KSP | Crewed Mission to Jupiter | RSS/RO

A concept for a near-future crewed mission to the Jupiter System and back, using advanced plasma propulsion and Starship, simulated in Kerbal Space Program. The mission is based on the HOPE study by NASA (resources linked below).
Timestamps:
0:00 Cargo Vehicle Construction
4:02 Flight to Callisto
5:55 Payload Deployment
7:33 PCTV Construction
9:28 Crew Launch
11:13 Crewed Flight to Callisto
13:04 Surface Operations
14:58 PCTV and Cargo Vehicle docking
16:05 Return to Earth
19:40 Earth Landing
Running KSP 1.8.1 with Realism Overhaul + RSS
NOTABLE MODS:
- Tundra Exploration (Starship, plumes to be released soon)
- Planetside Exploration Vehicle (Rover, mod is still pre-release!)
- Waterfall (Mesh-based engine effects)
- Near Future Construction (structural parts)
- Near Future Propulsion (VASIMR® Engine)
- Near Future Electrical (Nuclear Reactor)
- Interstellar Extended (Hydrogen Fuel tanks and radiators)
- SSTU (Orion capsule used in the lander)
- Stockalike Station Parts Expansion Redux (Habitation modules)
- RSSVE (visuals)
- TUFX (post processing, profiles by Zorg)
- PersistentThrust + SolarSailNavigator (necessary for low thrust engines)
- Katniss's Cape Canaveral (LC-39A/B and surrounding area)
NOTE: I adjusted a lot of parts in these mods to work the way I needed them to in RO, so don't expect all parts to behave the way you see in this video (especially Waterfall configs, don't ask why your plumes don't look like in this video).
Additional material and links:
Overview of the HOPE study: ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20030...
HOPE Paper with a bigger focus on propulsion technologies: ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20030...
HOPE Mission with MPD thrusters: www.researchgate.net/publicat...
Progress in the development of the VASIMR® Engine: www.adastrarocket.com/Ben-JPP-...
Beautiful animation of the HOPE mission by ‪@fragomatik‬ : • Mission to Callisto
VASIMR® is a registered trademark of Ad Astra Rocket Company
www.adastrarocket.com/aarc/his...
The following music is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
Torley Wong - LUCID COMPLIANCE (music.torley.com/album/dream-...)
Torley Wong - Post-Apocalyptic Tourist (music.torley.com/album/waterm...)
Torley Wong - San Juniperan (music.torley.com/album/waterm...)
The following music is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Torley Wong - Under The Affluence (archive.org/details/Torley_Wo...)

[@MrIdontknowanyname]

Plot twist: The reason why Nessus was inactive is because it takes the ship 5 months to escape Earth

[@bryanmyers9977]

lol. I saw that and hoped he had the mod that allows you to do more time warping while burning. insane!

[@thedanishgoat7973]

it would actually take a few days or a few weeks or even a few months to make it to jupiter without timewarp

[@blob1820]

@@thedanishgoat7973 the closest distance from earth to Jupiter is around 590 million kilometers which would probably take around 2-6 years (depending on the transfer speed of the craft) Had to edit cause the math was wrong xD

[@thedanishgoat7973]

@@blob1820hmmmmm what if you sent a supersonic banana going mach 10 (in theory cause it cant handle those forces) how long would it in theory take it to reach jupiter?

[@blob1820]

@@thedanishgoat7973 well Mach 10 is nothing compared to actual interplanetary travel speeds and a banana wouldn’t break in space because of no air resistance

[@MarcusHouse]

Yea boi! He's back!

[@vipon9491]

Ayyyyyyyyyy

[@HELLO-hq1ec]

He's your friend?

[@vipon9491]

@@HELLO-hq1ec I just love his videos

[@matthewsperry7847]

Marcus!!!

[@billie_eilish4128]

Hey Hey Marcus

[@robossbomb0000]

Everyone’s ganksta until it takes 5 months to leave earths gravity

[@spaceguy9025]

eh, least the kerbals have a nice view

[@enderground9542]

at least he has persistent thrust mod

[@_KillerD_]

@@enderground9542 the kerbals don't have that mod... :(

[@marekhlavackovi3677]

So much time spent in the van Alan belts

[@yastreb.]

@@marekhlavackovi3677 No crew onboard at the time, but even the computers should have gotten fried.

[@LeonardoDaVinci01]

I refuse to believe this is KSP. I’m so used to stock KSP, that this seems like a movie rather than a game! How do you even mod KSP like that? Absolutely fantastic!!

[@LeonardoDaVinci01]

Seriously, what mods do you have?

