Duna Rover 1

[Yobobhi]

So, this is the start of the saga of my first Duna rover. And it hasn't been going well. I began with using my standard booster, the Heavy Orbital Booster Mk2. I developed the rover and IP transfer stage, and attached them, then built the fairing. I should have known that things would not go well when the main engines did not start when I first pressed space, which they usually do in this particular design. I staged again, and the rocket lifted off as normal, but with a slight wobble, which was unusual as this design had a quad-SAS core segment to keep it stable and maneuverable. At 6900m, I began my gravity turn. This is where things went wrong the first time. As I began my gravity turn, I realized why my engines hadn't ignited on the first stage. The rocket began tilting earthward, and I had the thought to zoom in to the fairing to see what was wrong. The IP transfer stage had separated from the rocket and was only held in place by the acceleration. As I began my gravity turn, it fell to the fairing and offset my center of mass. The rocket tumbled out of control, and I cut the engines and watched it fall into the ocean. I fixed that staging error and began the launch again. This time, the failure was even more catastrophic. It turns out that even with my faulty staging the IP stage would have fallen from its mounting. It was a heavy 2.5m payload on a 1.25m decoupler, and as I staged to my second stage, which had much higher acceleration for more efficient orbital insertions, the payload broke off the decoupler as I began my orbital insertion. It smashed into the main body and sent debris flying into the stratosphere, which luckily mostly burned up. I'm working on a new booster for this mission, due to the unreliability of the Heavy Orbital Booster Mk2. I'll post updates soon. 

[Tex]

Oooooh, sounding unlucky there. Don't worry, though, you'll get there eventually!