ManEatingApe

The new burn time indicator is pretty neat. I used custom action groups to disable/enable engines without staging and it's smart enough to update the burn time numbers before it's too late!

Presenting a penny pinching Poodle powered panacea for parsimonious programs, a paltry 315,000 purchase. Reduced the Mammoths from 4 to 3, increased the Twin-Boars from 4 to 6 to compensate and replaced the Rhino with twin Poodles. Same mission profile as before, replenish fuel on Minimus, then propulsive assisted Eve descent. The outrageously opulent return vessel included a parachute so the crew could float gently back to Kerbin. Craft File Full Album Link

That's looking positively penny pinching! I noticed some struts here and there - you might be able to shave a few more funds off with judicious use of auto-struts. Also, bizarrely the small docking port is way more expensive than the regular sized variant. Luxury! Back in my day, we were so poor that Kerbals head butted the ground at 50 m/s and were glad of it.

Pared down the previous craft to 350,000 funds. By popular demand this version can actually return the crew home! 30 tons of ore delivered to Gilly Jeb and Bill return home in style. Full album link Craft file

I didn't think anyone would find the Minimus -> Eve transfer details interesting, but guess I was wrong! Fortunately I hadn't deleted the saves, so I took a few extra screen shots and added to them to the previously linked album. Without further ado here's the gory details. (unless specified otherwise, when calculating dV I'm using the 340s ISP of the Rhino). Stage 1: Kerbin Orbit at Minimus's radius Mass: 724.3 tons, Fuel: 536.3 tons, dV: 4,499 m/s (I'm including 30 tons of ore from Minimus, that we'll refine once in low Eve orbit, towards the fuel mass) From here, we dive to low Kerbin orbit for maximum Oberth when ejecting. Total dV needed so far: 202 m/s + 141 m/s = 343 m/s Next, in order to get 0° inclination around Eve, we fix inclination for another 387 m/s. Total dV needed so far: 730 m/s Finally to brake into low Eve orbit, takes another 1,580 m/s Total dV needed so far: 2,310 m/s As we well know, maneuver burns don't go perfectly so let's see how we did once in low Eve orbit... Mass: 367.5 tons, Fuel: 179.5 tons, dV: 2,236 m/s remaining So we actually used 2,263 m/s vs our estimate of 2,310 m/s, coming out ahead slightly! The small discrepancy is more than likely due to the mild aero-braking from a few passes in Eve's high atmosphere. Finally just before descent, we pump 32 tons of fuel into the refueling tug. After detaching, our final dV figure is calculated using the 315s ISP of the Mammoths (as the Rhino on its own wasn't enough to slow down) Mass: 330.2 tons, Fuel: 147.5 tons, dV: 1,829 m/s remaining Orbital velocity is 3,213 m/s, so less 1,829 m/s gives a final speed of 1,384 m/s (neglecting gravity and aerobraking) or about 1,500 m/s as mentioned before. Correct - Jeb was only on the chair for a few minutes to dock with the tug, in keeping with the spirit of the challenge. To keep things absolutely fair (especially since the poor crew were abandoned on Gilly) - let's treat this entry as an honorable mention. At the very least it shows that there's scope to make plenty of profit on this contract!

