Revisiting the To The Mun Alice! Series

Previously I presented the To The Mun Alice! series of ships as I originally designed and attempted to land them on Mun. Three months ago, only the last in the series, the AliceK, was able to complete its mission by landing and then returning to Kerbin. In my last post I presented the historic journey of the brave crew of the AliceK as Jebediah raised the Kerbal flag on Mun.

In this post I reexamine the series. Recently, the craft were brought out of storage and sent once again to the launchpad, then sent skyward into the darkness of space. My flying skills while still quite amateurish are much improved over the complete novice abilities of the original flights. The results were interesting. Only the Alice2 was incapable of reaching orbit. The rest of the series surprisingly were all quite competent at completing their original mission of a trip to the surface of Mun and a return back to Kerbin.

To The Mun:

This ship seemed completely under powered at the time.

To The Mun

Today it was really close getting into orbit but worked flawlessly once orbit was established.

To The Mun - Landed

Alice:

Too much power, too little struts, with too little experience, resulted in one big boom.

Alice

Now, learning to use the throttle made a big difference. Look Ma I'm on the Mun.

Alice In Wonderland

A beautiful picture of the return burn.

Alice Leaving Mun

The Alice2:

This craft simply did not have the right stuff and never will.

Alice2

The Alice3

This is another craft that I originally could not put into orbit.

The Alice3

Turns out, if you are patient and work at getting horizontal speed as well as vertical, this rocket will eventually climb into orbit and perform beautifully. The transfer burn to Mun is pictured below.

Alice3 Transfer

A cool picture of the Alice3 in Munar Orbit

Alice3 In Orbit

KSP.... Uhmmm.... We have a problem. Yes, even today I turn one over from time to time. The point is, this craft had plenty of fuel and would have made the return trip just fine. If only....

Alice3 - Not Good

The AliceC

A heavy metal monster for sure. This should have made it big. Trouble is I couldn't control it.

The AliceC

Today this Billion Dollar Baby cut its way through the atmosphere like a knife. 

Not like in the hands of a surgeon. More like a crazed psycho killer.

AliceC Rocking The Landing

After losing the lander engines, the AliceC coasts in orbit around Mun.

AliceC Back In Munar Orbit

Once solar panels are extend the Alice3 heads for Kerbin.

AliceC Heading Home

Remember to save your craft files with each new series, especially if you thought it should have worked. I really enjoyed coming back months later with more experience and flying these ships. It is a good feeling to learn you were on the right track with your design ideas.