purpleivan

Cool, top of the board... of one. I think my vehicle has a much faster time in it, I'd guess somewhere between 175 and 200 days, if it was launched towards a closer part of Eeloo's orbit and my trajectory was better at the start. Possibly I'll give it another run sometime.

Posting something other than pics from my round Kerbin boat trip today. Some images from my entry to @M_Rat13 The Space Race (but literally) challenge, which saw Val blasting from Moho to Eeloo in 229 days.

Ok... I've got a time, it's not the best as I got to Eeloo with at least a couple of kilometres spare delta-v, plus my navigation there was a bit haphazard. Plus I didn't launch at the idea time, which would have met Eeloo near its periapsis... can't remember why I did that. So excuses over, my time was 229 days. Here's the launch pic. Then the landing. Hitting Eeloo when you're on an escape trajectory out of the system (so no closest approach markers to help out) is very tricky. There was a LOT of F5/F9 activity to get close to the target, but the end result was a fair amount of wasted fuel. Here's a few pics from the journey, full album is here.

Reverting when I don't have KSP loaded is a firm rule for me. I'm very strict on that. Otherwise, anytime that makes sense.

This one. I've got a vehicle with Val (must be a clone, as obviously she's having fun on a boat right now) approaching Eeloo in pretty much a straight line coming out of the center of the system. It's moving at 13km/s which I need to burn off, as well as match the orbit of Eeloo, with a single ion drive. Going to be a long evening.

I've not posted anything for a few days, but Jeb and the crew with be continuing their trip in a day or two. Just have to stick a high speed landing on Eeloo, while on an escape velocity of Kerbol... it's for a challenge.

You mean something like this... dont know it's mass exactly, but fair to say it's a lot. It took 5 1/4 days to get to the surface of Eve... of course that was back in the day, when hitting the planet's atmosphere at 30km/s didn't instantly vaporise your ship.

I'd have to time it just right though... catch that split second of touchdown, between happy Jeb in a chair and the inevitable explosion, when he hits the surface at 30,000+m/s

Go ahead... the more the merrier. BTW... one thing I've found is that for some reason the Mk2 lander (rover variant) likes to drift to the side for some reason. I've made a couple of rovers with it and whatever I tried, it likes to gently veer to on side or the other, even on flat ground. Other than that it makes a nice basis for a rover. Something that I meant to do when I passed through the bay, but forgot, was to drive up to the Crater Rim DSN dish. Could make a nice photo op. One last thing, after I drove around that area, something I wished I'd added was parachutes. Just so I could drive it off the top the mountains and sail down. That would have saved quite a bit of time.

I've entered quite a few of the "get to planet X in shortest time" challenges, so I might give this one a go. That being said, it's been quite a while since I did (pre-ion nerf-ing, so using a bunch with lots of xenon tanks wasn't so painful) so my build method might change a bit. The screenshot on the finish line... does it really have to include smiling kerbals, couldn't it just be wreckage and a huge explosion. Those smiling face will cost a lot of time

Well my Apollo 8 type mission was in this. Then I tested out the lander and CSM in Kerbin orbit. Then finally the real thing.

Alternatively to using inflatable heat shields at opposite ends of the lander, you can add a detachable tower with some wing elements on it. Something like this... basically a big lawn dart sticking out the top of the vehicle, that can be detached before liftoff. If the vehicle on entry tends to tip over a bit, away from pointing retrograde, then the drag on the wings elements straightens it up again. It has to be enough drag though, for the design of vehicle.

I actually had the same thought yesterday when I typed the post up, and wanted to add the quote somehow, but gave up on it. Actually now that I think about it, I had the perfect opportunity. When the boat was moored at the blockage, I took the rover up the slope from it, to see if Bob could take a crack at the nearby mountains. However the power ran out on the way up, and the sun was so low the solar panels were blocked. I didn't bother posting any pics of it, as it the whole thing lasted a couple of minutes and I just brought him back to the boat. So that would have been a great line for Jeb to tell him. There's some very cool terrain there.

My merry band in the K.S.C. did a little up river exploring, North of the big crater bay. Heading inland. Hmmm... that way appears to be blocked. So headed back towards the sea. Getting there at sunset.

12 Days from when I bought the game, assuming that it's manned we're talking about, or 11 if unmanned counts. I did it roughly Apollo style though, in that I sent a CSM without a lander into Mun orbit 1st. After that I did a Kerbin orbit test of the manoeuvering and docking of my CSM and lander, before finally doing the full trip to the Mun surface. Didn't watch any vids though, just worked up to it and crashed stuff.

