Part 11: Mission: Mun Voyager-3

A much more modest rocket booster was used with the same probe as the first two unsuccessful attempts, consisting of stacked Skybreakers.



The rocket proved stable enough to make it to the Mun's sphere of influence.



And as it approached, we could see the Mun in full through its cameras. It was quite a sight to behold, and one that made more than one kerbal eager to try and see the same with their own eyes.



The probe achieved orbit and activated its instruments. The mission was already successful, but the copious amounts of fuel left gave the ground crew an idea for going beyond it. That was to land the probe on the Mun.



Sadly, the landing was not very dramatic visually, as their insistence on landing it on the side facing Kerbin meant that the rest of the Mun blocked a lot of the light.



Nonetheless, the computer worked and the probe made it down intact, although the lack of any gear meant that it tipped on its side. This was of no consequence, as the instruments still functioned well, and gave excellent measurements of the properties of the Mun. What was a problem was the lack of sunlight for the panels, and the battery was draining fast. At this point yet another argument broke out, with some insisting that the probe had already done its job and that it should be allowed to turn off, and others wanting to repower it.



The only way to try and power it was to reengage the main engine, with predictable results. Despite this ending, the mission was a great success, to the point where some are already talking about a crewed landing.