Laythe Express: When it absolutely has to get there in Eight Years!

[Gordon Fecyk]

@Jebediah Kerman Jr. had a problem on his hands when Ribfrod Kerman stepped on his return craft's antenna and put his science return mission in jeopardy. Apparently the contract to return or transmit science data from the surface of Laythe was about to expire in eight Kerbin years, and his return craft was stuck in low Laythe orbit with a critical amount of delta-v remaining. While a direct transfer from Jool to Kerbin was possible, the Kerbin re-entry speed would exceed 6 km/s and fry Ribfrod to a crisp.

We weren't able to get the save file because he was on the Console edition. But I tossed together an example save file (20 KB ZIP) that I thought reproduces the problem, and kind-of echoes Criske Kerman's Minmus return problem from the stock scenarios. Jeb Jr explained this was a space plane, that it had spent much of its dV just getting to low Laythe orbit and had maybe 2 km/s remaining.

The eight-year time limit causes problems for a long-term return with gravity assists. Time is of the essence!

The Challenge: Get Ribfrod Home Quickly!

Deliver Ribfrod and his surface data from Laythe to Kerbin before the mission timer exceeds eight Kerbin years. Stock craft, stock system, normal difficulty, no cheating. Challenge modes are:

• Kanada Post: Deliver the craft and Ribfrod to the surface of Kerbin in one piece within eight years.
• Kerolator: Deliver the craft and Ribfrod home within four years. This one's possible without cheating if the craft had another 100 m/s to spare, or if you can be patient with transfer windows.
• Kerbal Express: Deliver the craft and Ribfrod safely to the KSC runway within four years.

This is a stock save with a modified Aeris 4A in the same style as the Aeris 4B from Criske's return mission. Add-ons or mods that don't reduce the difficulty are permitted.

I can add a Stock leaderboard and a FAR leaderboard for the foolhardy. The craft should be stable in FAR or Stock aerodynamics.

I have attempted this and managed to almost get the Kerolator mode done, but fell 100 m/s short. I think more patience with transfer windows and less aggressive flight planning would have overcome this. See Jeb Jr's original thread for the details.

 

[KingDominoIII]

I'm intrigued. Normally I make a transfer in three years with optimal window so this should be fun.