Taking a detour... or, ok, let's go take a look. Having refuelled, the Coast Cruiser took off under the afternoon sun, along the coast, leaving Hildard behind them. After a short time, something familar appeared on the horizon. "Somebody go get Bob". The mountains came into clearer view, but so did a coastal feature that they'd not come across so far on the trip... a river mouth. With plenty of fuel in the tanks, Jeb decided to point the boat upstream and do a little exploring. The boat made its way up the river for several minutes. Leaving the open sea well behind them. The view was very different from any that thet had encountered on the trip so far. Eventually Jeb turned the boat into what look like a tributary, which looked like it might take them closer to the mountains. However their passage up it was blocked by a shallow bank of sand. Bob wanted to take a crack at the mountains in the rover. However Jeb reminded him that they'd just spent 3 days on one leg of the trip, due to his rovering, so they needed to press on up the coast. With that in mind, Jeb wasted no time in getting back to the main river, then pointing the boat downstream. As they whooshed towards the sea, they left the river scenery (no populated by trees) behind them. The sun was setting as the end of the river came into sight. With the light going, Jeb decided to put in for the night at the end of the river mouth. It was an early start the following morning, as Jeb swung the boat out from the shore towards the sea. On their way up the coast, they ducked into a small bay, as they couldn't see all of it from the open sea. Ok.. we can see it now, time to get back to the sea and further along the coast. See ya mountains. With the boat down to about 15% of fuel, it was time to look for a good place to stop for a fuel delivery. The terrain is a bit bumpy around here with fairly steep slopes into the sea, but this beach provided a fairly flat rendezvous location. Looks like it's time to give the Dessert Airfield a call, to get one of their birds in the air.

BBBBQB... or, so long and thanks for all the pics. Well it was time to say bye, bye to Barbeque Bay. The crew got an early start and headed off just after sunrise, saying thanks to Hildard for the fuel. The majestic mountains of the crater rim started to fall behind them into the distance as Jeb, the control stick in one hand, a fistful of sour jelly candy in the other, maneuvered the boat along the coast. Those mountains took a while to sink below the horizon. By the time they finally did, the boat had used about 1/3 of its fuel. The hills around here are mere dimples compared with what they've been looking at for the past few days. The area does have some lakes though... don't remember any of those near the crater rim, so it has that going for it. With the terrain around here being a bit lumpy for a Goose to land on, Jeb brings the boat in a little earlier than necessary fuel wise, when he sees a good landing spot. With the news that Jeb's pulled the boat in and wants a top up, Hildard hits the afterburners and scotches up the beach. That results in the usual high angle takeoff. Then she too says BBBBQB... good fun flying through ya. After a fairly short flight, Hildard spots the boat and heads out over the sea, for a better approach angle for a landing. A nice easy landing is made and the trundle back to the shoreline is smooth enough. However she overdoes the speed on approach to the boat a bit and pushes it and the plane into the water more than intended. That Juice Goose is going to be doing a little swimming, to get itself turned round for its takeoff angle up the beach. Its not a problem though, this goose is happy going for a paddle.

No I've not played it, I guess I just throw in the occasional distinctly British phrase. I had to think for a moment what you meant about the "three sisters", then I remembered the seven sisters cliffs.

The post that @Nivee~ made a few minutes ago got me thinking. What weird and wonderful books do people have related to spaceflight, astronomy etc. The oldest possessions I have are a couple of little books, The Observer Book of Manned Spaceflight, and the equivalent for unmanned. Nothing particularly strange about that, except they were published in 1977, so the space shuttle was something in the future spacecraft section. My family also used to have an illustrated encyclopedia from 1913, that had a description of the solar system without Pluto in it.

Sent Hildard out in a Juice Goose to go refuel the K.S.C. boat, which is parked at the northern tip of the big impact crater bay. But she did find some time on the way for a little sightseeing.