[@MaxSpider2000]

@@LeonardoDaVinci01 We shall never know... Anyway KSP2 is probably gonna be modded until it looks JUST like a Sci-Fi movie so hang on!

[@elsebas3167]

@@LeonardoDaVinci01 it’s on the description

[@murch7299]

It's not KSP. It's modded KSP.

[@ATemplarIGuess]

@@murch7299 it is technically ksp

[@theKam0087]

This is probably the best KSP video I've ever seen.

[@racingmhf9157]

Really, i agree

[@joacogonzalez1430]

have you watched saturn grand tour from alex chiviliev?

[@racingmhf9157]

@@joacogonzalez1430 i watched, but i think this one is better.

[@mc_plus7390]

Ya

[@HazeAero]

Music is unfortunate. Rest is top notch

[@Thomas-dr9nn]

*lands with one raptor engine* Wait, i've seen this one before.

[@reyz360]

R.I.P. SN8..Thanks..

[@temdb3939]

This... has aged... like fine 900$ wine.

[@Thomas-dr9nn]

@@temdb3939 always lands with one engine, gotta keep the tradition living

[@borgir9817]

GREEN.

[@spacexksp-vojtak9908]

RIP SN9

[@N9GamingOfficial]

I've gotta praise you for the amount of time this must have taken to perform, amazing work :D

[@WasatchWind]

It was quite incredible - I'm also very fond of your videos as well.

[@ieatdirtwasntavailable]

man all the small youtubers know each other

[@grogman493]

ditto

[@otavainen222]

Hi N9, i'm a fan of For All Kerbalkind! Is Beardy recovering and when's da next episode?

[@Katniss218]

It's N NEIN

[@franzberner1]

The quality of all the details of the HOPE spaceships and supporting vessels is amazing! It must have taken months to create all the models, do the programming and mission planning. This is a milestone in KSP space flight simulation!

[@MatthewCable]

THE LEGEND HAS RETURNED!

[@alverro5351]

Oh hey Matthew! Love your videos man!

[@WasatchWind]

10:43 - this shot is just the coolest thing ever

[@isaiahphillip4112]

I can't get over the shot at 17:43 as the ship hurtles off into the darkness towards home.

[@avinavi5414]

@@shogun2248 the power of mods

[@torreka1813]

Most of the cinematic shots are wallpaper worthy pictures.

[@davidhunter6706]

I see you everywhere bruh

[@adrianbik3366]

17:23 this is my favourite

[@sebastiaomendonca1477]

This deserves to be on trending, not those awful vlogs

[@cindyviola100]

Ya but no one wants to see really cool nerdy Stuff. (This is a joke)

[@ArcherAC3]

Trending is pure garbage; I still can't believe most people waste time consuming that content.

[@afaz4070]

@@ArcherAC3 uh, I liked both to be honest

[@pamjamsam8064]

@@ArcherAC3 fr tho

[@astrojeb]

Some is good trending like animators WHO SPEND TIME ENTERTAINING THEIR AUDIENCE NOT VLOGERS

[@BraveLittleTomato]

This looks like footage from some documentary about space and not ksp. Amazing!

[@43Jodo]

Know I've commented before, but this got brought up on reddit so I'll just say again that this is right up there with "Build Fly Dream" for best KSP video ever IMO. Always nice coming back to it. Visuals, music, mission design are all stunning.

[@fj4432]

Best Christmas present ever

[@j1b00m7]

hi mr fj

[@fj4432]

@@j1b00m7 hello jboom

[@kerbinsphere]

looooooooooool

[@fj4432]

Why is everyone here!!!

[@kerbinsphere]

@@fj4432 it's just discord but on youtube

[@Luka_3D]

Glad to see the starship being used for what it's good at

[@fragomatik]

Thanks so much for the mention, mate! Wow, this is simply stunning work! Everything - from the visuals to Torley's music - is just *beautiful!*

[@Gordon_Workshop]

Unreal project, great work!

[@NessusKSP]

Thank you!

[@anony3615]

@@NessusKSP Nice video, but the most annoyingly picked music for it ever.

[@trbinsc1]

I rewatch this video every few months, It's simply the best KSP video I've ever seen. Every time it gives me chills, such an incredible video.

[@DetriotSteel]

Just watched this on my big-ass TV so that I could see, and hear, all the details of this...let me say...Godlike creation... On a scale from 1 to 10 YOU...sir...are an 11!!! 👍👍👍

[@TiJayFLY]

Incredible job. From the mission itself to the editing, what a vast effort! Probably the best advert I’ve seen for Starship’s capabilities too

[@samuelgoodwin2960]

That was an ace! Amazing effort making all that happen mate!

