LordCorwin

32 vs 64 bits may be?

Solar panels and Thermometer are the most delicate parts. I suggest you to place them in a different orientation, almost paralel to the sun rays. You'll have to take care of not running out of electricity, but you will see an important temperature decrease.

Although the 271Mm didn't have an operational Thermometer, which is one of the constraints of the challenge. It exploded previously. That's the main reason I cannot go further :-/

Strange... I think I've made your same test, and nothing got overtheated, even at maximum power and without radiators.

Hello, I present you my Rid_05. Cost = 7472, Mass = 17553, Parts = 11.

Hello, Solar_Probe25 reached Apogee 299,782,785m without radiator parts (just parts set in 1.0.2).

Good luck with the challenge!

Oh my God, this changes everything!. Even in Kerbin orbit the solar panels explode if you make a powerful burn and don't radiate!

Not at the moment, the central core was close to the maximum temp! May be Solar_Probe12 ;-)

Hello, my new record altitude with Solar_Probe11: Apogee 399,433,568 As told in my previous post, I've added more solar panels and placed all the remaining xenon in the tanks closest to the probe. Lord

I don't merge rockets. I create a big rocket and attach several copies of the same parts radially. See images as example with 4 attached satellites. Image1, I attach 4 Modular Girder Segment and rotate them 90º using the key W. This allows me to later attach other stuff vertically Image2, I attach 4 docking ports. I have to use the key W twice, as I have to rotate it 180º. Also, I had to rotate a bit the view in order to attach the docking ports. Image3, I attach 4 more docking ports, this time without rotation Image4, I begin attaching the other required parts, such as batteries and the actual probe. Image5: the last picture is an example of my final rocket with 4 sats. If I need one of them, I just disconnect the node and that's all. I've used this configuration several times to land in different bodies: Mun + Minmus + Ike + Duna. IMAGE1 IMAGE2 IMAGE3 IMAGE4 IMAGE5 (Final result) Hope it helps!

Nope, it was done with just a rocket with about 25KDv. The chemical fuel leaves the ion stuff in an orbit about 1000Mm perigee and 5000Mm apogee. Then 8 Ion engines reduces the orbit to 1000Mm perigee and apogee. The last step involved 3 ion engine. My new Solar_Probe11 is now in its 800Km orbit, we'll see how far can it take. I have more solar panels so I had to reduce the number of ion engines to 2 in the last stage. Moreover, I will concentrate the remaining xenon fuels in the middle tanks and remove those at the beginning and at the end when depleted. We'll see if that allows me to cool the core probe for more time. PS: as you approach the Sun, when viewing the probe the game crashes a lot. Anyone has the same problem?

My new own record: Solar_Probe10, Apogee 454.724.371m. And I've depleted all my fuel. Currently with my current design I think I can reduce 3km or 4km more, but that's all. Far from the 408Mm achieved by JohnFX It's always the same: the part that gets hotter is the unmanned probe. I've selected the one that shows minimal cross section (the Probodobodyne OKTO2), placed in the middle protected by big solar pannels that (I think) radiates as much as possible, and with xenon tanks up & down that should help cooling too. Nevertheless, It's always the hottest part.

Thanks for your reply. 16m/s2... that's about 1.67G. I'll adjust TWR accordingly and try the vertical liftoff. As said , I basically am using my former design with some improvements, but I'm not sure I'll bet the 500km. PS: welcome to Spain! Heat flux here is high too :-D

That structure is simply... terrific, and the performance awesome. Appart from the result being approved by MarvinKitFox, may I ask how did you put that in orbit?. I never thought it was possible. I'm quite interested for other projects. For the Solar Limbo Challenge, I've beaten myself and already reached Apogee 570Mm. I have another probe on route that I think it will reach apogee 530Mm, with a Design quite similar to my Solar-Probe4 but using greater solar panels to check if it radiates better and reallocate stuff. Nothing compared to yours :-D

Also, it is important how to approach to the Sun (always retrograde), and how you place your solar panels and temp sensor. I placed solar panels in line to the Sun, and the Thermometer sensor normal (90º, ie, not facing the Sun).

Yeah, I was thinking to do something with heat shields and ion engines on one side, but I'm not sure how the balance will act.

Ok, understood

Agggh I just got 948 units with the Oxfam challenge :-(

Ok, that's it. Apogee = 589,873,831m. The seismic & gravioli exploded at 625Mm, but still the Temperature sensor remained. After these images I made a mistake when trying to reach the 585Mm apogee and the entire probe exploded. Lord

Hi, this is my Solar-probe4: Apoapsis: 649,756,248m The first pic shows that I've just made a Temperature transmission via antenna. I'm trying to beat myself closing to the 625Mm, but not sure if I'll make it, at least for what it takes for the sensors. The temperature gauge still can hold a bit longer, but the seismic sensor is close to the limit! Lord

Hehe, that's why I always have a 360º protactor with me

Hello Forty21112, I had the same problem when I started moving other planets. The idea is: you can move to any planet whenever you want, but there are given moments when the ammount of fuel to spend is minimal and others when the ammount is HUGE. So you need tools to know when to start the maneuver. TOOL 1: This is optional, but it simplifies your life. When doing planetary transfers, you need something that tells you exactly how much fuel you have in delta-v units. For that purpose you have for instance the Kerbal Engineering Mod. Once installed the mod, follow the instructions and you'll able to put the Science>Kerbal Engineering System in your rocket. It will give you lots of parameters such us your remaining delta-v TOOL 2: This transfer calculator has been my friend for a very long time: ksp.olex.biz/ . Thanks Olex!! * Your input data are: Origin planet (eg Kerbin), Target planet (eg Duna) and Current Orbit Height (Eg 90km). Better if it is circular. * As a result, the calculator tells you what are the planet positions when you have to start the boost (Phase Angle), how much delta-v required (ejection burn delta-v), and in what moment of your orbit you must start (ejection angle). So yes, if the planets must be in a certain position, may be you'll have to wait 250 days before starting the maneuver. It is OK to be approximate but take the results seriously. 1) The ejection angle is VERY important. If the calculator says to you the Ejection angle is 162º, well, you can use 160º or 165º, but never more than that. 2) Also, if your burn takes 40seconds, it is OK (even better) to start 20 seconds before the Ejection angle point and finishing 20 seconds after the Ejection angle. 3) And finally, as everything is approximate, count that you'd need an extra 10% of delta-v, just in case. Hope it helps.

With the latest version I noticed that on first stages of the game it was quite difficult to control de rocket when leaving Kerbin's surface, between 5k and 20k. I think it is due to the new aerodynamic model. I solved this using better wings with more lift ratio, activating SAS, adding the stabilizer unit, maintaining the atmospheric performance quite below 100% (seen with Kerbal Engineer mod)... and not starting the orbit maneuver until 20km height. Even then, your maneuvers and corrections must be gentle. Edited: also, take care of selecting an engine with Gimbal ability

Well, I think I've improved my skills now. See in the picture, I managed to recover a vessel & a Kerbal that were stranded on Mun's surface! This involved to rendezvous close to the vessel on surface, save the Kerbal, turn upside down my ship while floating some meters above the vessel, use RCS with the navball to adjust the approximation to the vessel, and grapple it while floating half meter above it. Many thanks to all of you, I couldn't do it without your help!!!. Lord