The thought of lifting anything heavier than a Kerbal from Eve's surface always terrified me, so this challenge formed part of my therapy Here's a 4 x Mammoth, 4 x Twin-Boar, 1 x Rhino craft, costing a total of 390,000 funds. The Rhino may seem an interesting choice, the rationale behind the decision was that significant parts of this mission required high dV vacuum maneuvers, and the Rhino provides both a good ISP of 340 and a good TWR for such a large craft. Mission profile was similar to @jinnantonix's entry: Single stage to Minimus surface Refuel and transfer to low Eve orbit Leave behind a fuel reserve (actually a tiny self contained spacecraft with a command chair, Spark and a reaction wheel) Descend to the surface, mine ore, return and rendezvous with fuel reserve. Transfer to Gilly There were some differences: Propulsive braking: I didn't bring any heat shields, instead using the engines to slow down to a survivable 1,500 m/s in Eve's atmosphere. (I did use parachutes for the landing, my fuel capacity and piloting skills were not up to the task of a pure propulsive landing) 0° orbital inclination: Anything other than 0 degrees inclination makes orbital rendezvous tricky, especially on Eve where the cost of inclination changes are so very very high. By keeping everything exactly on the equator I was able to rendezvous with the fuel reserve for only 50 m/s dV and then dock for about the same again. A transfer orbit and insertion burn to Gilly, intersecting at the ascending node was only 1,550 m/s. Some findings relating to costs: Structural pylons are much cheaper than other decouplers, and handy to boot as their size keeps the tanks apart. The Size 3 -> Size 2 Kerbodyne adapter is silly expensive. I was a little extravagant with 4 x Gigantors (at 3k a pop) and a full size drill and ISRU, mainly 'cos I'm impatient. Using fewer panels and the smaller drill and converter could have saved some funds at the cost of some game time. Highlights: Landed on Minimus's surface Landed on Gilly - no one said anything about getting the crew back! At least they won't be b-ore-d....I'll get my coat. Full album link (including Eve ascent details) Craft file

Holy moly, that's amazing! @EvermoreAlpaca I tip my hat to you sir

@IncongruousGoat Ditching the landing gear to save parts on your Laythe lander was ingenious. Climbing atop the flag to get back on your Tylo lander was also a nice touch - I chuckled at that one, it was very Kerbal!

Presenting the Ark B, a no MH, no ISRU, no gravity assists, no added preservatives, no added flavorings, stock chemical engine only Jool 5 mission. @5thHorseman's Tylo technique was just so good, that I followed it to the letter, dropping a mother-ship into high Tylo orbit. Thanks 5H! For maximum part re-use the centre stage of the Tylo lander returned to the mother-ship and was refuelled and reused as the Vall, Bop and Pol lander. The Laythe landing craft also did double duty as the Kerbin return vehicle. Highlights in the spoiler and full album link.

Here's a pure 1.4.5 stock (no MH, no ISRU) entry: Life, the Universe and Eve-returning Mission profile was straightforward. The main vessel aero-braked into Eve capture, detaching a small return vessel that remained in orbit just before final descent. Jeb went to the surface at 66m altitude and returned in a lander that could reliably almost reach orbit from below 300m. After Jeb valiantly jet-packed the remaining couple hundred m/s, Valentina retrieved him with the return vessel and returned home safely. Eve descent/ascent highlights in the spoiler and full album here. In a truly Arthur Dent level of absent-mindedness I forgot to uninstall Hyperedit until halfway through the challenge when landed on Eve. Of course I didn't use it at any point during the mission proper, however @dnbattley if you feel that disqualifies the attempt then no worries.

Nothing like a bit of competitive provocation! @swjr-swis's rocket entry is going to be hard to beat, but the field is wide open for a spaceplane entry.

Such extravagance!

No frills 25 Terrier entry The first stage only lifts the craft a few hundred meters but it's enough. It feels like doing an Eve ascent...only on Kerbin instead! By 6km things are ticking over nicely In LKO with a little fuel left over so that we can bring Jeb back. Full album link This does allow an easy way to rank the entries - the fewer Terriers the better.

Keep it simple - really simple. Ruthlessly strip away anything that's not necessary in order to minimise drag and mass. For example, do you need that rudder? A fixed stabiliser can suffice. Here's a primitive SSTO: Some specific tips: Add some incidence (1 to 2°) to your main wings. This will help generate lift while reducing drag by keeping your body more prograde. Experiment with different ascent profiles to get the most out of your design. Some threads that might help: Caveman Tech SSTO Challenge Tech level 7 SSTO to Minmus surface and back