[@Cloth-bk8jn]

0:47 This part gets me so much, I love the music syncing with the de-orbit burn giving it a great vibe-

[@bravoalpha101st]

It isn’t a de-orbit burn, friend. The Superheavy is burning back to the KSC.

[@YBaimblox]

For Cloth3001 its true me like it

[@generalrendar7290]

Love the craftsmanship and the camera work. Would love to see more content!

[@frasersutherland571]

What an incredible video!! Fantastic Christmas present :D

[@fernando1018]

I'm just stunned by the graphics, the work done, the ideation and the execution. My KSP missions look like PacMan or Atari versions in comparison. Congratulations! wow.

[@aaronrogers2822]

Amazing work, hope to see more soon!

[@undefined1777]

Hello. I'm watching you for first time (KZbin algorithms helped me to find your channel, it works). Thank you for your nice videos.

[@alrightydave]

Awesome video. This is the best KSP video I've watched in ages. I love these futuristic inter-planetary/inter-stellar colonisation videos made using the best KSP mods. They're almost like small movies at this point. You should try making an inter-stellar colonisation video. I'd love to see that.

[@chadmcelroy4194]

HE HAS RETURNED!!!

[@hispeed1036]

I’m so glad you listed the mods.. looks beautiful 🤯

[@ArsenAl-zorK]

Absolutely amazing! Not a big fan of some of the music but the mission and how you captured the whole thing is nothing short of brilliant! Well done.

[@sgtepic4659]

This is such an awesome mod. Impressive work getting to the Jupiter system! I bet lots of planning went into this video.

[@hruschakaerospace2379]

Beautiful build with some absolutely jamming music, well done, I must find the first two songs

[@LokleyTheo]

Great job, great designs, great work on video! Thanks for mod list also)

[@themadman3438]

this effort and quality is very impressive. thanks for the content. i enjoyed watching this.

[@puppyownergrandpa1203]

Truly amazing, I can’t even figure out how to go to the moon but here you are going to Jupiter. Keep up the good work!

[@ready1player31]

jeez i just realized i have the cargo starship mod and I've never ever once used it to construct an interplanetary stage. looks incredibly useful!

[@bernardomoreira]

Amazing, you deserve more subscribers!

[@LuckyLuke3331]

Mission, description, source, video, simulation, etc. are excellent !! Like a boss !

[@tfan2222]

I LOVE this idea, the way it makes a capable space craft through several launches is just genius

[@egamersmk771]

i just got this recommended and this looks awesome!!!!

[@kerbinsphere]

bro I thought you were dead, welcome back!

[@randominternetwanderer6295]

First time I watched this channel but I LOVE IT! Keep going!

[@aleixman15]

Man, I have to congrats you because this video is the best video I ever see in youtube. It’s amazing. Congratulations!!!

[@harrisongilbert]

Absolutely incredible video! Also, thank you so much for putting in good music. KSP cinematic creators seem to always put in such dark and depressing music for their near-future concepts for some reason.

[@cinnac0n]

This must have taken so much work. Awesome content. I would be really interested to see how successful the Starship can aerobrake and land on Mars (with the mod in RSS/RO), since that's still a big unknown in reality. But even if it never happens, you've brilliantly presented one way that it may enable other ambitious missions.

[@noahcoronado5257]

The graphics look amazing and the video edits are great!!!!

[@jesusrv2009]

Well done mate! Amazing

[@wavywatson4469]

I do love the good ol’ KSP videos, so I thank you for the nostalgic video.

[@SomeoneNamedTygget]

Assuming that SpaceX hits their goal of launching each Starship for $2 million, launching all of this to space would only cost around ~70 million USD. Developing and constructing the payloads would cost WAY MORE than that, but a $70 million launch cost is insanely cheap for something of this scale.

[@43Jodo]

Triple? Try 10,000x. 700BIL is a conservative estimate for something like this. Just the crewed part of this mission is ~5 years. The whole thing, from design stage to first crew return, would span decades. MW rated nuclear reactors, VASIMIR, building the largest spacecraft ever **twice,** Earth launch for every damn piece for some godforsaken reason instead of in-orbit assembly/lunar ISRU. All that for a month on the surface for 3 guys. Imagine you're told you'll be one of the 3 who get to babysit the orbiter while everyone else goes and lands. Your entire astronaut career, your lifetime radiation budget, a decade of your life to get that close and no further. The OP's video makes the sensible decision to bring everyone down to the surface and back, but that's not what the paper proposes. This isn't Apollo. You're not going to get to land on a later mission if you get picked for the orbiter. This is absolutely a once-in-a-lifetime mission for safety reasons alone, ignoring costs. Sure, someone has to stay with the ship, but you could at least design your ISRU and lander to allow for a crew rotation 2 weeks in. Of course, that would balloon the mass budget even further. Nothing like this will ever happen, period. Serious crewed exploration of the outer planets will be a stretch even with a robust cislunar economy. As some other commenters have pointed out, I really wouldn't be surprised if the first crewed missions to the outer planets launch from Mars instead of Earth. That's how far out we're talking.

