PhoenixRise86

I didn't quit or disappear, but I had to give up on my previous almost successful flight due to a flawed command pod design that killed half the crew on reentry... With only 200dV, I couldn't slow them enough to survive, so I tried using up to 7 different Eve and Kerbin fly-by's to slow down enough, but felt making them wait 40+ years for enough orbital adjustments to safely renter was unacceptable. New command module design is narrower and can separate into 2 reentry pods if necessary, instead of the failure-probe KerbCan. Updates later...

I used some of the new parts - the core stage is the SaturnV-esque 5m tanks and adapter, a new upper stage engine, and some of the small fuel tanks on a lander. *edit* I'm happy to report that Tylo and Laythe have been conquered (with only a moderate amount of quicksaving), I should be able to knock out the rest tomorrow.

Hey y'all, I decided it was finally time to make an all stock Making History Jool 5 after some time away. It's running in 1.4.5 with the DLC, and the only mods are Kerbal Engineer for dV and TWR tracking, hanger extender to build a tall rocket more easily, and better burn time. I can build cool ships, but I lack the patience and/or expertise to do a bunch of fancy flybys so this is brute force there and back via a huge single launch vehicle, and efficient new Wolfhound powered 3rd stage. It should meet the requirements of both level II and III by sending 5 kerbals and landing 2 on each moon, with a unique one planting the primary flag at each. I made no great effort to maximize efficiency or minimize mass, but I added the self imposed challenge to do it with no solid boosters (including separatrons), no jets, no nuclear engines, no ion engines, no RTGs, no Kerbin orbit assembly, no mining or refueling missions, and no antennas/all directly piloted. My trial run handled Tylo better than expected, and Laythe caused problems as usual, but I think those have been addressed and it's all downhill from there. Hopefully I'll get the time to finish the 2nd attempt tomorrow or Thursday and post an album. Fly Safe.

Thank you, I wanted to challenge myself with just standard rocket engines and what I had available in career mode at the time - lots of skippers, terriers, and sparks. I learned a lot of tricks to making efficient use of what's available and glad to finally do this. Best wishes on your new endeavors...

I was able to capture into a parking orbit at Jool with a 6 dV nudge upon entry to the system, making a braking slingshot around Tylo, followed by a Vall braking slingshot for <20 dV. The next Tylo encounter allowed capture for <1000 dV. My Tylo lander had about 8000 dV, plus the small return pod. The separate Laythe lander had about 4000 dV and aerobraked/parachutes all the way down. The pod that handled Vall/Bop/Pol had 2000+ (tiny service bay pod) and refueled from the orbital carrier. Maneuvering between the inner moons is fairly cheap as long as you park in high orbits and/or stage away the landers. Best wishes.

Thanks for making this mod, I'm really enjoying the new pretty planets and moons. I wish my pc could handle the EVE and scatterer components (looks awesome but crashes), but oh well. My question is about the crashed "Veronica" on Neibos... Is there a ship/item/Easter egg to find there? If so, do I need any specific part to find it?

If I make a separately landed rover that is also an emergency ascent vehicle, which can re-dock with the orbiter, and return to Kerbin for full reuse, would that meet the requirements for Elon style, Justin Case, and They See Me Rollin'? (Or can one only get one of the first two bonuses?)

I'm getting ready to take this on, with a plan that would put me in 3rd place for low weight score if I read everything correctly. I see a 6% bonus for using an identical launch vehicle, is there any bonus for keeping that LV reusable? (Rocket SSTO that will deorbit after rendezvous and land near KSC, having lost only the fairing). I know it's short of the Elon Style bonus but an additional feature beyond just using copies of the LV... *edit* Currently my max payload/module size in 5.498t, all 5 components are similar mass, and should qualify for Old School, Slow Climb, Stayin' Alive, Loop the loop, Consistency, good sir, Justin Cause, and They see me Rollin'. Do all the command/hab modules need to be connected or can other components be placed between them?

Can somehow help explain how to post the images? All I've gotten is the hyperlink posted but no pictures... Testing

That thing on the front is a scanner isn't it? I thought it was a Hecs probe. I can see the probe core farther behind now...

That's an awesome little plane there. What navigation tricks were necessary with the rotated probe core and backwards command pod?