BBQ Refuel... or, Hildard gets a trip to the big bay. With the Coastal Cruiser in need of a slug of fuel, the two pilots and the Dessert Airfield raced for their planes to get in the air first. Hildards been hitting the gym lately, so made it to their bird first, and so was cleared to head of to Barbeque Bay. Like most pilots, she'd not ventured out to this neck of woods before, so was looking forward to seeing the sights. The desert is kinda pretty, but it's no massive impact crater rim. Talking of which, there it is, dead ahead. Hildard flew in low between the peaks, so she should get a good look at the terrain. So what's on the left... mountainous terrain... and on the right more of the same. She can see why bob wanted to spend so much time driving here, it's quite fun to fly through too. After a short time the Goose breaks out over the coastline. So what's out the right side... dramatic coastline as far as the eye can see. Hmmm... what about the left side... you guessed it. At last she remembered she had work to do, so Hildard cut short the sight seeing and swung the plane round to the North, to head towards the waiting boat. But on the way she couldn't resist taking a low pass by the Crater Rim DSN station. Then whoosed on towards the end of the bay. After an aborted attempt to land downhill on the beach (too much speed to scrub off) as she approached to boat for the first time, she swung round and made the usual "up the beach" landing. She stopped a little under 1km away, then rolled down to meeting the waiting crew. Bob did his usual highly proffesional job of guiding the bird in. After filling the tanks of the Coastal Cruiser, everyone settled in for the night, under the Mun and the mountains of BBQ Bay.

You mean like this junkyard I left on Eve at liftoff. Trashing the system one planet at a time... it's the kerbal way.

Bob finally makes it back to the boat in the K.S.C. Sunny mornings. The way to the coast. Climbing slopes. At the top. Passing the Crater Rim DSN dish, high on the mountaintop, on the way to the rover.

Getting back on track... or, all good things come to an end No not the K.S.C coming to an end, still lots of that to come, but Bob's fun in the rover... at least for now. With the morning comes battery life giving goodness, and Bob made use of it to head for the coast. Between that and his overnight camp site lies some pretty interesting terrain. Bob's a bit sad to be leaving these mountains behind. But then there's more up ahead. Just gotta squeeze through that gap first. They sure make mountain passes tight around here. Bob tries a little break dancing in the rover (there actually was quite of spinning around to get out of this mess). Bob says goodbye to the mountain on the other side of what he's named Victory Pass (why not... it's shaped like a V). On this side of the pass, the gradient is picking up and the altitude quickly passes the 1km mark. Heading up the slope towards the mountainous edge of the crater rim, Bob wonders why the trees look funny around here. The incline on the route Bob planned to take is just too steep, so he heads back down towards Victory Pass, then makes a left just before reaching it, heading North into lower terrain. Ok.. enough with the easy stuff, time to get climbing again if Bob's going to get to the coast. Back up to 1500m and the green mountainous stuff is being left behind. 2000m and the gradient is falling off now. But so is the grass... things are starting to look a lot more sandy... maybe salty. Definitely looking salty up here. It's almost 2.8km at the high point on his way back to the coast. Bob fancies a crack at that peak, but thinks better of it... he's got a boat to catch. Moments later Bob stops the rover and rubs his eyes... is he seeing things, is that... the sea. He's not seen it for almost a full day and he was starting to forget what it looked like (here's a clue Bob... it's blue and below the sky). He heads downhill from the salty plateau, but it's stll a 2.1km drop to get to the beach... and the boat (once it gets here). He's not going to be this close to a mountain for quite a while. These land based detours really chew up the time, so it's probably going to be a while before Jeb lets him loose in the rover again. So he decides to make the most of it and puts his foot down, tearing down the slope. He even got a little fresh air. Finally he makes it down to the beach. "Jeb... I'm at the shoreline now, you wanna come and pick me up". "Sure, just give us another couple hours to finish lunch". Eventually a fully laden boat (stomachs, not fuel), headed out for the 47km trip along the coast to the Bob and the rover. As they speed towards the rover, they pass by the Crater Rim tracking station, just visible high up on the mountains above them. At last they arrive at the rover. Bob's pretty pleased to see them, even if it does mean the end of his 6 wheeled highjinks. Bob's back out at sea at last, and he gets a look at the Crater Rim dish as it gradually falls into the distance behind them. It's been a pretty rewarding time in Barbeque Bay, if a bit time consuming. I'd be surprised if there's any better scenery on Kerbin's shoreline. Finally Jeb can see a break in the mountain chain ahead... it's the northern tip of the crater rim. Before making the turn out of the bay, Jeb kills the engines to give everyone their last clear view of the mountains behind them, lined up along the crater rim. He throttles up and turns the boat around the narrow end of the bay, before swinging the rear end of it onto the shore. There's not a lot of fuel left in the tanks, so it's time to call up some support from their friends at the Dessert Airfield. There's bound to be some scuffles over who gets to fly out to them through the scenery of Barbeque Bay.

That's nothing, this is where that rover's been playing recently (rim of the big crater bay). Plus climbing up this a few days ago.