[@SomeoneNamedTygget]

@@43Jodo That is one of the most pessimistic and incorrect takes on spaceflight I've ever seen. $700 bil is a ludicrously high price tag. Even if each craft individually cost as much to build as the entire ISS, it'd still be over $100 bil cheaper than your estimate. Not to mention the fact that it'd be insanely cheaper to build given that A) a significant portion of the ISS' price tag was launch costs which Starship alleviates, and B) the crafts are mostly just structure that radiators are mounted to. Of course radiation would be a problem but nowhere near lifetime-dose levels. Radiation shielding on the reactors, crew launching to meet the craft just as it's ready to leave the Earth-Moon system, going to Callisto specifically to avoid most of Jupiter's radiation, shorter round trip time due to the flight path and efficient engine, and all that's not to mention whatever radiation shielding they have in the actual crewed section. Also, while I agree that a mission to the Jovian system and beyond aren't likely to happen before 2100, if NASA (and more importantly, congress) really wanted to, they could probably get people to Callisto in 20-25 years using NASA's current budget.

[@43Jodo]

@@SomeoneNamedTygget Apollo all-in was ~300BIL, of which about a 3rd were the launch vehicles. I see no possible way the multiple Apollo-class programs that would precede a mission like this would somehow cost less. Just take a look at the chart at the end of the first study in the description and tell me that's not a hundred billion in development work alone. And it's not like that chart is anywhere near complete, it just lists SOME of the stuff we have 0 experience with. That chart is JUST for the surface mission, not the rest of it.

[@SomeoneNamedTygget]

@@43Jodo I feel you should know that the price you're using for the Apollo program also includes Gemini, Mercury, and just about all of the infrastructure NASA uses today. A fairer estimate of just the development of the Saturn V, it's testing campaign, and all of the lunar missions is closer to ~$25 bil in today dollars. I'm not going to claim that a mission like this would be cheap, of course it won't be, especially if they started working on it right now. But, many of the technologies required for a mission like HOPE are already being developed for other projects, which lowers the future cost as it means they don't have to develop cutting edge tech and instead only need to implement already existing tech. In fact, automated precision landing and cryogenic metals have already been developed, Advanced EVA development is undergoing for Artemis and NASA's vague Mars plans, cryogenic mass transfer is being worked on by SpaceX with some help from NASA, and a nuclear powered rover will be landing (hopefully in one piece) on Mars tomorrow. The reason that Apollo was so expensive was because they had to build all their stuff from scratch while they still barely had the technology for jet travel. By the end of the century I'd be surprised if something like this would be that crazy of an undertaking.

[@Kris-jk9mq]

WOW... Just wow.. Thank you for this man!! Glad you are back!

[@astronut42]

I'm a simple man. I see Starship, I click. Amazing work!

[@benisjammin8926]

That makes 2 of us

[@WasatchWind]

@@benisjammin8926 3

[@hanstrimmel4290]

4

[@HogBurger]

5, if moons count

[@astrosasha]

reddit moment

[@spacemancm4043]

Oh my god that is beautifully done

[@SergeyPupkoMusic]

I'll never understand the music style but what I do understand is this is an incredible video which probably took a very long time to plan out and execute. Nothing but respect.

[@drsava04]

This is probably the best KSP video I have ever seen. GG to you

[@perihelie]

The great return of the legend !

[@SGAzozy-AzozyGamingYouTube]

this really shows how useful starship can be in the future tbh

[@LeftOverMacNCheese]

Yeah the capability to transport cargo and human and also be reusable while relatively soo much cheaper than any rocket just prove how innovative this thing is

[@Bryce-rh2fp]

This is soooo well done amazing video!

[@jackal_loaf7232]

Awesome! Merry Christmas!

[@coldvaledraw2446]

Mum: Son, why are you crying? Me: Nessus is back mum, he’s back...

[@xerosfs]

Mum: Who’s “Nessus” Cold ValeDraw: The greatest genius ever

[@NURDVEVO]

Beautiful! Awesome work, and sadly I only found you now.

[@leodufour2]

Ive never seen this channel before and this is one hell of a first impression

[@Aech0]

I thought the same thing lol

[@Aubstract]

This is my favorite video of yours yet!

