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Looking forward to what you come up with!

I have a Venera 11 lander prototype that can land without parachutes but I don't have time to design the rest of the mission. If you want I can give you my model, if only as inspiration. It might not be as detailed as you'd like, though. Landing without chute is pretty hard given that Eve's atmosphere isn't nearly as thick as Venus'. You'll have to design your own entry capsule though. Never got around to building something that is actually spherical and works.

I'm sorry, what does that mean? My fairing is also the root part of my craft. Any tips are appreciated as I am quite new to the whole occlusion thing.

By combining @camacju's run with my previous attempt, I've managed to bring the cost for a single Kubesat launch to LKO down even more, to $2216. The idea is to launch to an AP just above the atmosphere, then circularize until PE is just inside the atmosphere and use the force of the decoupler to raise PE of the Kubesat above the atmosphere while keeping PE for the launch vehicle inside the atmosphere. That way the launch vehicle re-enters automatically and you don't need a separate probe core to control re-entry, which saves some money. It also saves a bit of fuel as the launch vehicle is lighter. However, this technique only works for very Low Kerbin Orbits with PE only just above the atmosphere. In the VAB. I turned the Kubesat on its side to prevent its flag from burning up during ascent. The flag is on the bottom, towards the decoupler. @camacju: What parts did you use to occlude the fairing on your craft? You wrote that one side is occluded by the FL-T100, but I have tried to recreate your launcher and was unable to find a part to occlude the other side that matched your craft with respect to cost, mass and drag reduction.

I completed Luna 16. Not the Luna 15 mission that featured in my Apollo 11 video as that one crashed on the Moon. It turns out to be really difficult to model the Ye-8-5 lander accurately in KSP, as the spherical, toroidal and "baguette" tank only exist in a single size. With the Tweakscale mod this could have been quite a bit more detailed, but I wanted to make an unmodded version. My lander lacks the additional drop tanks that the real one had as I was unable to fit these inside the payload fairing. Quick and dirty Proton / Ye-8-5 lander replica in the VAB. On the launchpad Luna 16 lander in Munar orbit Landed on the Mun. I should have added some additional RCS thrusters (like the real one had) because this one turned out to be surprisingly hard to land. I almost did a Luna 15 (crash) or Luna 23 (toppled over on landing, can still be seen lying on the lunar surface). Liftoff from the Mun. It is surprisingly hard to get good technical drawings of the Ye-8-5 lander, but this comes close to the image of the ascent stage I found on a postage stamp. Back at Kerbin, on re-entry trajectory Landed on Kerbin. I landed on the side of a mountain, and this thing rolled down for a couple of minutes before coming to rest.

Are you sure that's an EASY challenge?

For Venera? Yup. Only problem is that the density of the atmosphere on Venus is quite a bit higher than on Eve. So it's not as easy as just making a Venera replica - if you do it will crash. I have had to clip 24 basic fins in there to make it work.

You know, I was actually thinking about it. I also have a prototype Venera 11 that can actually land on Eve without a parachute, like the real one did. We'll see.

You really don't want to know... It's not an accurate depiction at all, and I used the cheat menu instead of a Proton rocket ;).

WORK IN PROGRESS. Launcher cost: $30,000, 7 Kubesats Destination: Jool. 1 Kubesat in Jool orbit (done), 1 landed on each Joolian moon (Tylo, Laythe and Vall done, Bop and Pol still to be done), 1 Kubesat to descend into Jool's atmosphere Mothership / relay satellite in Jool orbit. Unfortunately my screen grabber operated in 1920 x 1080 while KSP (despite my telling them otherwise) ran in 1920 x 1200, so the top and bottom of the screen have been cut off Landed on Tylo. My craft ran out of fuel just before touchdown, and one of the fuel tanks has been destroyed. But the Kubesat is still alive, and that's what counts for this challenge Landed on Vall Splashed down on Laythe

I finally finished editing the video of my rather detailed Apollo 11 mission: The original plan was to have this video ready by 20 july 2021, the anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing. I'm glad it is finally done. Lots of details, such as: All retro rockets and ullage motors of the Apollo 11 Saturn V are included Saturn V ascent profile is as accurate as you can reasonably make it in stock KSP All parts of the Saturn V are oriented correctly, including the 1st stage engines, all the bits and bobs on the outside and the LM inside its fairing. CSM to scale, with correct number of chutes, and all of them in the correct positions in the forward equipment bay. Offset CoG (I clipped an ore tank inside the CM to do this) Accurate landing profile, including face-up maneuver. The face-up maneuver was performed to give the astronauts a good view of their landing zone Accurate, albeit shortened surface operations. Local time of day is accurate, as are the orientation of the landed LM and the positions of the flag and scientific equipment. Correct, 60 degree rotation between CSM and LM when docked. Docking collar is jettisoned with the LM ascent stage as was done historically Luna 15 makes an appearance And the mission goes to somewhere a bit more challenging than the Mun. Enjoy!

