Ideas for interplanetary spacecrafts but capable of returning to Kerbin?

[LtHeckard]

I can get to the Mun or Minmus and return without breaking a sweat, but does anyone have any sort of idea, say, maybe go to Duna and return to Kerbin? I would really like to have some ideas, but I simply run out of fuel on a return journey.

[Sirrobert]

It actually costs suprisingly little fuel when you use the windows. I'm going to guess you are not.

That should explain everything nicely

[LtHeckard]

It actually costs suprisingly little fuel when you use the windows. I'm going to guess you are not.

That should explain everything nicely

Ok, thanks.

[Kasuha]

This is early design of my interplanetary ship attached to my orbital station (I improved it a bit since then). The ship starts where the engines are. So far it was able to get me everywhere in the system and back. It can land in most places, too (without fuel tanks; these stay in orbit). Including Duna.

Notice it's made of parts which were brought up separately. You don't need three tanks to visit Duna, for example. And you can drop empty tanks on the way (e.g. when in collision course with the destination planet) so you don't need to carry unnecessary stuff with you.

Edited October 31, 2013 by Kasuha

[LtHeckard]

Wow man, that is a really nice rocket. I'll have to get to work on my own sometime. I just lose patience trying to dock 500 things.

[Jarin]

That's a lotta RCS fuel. o.o

[SpaceSphereOfDeath]

To get from LKO to Minmus intercept is about 900m/s

To get from LKO to Duna (at optimum) can be as low as 1150m/s

So it's not that hard, just wait for the launch window

[Kasuha]

Wow man, that is a really nice rocket. I'll have to get to work on my own sometime. I just lose patience trying to dock 500 things.

What's in the picture is just 5 parts. And delivered in 4 pieces because I sent the engine/lander together with the torque piece.

Current design uses less monopropellant and it's not bundled with fuel. Instead each fuel tank has a torque unit with it. And there is a separate module with RCS fuel and remote control unit to orient the fuel when docking in orbit. I should make a screenshot of the current one sometime.

[katateochi]

You should check out Vanamonde's thread on Round-trip ships. His designs are all 100% stock and are intended to get to most places and back and to take cargo with them. He also tests the hell out of his craft so they're pretty reliable. There's also some other peoples designs too, so its a good food for thought thread.

[Dynamo]

Yeah, i've actually had an extreme amount of difficulty balancing my fuel and TWR woes with my ambitious payload weights, so i could use a few pointers in this department as well. Still, though, it provides an excellent challenge - designing your interplanetary vehicle is half the fun, honestly. To this end, i've avoided Vanamonde's showcase save for inspiration. I don't want to 'copy' or 'cheat' off of someone else's engineering, as i cannot find the fun in that.

However, if i can be pointed to some good advice for engineering these behemoths, my engineers would be greatly appreciate it.

[Leatherneck]

Yeah, i've actually had an extreme amount of difficulty balancing my fuel and TWR woes with my ambitious payload weights, so i could use a few pointers in this department as well. Still, though, it provides an excellent challenge - designing your interplanetary vehicle is half the fun, honestly. To this end, i've avoided Vanamonde's showcase save for inspiration. I don't want to 'copy' or 'cheat' off of someone else's engineering, as i cannot find the fun in that.

However, if i can be pointed to some good advice for engineering these behemoths, my engineers would be greatly appreciate it.

I'm still working on my first one, but I kinda browsed the ship designs, mostly to look at basic shape and functionality, and then went to designing my own. In the meantime, I've been working on my Space Station to practice docking sections and the like for building my craft in space.

[700NitroXpress]

Here is my interplanetary ship of choice, the Papa Dragon. It's been to Moho, Eve, Gilly, Minmus, Mun, Duna, and returned back to Kerban from all of those missions. It's also a SSTO rocket, minus the boosters. This means that you only get rid of the spent boosters on the launch and then the entire craft can be fully refueled in orbit. Then you can take it and land basically anywhere and return back to Kerban.

You can see the mission here:

Edited November 1, 2013 by 700NitroXpress

[Spartwo]

I usually do it apollo style.

picture of my Duna crew heading for home,Eight of them in total six were stranded there previously:P.

[merlinux]

My advice is to design small instead of building with more orange tanks.

Make it even better than apollo style by separating your craft into :

- Kerbin return vehicule (CM and a SM for the trip back)

- landers or payload you want

- Insertion stage (a SM for the way there)

[Leatherneck]

I usually do it apollo style.

Nice screenshot, that is a good looking setup. Question though, what's with the intakes on the rover (can't see your propulsion system for it)?

[PrivateFlip]

-Assemble your vessel in space. It's easier to launch smaller stuff and this way the size of you interplanetary ship isn't limited by your biggest launch vehicle. If needed you could for instance separate the lander, crew cabin, fuel tanks and engine block to make launches more manageable.

-You should complete the transfer burn in low earth orbit, instead of first escaping Kerbin and then doing the actual transfer burn while in an orbit around the sun, this saves a ton of fuel.

-Instead of circulizing at Duna like you do at the Mun you should aerobrake, this saves a lot of fuel as well.

This over-designed ship will get you there and back with plenty fuel to spare.

Left is the lander with an extra fuel thank it can dump right before touchdown. Right is the tug which will push the lander to Duna and back with its efficient nuclear engines. It's also towing an extra fuel tank which it leave behind when empty.