Finally done! *Edit - finally some photo evidence* Played in version 1.2.2 with Normal settings plus maximum reentry heating (120%) and reduced science/fund rewards for career missions. My ship cost 426,269, and had a mass of 1518.272 tonnes, 63.8 height, and 238 parts. It had no nuclear, *jet*, or ion stages, the launch vehicle and 2nd stage used all skipper engines, no more than one pair of asparagus/crossfed boosters per stage (only on LV and Tylo lander), and had a "Science Pod" that Bob piloted to the surfaces. *This required mostly free-hand maneuvering to rendezvous with the carrier*. This docked on top of a large multistage lander for Tylo, and a winged, solid boosted lander for Laythe, *a mistake I barely recovered from*. The Science Pod handled Vall by itself after bringing the carrier down into a terrifyingly low orbit, and doing a bit of lithobraking. Bop and Pol were easy even after smashing off one fuel tank at Vall. There was about 200 dV left in the service module upon returning to Kerbin which was used up to help slow it down. Mods included - BetterBurnTime BoulderCo EVE FSHangerExtender KerbalJointReinforcement ModularflightIntegrator RealChute Scatterer SpaceY-Lifters (not used for much here) VenStockRevamp - I just love how it looks, I think I used a few of the intermediate (stock balanced) engines and fuel tanks from this one. Craft file: https://kerbalx.com/PhoenixRise/Jool-5-2-a Imgur album: https://imgur.com/a/1AeAt

Kerbin to jool and tylo have gone well enough. Laythe hates me. My lander is a adapter cone plus short rockomax tank, 2 small solid boosters with winglets, powered by an aerospike and 2 twitches. Getting up through the atmosphere is terrible, usually between 6-8km it tries to flip and spiral. I've gotten out of the atmosphere by maintaining a lower thrust/TWR until reaching 25km, but then I can't really gain much from the gravity turn. I feel like the atmosphere is soupier than kerbin even though it's supposed to be thinner. What's the secret to getting off of laythe? Edit - Nvm, I did it. I had to reload and perform more precise aerobraking and a final tumbling, Bob-toasting entry. It saved enough fuel to squeak back into orbit. Now Vall will require the carrier to burn down into a much lower orbit. Cutting ever closer fuel margins... Update - Vall complete after multiple terribly close calls (4dv left in lander upon rendezvous), many reloads, and a Rapid Planned Deconstruction - I had to intentionally smash off a part of the lander via lithobraking to lighten it for the return to orbit (and reduce the fuel needed to land). This game really teaches some creativity... 2nd to last update - all moons complete, crew rendezvoused in Jool orbit and ready to burn home. Now to catch a slingshot and figure out how to make an imgur album...

I'll still around and getting back to the challenge. It's in a career mode game and I just played along my other missions while waiting for the Jool team to come home from attempt 1. The new attempt is sporting a fully expendable FalconHeavy-esque LV with solid boosters, modified 2nd stage, and Laythe/Vall lander. I should get a chance to run it tomorrow and will be taking screenshots along the way.

My shakedown cruises went... moderately? Getting to Jool in a single launch vehicle went fine, and I was able to play "moon pinball" into the orbits I wanted very cheaply, but the first Tylo lander was inadequate, and the 2nd attempt I ran much lower on fuel than I thought and doubt I'll be able to hit all 5 moons (Tylo worked alright this time, Bop/Pol won't be a problem, but I won't have enough to refuel the Laythe/Vall lander from the carrier between missions).

I forgot to mention, my mod list includes: BetterBurnTime, FSHangerExtender, KerbalEngineerRedux, KerbalJointReinforcement, ModularFlightIntegrator, RealChute, Space Y (regular only, not extended, only for landing legs), and VenStockRevamp (visual enhacements and stock-balanced intermediate power engines and fuel tank shapes). So whichever version that counts as is fine. Forgot to ask: Can a kerbal land in a seat in a service bay, and does adjusting the seat position count against part-clipping?

I'm working on my first Jool 5 currently. It's in career mode, single-launch Falcon Heavy-style with center booster recovery, no ISRU, no nuclear or ion engines, no more than 1 asparagus-booster pair per stage, level 2/3/Jeb will depend on how well my lander SAS works. I'll send some screenshots later tonight when I'm back at my pc.