Going to space without fuel.

Launches look like this. Totes Realism.

 So, at long last we make a little bit more progress with our Duna project.

I've decided to call the suite of missions to assemble the spacecraft that's going to Duna Project Yondalla. It's going to be a multiple-flight type of project - so far I've made four launches, and only just assembled the drive system.

Fuel Module and RC Depot in Place.

Many of these launches were made with empty fuel tanks on the "final" stages, just to keep the weight down and make it easier to make the orbits I needed. The construction orbit is just outside that used by Theseus, which will make it easy enough to fuel the ship later, once it is fully constructed.

The struts and Orbital Registration Bus (ORB) arrive on site.

The first launch was the main fuel canister and auxiliary power systems, along with a canister of extra RCS fuel, which will be useful later. This system has its own probe-core controller and short-range communications suite - partly because the former is necessary to keep the object spawned in game, and partly because realism is important and the probe core will help keep the fuel tank stable while we're docking other parts to it.

Maneuvering Alpha Strut into position.

The next launch was three parts launched all as one - a pair of full fuel tanks that double as separation struts for the engine modules, and a nifty little device called an ORB, which I'm using to correctly position the parts in orbit and then dock them to the craft. I've built orb-like designs before, but this is the first one I've built with an actual rocket attached to it, rather than just RCS.

Taking Risks to dock the Beta Strut

This part of assembly was simple, though Mech Jeb made me nervous by taking maneuvers I totally wouldn't. You simply need to dock on the first strut, disconnect the second one from it, dock that to the matching port on the far side, and then go back to Kerbin for the next launch.

It didn't really get complicated until we sent up the engine modules, which had to be docked the right way around. Once that was done, though, it's on to the next phase - designing and testing the first of three landers - A Cargo Hab.

Finished product after two launches.

ORB breaks away to go grab the first Engine Module.

Hauling the first Engine Module into place.

And we're locked.

Stealing some power from the nuclear engine.

Nuclear Engine, parking in orbit beside a station,
moving at about a mile per 5 seconds.

The completed Tug Module. Port side lost a shield.

Green Orbit is our station - this is the space near Kerbin.