Kerbol Polar Orbit (between 26Mm and 1.5Mm)

[Stefano Balzarotti]

For this challenge, you must put a vessel into Kerbol (sun) stable Polar Orbit, between 26160 km and 1500 km.

RULES:

• No mods are allowed, except for informative mods that doesn't provide a real advantage.
• Only stock parts allowed
• No tricks like infinite fuel, disabling heat, edit cfg, etc, are allowed
• There are limits in cost, parts or stages, you can even assemble your vessel in space if you want.
• The vessel must be able to transmit data, so it should be able to generate power and it should have an antenna
• If you want, you can use a refuel station or mine resources, if you believe that it is necessary.

OPTIONAL (I do not know if they are possible) :

• You must turn back to Kerbin, to recover some scientific data
• You have to carry a crew of 3 Kerbin (a Pilot, a scientist and an engineer) and transmit a crew report from Kerbol
• Recover all parts of vessel, except for consumable parts (like parachutes, heat shield, stack decoupler, fuel ...) 
  
  
   

Edited January 14, 2017 by Stefano Balzarotti

[Planetace]

I dont think this is possible...

[Garrett Kerman]

It's possible (I've crashed into the sun in a polar orbit before), but hard. You should pack a few ions, three tanks of xenon (1.25 m) and lots of electricity (radiators too).

[Planetace]

42 minutes ago, Garrett Kerman said:

It's possible (I've crashed into the sun in a polar orbit before), but hard. You should pack a few ions, three tanks of xenon (1.25 m) and lots of electricity (radiators too).

I mean the size of the orbit, its too low.

Edited January 15, 2017 by Planetace

[Garrett Kerman]

4 minutes ago, Galacticvoyager said:

I mena the size of the orbit, its too low.

The sun's atmosphere starts at 600 km, so the minimal orbit is still doable, it just requires tons of delta v and lots of radiators.

[Planetace]

41 minutes ago, Garrett Kerman said:

The sun's atmosphere starts at 600 km, so the minimal orbit is still doable, it just requires tons of delta v and lots of radiators.

Let me check...

it is...

Edited January 15, 2017 by Planetace

[Stefano Balzarotti]

Achieve the orbit it's possible, with lots of ion engines I got very close before running out fuel, I'll try again because I'm sure with an efficient design it's possible.
Turn back I don't know if it's possible, but probably with a titanic vessel and lots of fuel you can try.

[Stefano Balzarotti]

I was able to achieve a Pe at  26160 km in polar orbit, the vessel survive the heat thanks to radiators and I still have lots of xenon to slow down the orbit.
But I have a serious problem with solar panels, if I deploy them, they explode, If I don't deploy I am unable to deploy the ion engines and after some time I run out of energy, so radiators stop working and the vessel explodes.
For now I can keep myself in orbit for few time with solar panel retracted thanks to radioisotope generator, but the energy provided is not enough to maintain radiators on, nor to turn on engines.
I'll try again, maybe a smaller solar panel is easier to protect from heat , and  since there is a very high solar radiation I think a very tiny solar panel can provide enough energy.

[wibou7]

On 2017-01-25 at 5:42 AM, Stefano Balzarotti said:

I was able to achieve a Pe at  26160 km in polar orbit, the vessel survive the heat thanks to radiators and I still have lots of xenon to slow down the orbit.
But I have a serious problem with solar panels, if I deploy them, they explode, If I don't deploy I am unable to deploy the ion engines and after some time I run out of energy, so radiators stop working and the vessel explodes.
For now I can keep myself in orbit for few time with solar panel retracted thanks to radioisotope generator, but the energy provided is not enough to maintain radiators on, nor to turn on engines.
I'll try again, maybe a smaller solar panel is easier to protect from heat , and  since there is a very high solar radiation I think a very tiny solar panel can provide enough energy.

We want pictures!

[Stefano Balzarotti]

I have not taken it, because I haven't  completed the challenge yet, the Pe was at  26160 km, but the Ap was at over 13 Gm
Now I'm trying with a new design, with this vessel actually I reached a 59793274 m Pe

Screenshots here:https://1drv.ms/f/s!Av6a1kvwLlQrjc41Tp1DJsuf9xntNA

I've taken the screenshot at 181425 km because is the minimum altitude that I can reach with time warp, (the radiators doesn't works with time warp enabled) so the vessel explode with time warp.
I need some hours to reach the Pe, hoping that the new vessel is able to resist to heat .

I've also uploaded my craft design, so maybe you can test and improve it.


UPDATE 1:
This vessel design doesn't works, most parts are exploded at ~145000 km, but some parts of vessel are survived, I'll take a screenshot when i reach the minimum point.

UPDATE 2:
Other explosions at 103000 km, now the vessel is uncontrollable, but some parts still survive.

UPDATE 3:
The vessel has exploded at 76514 km

UPDATE 4:
I'm developing a new kind of vessel able to survive to heat withouts any problems.
Currently it's in test, (I'm using debug menu to set orbit), because it takes a long times to launch and reach the orbit without time warp.
The current vessel is able to survive at 25880 km without problems, you can see  the screen-shot polar5.jpg, some parts begins to explode at ~23000 km, full explosion at 18613 km.
I plan to use this vessel as a part of a larger one assembled on Moho orbit.

Edited January 31, 2017 by Stefano Balzarotti