[@jamisonpawley5822]

Welcome back!!

[@Zerathrax]

Ok this might be the best KSP video I've ever seen. Visuals, pacing, music, , editing, everything... it's perfect.

[@datathunderstorm]

Seriously wobbly touch downs - but I love it regardless! Well done!!! 😃👍

[@hh7426]

I don’t know if i’ve already said this here, but this is one of my favorite videos in KSP, it’s singlehandedly driving my own RSS playthrough

[@abhishekkhatri2631]

One of the moat amazing videos of ksp I have seen.☺️👌

[@ironfd]

Ow god legend is back

[@jupiterbjy]

Thought I could sleep while watching this - Instead I watched from start to end with fullest attention. Great work!

[@Rayniz604]

We need more of this realistic near future stuff! Awesome work!!!

[@MN-ly5qs]

There’s no way this is ksp it looks like a blender animation! So realistic and cool!

[@getous]

No idea who you are, this video just popped up on my front page. Instant subscriber after this video.

[@NessusKSP]

Thank you! Really happy to see KZbin recommending the video to so many people.

[@reyz360]

@@NessusKSP Me too Looks like youtube is on your side this time

[@rohithanuchri9911]

@@NessusKSP I am ur new sub...can u explain how to make proper intercepts with planets with such long biting duration...and this is master piece....good job

[@mikknikls8356]

Big fucking cool! This is not just a video - this is a masterpiece! And in general, I discovered a new favorite and truly fresh art format! 🙌 Thanks for the great job!

[@hubertaloisff2170]

The sheer quality of this video is insane!

[@ebigunso]

WOW This is some of the most amazing works I've ever seen in KSP. Mad props to you! Now I have a question. How did you manage hydrogen boiloff? Does the fuel tank from KSPI have it built in?

[@NessusKSP]

No, I simply added a modular fuel tanks definition with zero boiloff and used that for the tanks. I gave the tanks a relatively high dry mass to justify the zero boiloff but with the other tech used in this mission, zero boiloff hydrogen tanks felt quite reasonable :D The tank definition looks sth like this: +TANK_DEFINITION[Cryogenic] { @name = Cryogenic (refrigerated) @TANK[LqdHydrogen|LqdOxygen] { %loss_rate = 0 %wallConduction = 0 } }

[@makssachs8914]

@@NessusKSP How did you plan the ultra long VASIMR burns?

[@satyazaen]

Omg, perfect graphics

[@awddwa6544]

Wonderful taste in music and beautiful video!

[@victortenma5512]

Great edditing, great music, great mission and vehicle design, everything is great.

[@DarkV13]

Please make a folder with all your mods! It’s amazing!

[@grogman493]

Quick question: how do you get your VASIMR engines to run on LH2?

[@bryanmyers9977]

Beautiful video! I need to take a new look at my KSP install.

[@sythosz1571]

This guy is a wizard. Not only is he doing these incredibly complicated and time consuming things, but HE MAKES IT LOOK AWESOME

[@teaser6089]

Could you upload the mods you have + the configs you changed to Google drive for others to use?

[@celtonthetitanlive]

YESSS!!!

[@millionaireno1382]

You have got a absolute MAMMOTH OF A MACHINE to be able to do this and have these graphics.

[@jacobcharleszimmerman7934]

Your video is impressive. You must be very proud.

[@Hal9023]

I have finished my daily viewing

[@chonk3358]

Sick name

[@heliogt1961]

the worst thing about this: if humanity would get their act together we would already be doing this

[@marc_bjn]

nope

[@farel9476]

If The space race still continues*

[@Aech0]

The realism combined with the perfect execution of this mission make this video seem like a movie.

[@hmadridd]

The best KSP video I've seen ever!

[@ilyayana-cl4nc]

It looks like ksp 2! OMG

[@kermanite]

How did you get that launch pad

[@NoahSonserReal]

This is the best Kerbal Space Program video I've ever seen!

[@podhoubishit]

One of the best RSS/RO thaks for making good content

[@acado42]

That gives us a good vision of starship's habilities

[@WasatchWind]

I know - everyone obsesses over its capabilities for Mars, but the stuff beyond that doesn't get much speculation.

[@farcasdotpng]

Does anyone know how did he get the RO configs for the Shiny 2019 Starship? I can only find RO configs for the 2018 Starship with the 3 fins.

[@SHD69]

ur vids are so awesome! :D

[@pierrickgrandjean1441]

Whaaaaat, its the best short movie i ever seen with KSP. CONGRULATION !!!👏👏👏

[@Jstpandazzz]

DUDEEEE I NEED ALL UR MODS PLSSS