Unmanned probe to the Mun

[MPDerksen]

2 missions to leave unmanned probes in specific orbits of the Mun.  I was thinking of the above design.  I have the tracking station completely upgraded, so the 2x Com-16s should do it.  I'm curious if there is a way to take TWO of these at the same time, and if so, how to launch them.  It has about 1,200 dV, so that's PLENTY, even if I wanted to bring them home.

[Ratwerke_Actual]

3 minutes ago, MPDerksen said:

2 missions to leave unmanned probes in specific orbits of the Mun.  I was thinking of the above design.  I have the tracking station completely upgraded, so the 2x Com-16s should do it.  I'm curious if there is a way to take TWO of these at the same time, and if so, how to launch them.  It has about 1,200 dV, so that's PLENTY, even if I wanted to bring them home.

If you want to take two, mount them in a fairing with the truss nodes active.

[Aegolius13]

You can also do multiple copies side-by-side in a fairing, by using symmetry and a cubic octagonal strut (or similar part) to attach the problems.  @Ratwerke_Actual's method is almost certainly going to be more effective if you just want two probes, since it keeps a nice narrow rocket shape.  But if you need a bunch of ships at once (say for a Jool science mission or a whole relay network), mixing the two approaches can be helpful.  

 

 

 

[MPDerksen]

1 hour ago, Ratwerke_Actual said:

If you want to take two, mount them in a fairing with the truss nodes active.

Sorry, but, “truss nodes”?  I’ll look it up, but if you would explain a bit?

35 minutes ago, Aegolius13 said:

You can also do multiple copies side-by-side in a fairing, by using symmetry and a cubic octagonal strut (or similar part) to attach the problems.  @Ratwerke_Actual's method is almost certainly going to be more effective if you just want two probes, since it keeps a nice narrow rocket shape.  But if you need a bunch of ships at once (say for a Jool science mission or a whole relay network), mixing the two approaches can be helpful. 

Could I ask you tell me what core and engine you are using in the probes in your pictures?  At this point, I’ve only unlocked the OKTO.  

[bewing]

9 minutes ago, MPDerksen said:

Sorry, but, “truss nodes”?  I’ll look it up, but if you would explain a bit?

You have to go into your settings and turn on "Advanced Tweakables". The game has it turned off by default to avoid confusing the newbies -- but once you have some practice, you need to turn it on. It's extremely useful. Once you turn that on, you go into the fairing's menu, and turn on "interstage nodes". It's a super useful (advanced) way to use a fairing.

9 minutes ago, MPDerksen said:

Could I ask you tell me what core and engine you are using in the probes in your pictures?  At this point, I’ve only unlocked the OKTO.  

It's a little joke in the game. All you have to do is count the sides on the probe core. OKTO = 8. HECS = 6. OKTO2 = 8. QBE = 4. HECS2 = 6.

So the one in the image is a HECS.

A HECS is very nice because it has prograde and retrograde abilities, as compared to an OKTO. Which makes a HECS much easier to land, or to do satellite contracts with.

 

[Aegolius13]

2 hours ago, MPDerksen said:

Could I ask you tell me what core and engine you are using in the probes in your pictures?  At this point, I’ve only unlocked the OKTO.  

As @bewing said, the core is a HECS.  Nice upgrade over the OKTO in terms of SAS choices, and pretty much renders the OKTO obsolete.   Even in late game I like it in this role, since it's light but still has a reaction wheel, unlike some of the super-light probe cores (e.g., OKTO-2).  

The engine is an Ant - the smallest node-mounted conventional engine.  The stats don't look too impressive, but it's well-suited to tiny probes like these due to extremely low mass.  It's very easy to put a small Spark stage below it too.

EDIT - never mind about the engine.  The little engines are Sparks, just with an older model.  The Ant would be good for space probes of this size, but these things were supposed to land on Jool's moons so I wanted a little more kick.  The bigger engine below the Spark on the middle probe is a Terrier. 

Edited February 20, 2019 by Aegolius13

[Ratwerke_Actual]

@MPDerksen

Sorry about the brevity.

@Aegolius13 and @bewing stepped up and answered better than I could have.

When fairings deploy, the trusses stay behind and secure the payloads until you separate them.

I would suggest orbital practice deployments to get used to the process.

[MPDerksen]

1 hour ago, Ratwerke_Actual said:

@MPDerksen

Sorry about the brevity.

@Aegolius13 and @bewing stepped up and answered better than I could have.

When fairings deploy, the trusses stay behind and secure the payloads until you separate them.

I would suggest orbital practice deployments to get used to the process.

That’s helpful, and yes, I will practice.  I’m short on science points, and need to get myself down to the Mun surface.  I had a problem where I forgot to deploy my solar panels BEFORE I got to the Mun (with the above designed probe).  Then, the batteries were dead, and I couldn’t open them.  Restart.  Then, even though they were full, I found I could not control the probe on the backside of the Mun until it connected to the CommNet again.  This is normal for the OKTO, right?  I got the probe placed in orbit just fine, and earned about $133K, for a rocket that cost $13K to launch.  

Now that I have that probe in orbit around the Mun, and it has 2x Communotron-16 antenna on it, will it provide a signal to the backside if the alignment is correct?  I’m assuming this is what people do to create the relay networks around the different planets/moons.

Last thing, while I have you at your keyboard  , is there a way to tell which biomes I’ve already collected science from?  Or some sort of history?  I wonder if I’m missing some that are nearby that I could go get.  

[Ratwerke_Actual]

@MPDerksen

Not at keyboard, but IIRC, the mission control building has a science library somewhere inside. Also, make sure you get relay antennas for probes launched for comm nets.

Edited February 20, 2019 by Ratwerke_Actual
add info.

[bewing]

1 hour ago, MPDerksen said:

will it provide a signal to the backside if the alignment is correct?

Yes.

1 hour ago, MPDerksen said:

I’m assuming this is what people do to create the relay networks around the different planets/moons.

Not necessarily. The probe cores will still provide basic functionality even if they have no signal. So you can send a probe to Eeloo with a relay antenna, and even if the signal is blocked you can still use all the SAS modes and full/zero thrust. You can still stage, and you can enable/disable engines in their menus. This is enough to allow you to land, or to complete a satellite contract (if you have a low-thrust engine on your craft).