explorer 02

Explorer 02 arrived into the Jool system after a 2-year journey. Systems were still working through the signal was very weak. After a small correction burn, the probe swung by Tylo for a breaking assist. It would come back after 10 days for another assist then wait for 35 days and then come by another gravity assist.

The second assist resulted in a significantly lower orbit, allowing for a Laythe encounter after a 173 m/s burn. It would take a couple of more spins though.

Discovery 03

With the success of the Explorer 02, Discovery 03 was tasked with another mission to the Jool system. The probe was equipped with landing legs and a parachute. No particular moon was designated but there was hope for Layte and perhaps one of the smaller moons.

Discovery 04

S201A Discovery 04 was a modified Discovery probe with a Snuf rover mounted on top. The destination was: Duna.

The launch took off without a problem and the Discovery appeared to be greatly overpowered for such a mission, but serial production would lower cost and avoid failure did the manufacturer assure.

Spirit 04

Meanwhile, the team behind the Spirit rover had come up with another increment: the R002B Spirit 04 had a new descent stage that could act as a relay. Since the payload was quite wide, it would need a large fairing launcher such as the Thor.

Due to the spare capacity, the team decided that a Snuf rover could be carried as secondairy payload. The surface of Duna would become crowed if all the missions would succeed.

 

Leave a comment