My full Apollo 11 recreation in KSP: Couple of notes: 1. As stated before I went to Tylo rather than the Mun. It turns out that the full Saturn V stack that you can make with the Breaking Ground parts is a much better fit, delta-v wise, for Tylo than the Mun. 2. I've tried to recreate every rocket engine on the Saturn V as accurately as possible. All retro-rockets and ullage motors are present, as well as the S-IVB Auxiliary Power System. Orientation of the entire craft is accurate, including all rocket engines and the LM inside its payload fairing. Launch escape system is functional, both for routine jettison and for pad and in-flight aborts. 3. I've had to do several circularization burns at Tylo rather than the single one done historically because the TWR of my CSM is quite low. I've had to use a NERV engine as SPS to get enough delta-v without having to clip fuel tanks together. 4. The landing profile is quite accurate, including the face-up maneuver. That maneuver was done in the real mission so that the astronauts had the best possible view of their landing zone. 5. Tylo surface operations are accurate, albeit shortened. In particular, placements of the flag and science package are accurate, as is the orientation of the lander and the local time of day. I have more footage of surface operations, including several panorama shots and inspection of the LM landing gear as they were performed historically, but that would have made an already long video even longer. 6. While doing research for this mission I found that when the CSM and LM were docked, they were rotated 60 degrees with respect to each other. This was done so that the astronauts could easily do an EVA from CSM to LM and vice versa in case the docking tunnel could not be used. This was tested on Apollo 9 but never used on any of the Moon missions. 7. The parachutes are accurate, both in their number (2 drogues, 3 main chutes) and their locations inside the forward compartment. 8. I did not use any gravity assists, even though that saves a considerable amount of delta-v when going to Jool and Tylo. I figured that since the real Apollo 11 did not use any fancy maneuvers, I shouldn't either. 9. I included a cameo by Luna 15, the Soviet robotic probe that was launched simultaneously with Apollo 11 and that was intended to retrieve some samples of Moon rocks. However, Luna 15 crashed on the Moon while Neil and Buzz were on the surface. My Apollo 11 replica in the VAB. Cost: $220 959; Mass: 561.069 tons; Number of parts: 212.

Part 1 of my Apollo 11 recreation: This features my most detailed Saturn V replica yet. Its entire flight profile is true to history, with one exception: historically the 1st burn of the 3rd stage was performed immediately after stage 2 burnout. Instead I coast to apoapsis before igniting the 3rd stage. Vehicle built with parts from base game + DLC, no parts mods. I do use some flight data mods: KER, transfer window planner and precise maneuver. This flight was done some time ago so I don't really have an idea about mission cost (a lot), number of parts (many) and total mass (high).

I did exactly that for my Caveman challenge. Was fun to go hunt for all the "splased <biome>" science on Kerbin: The OP clearly states "without your Kerbals ever leaving the atmosphere". That seems clear enough to me: uncrewed spaceflight allowed, crewed spaceflight disallowed.

Would you be willing to accept a rather detailed Apollo 11 replica, but to Tylo instead of the Mun? I've completed that mission a while back but the mission replay video isn't quite done yet. I've found that the Apollo hardware from the Making History DLC matches a Tylo mission much better than a Mun mission.

I improved the LKO cost to $2698, with 12 parts, 2.887 tons in all. Fully recoverable booster, with the exception of the payload fairing.

Maybe you're right. Good that I did not post my descent through Jool's atmosphere

I landed a Kubesat on Eve for $6459. Full report: https://imgur.com/a/agfFzwn My launcher in the VAB Stable 75 x 75 km equatorial Low Kerbin Orbit, with ample delta-v remaining for an Eve mission. Landed on Eve. I added an antenna to be able to do interplanetary missions, and a parachute for landing on Eve. The fairing base is also still attached as I did not want to spend money on a decoupler Booster splashdown. To land the booster I saved the game at booster separation, loaded it after the mission was complete and switched focus to the booster, as KSP does not have an easy way to control two stages separately inside the atmosphere.

Plant a flag on Vall using a fully reusable SSTO. Afterwards go back to Kerbin and land on the KSC runway. No ISRU allowed.

Not sure what it is exactly that you are asking, so here's a short summary of how to send a spacecraft to Duna and land it there: You need a spacecraft with about 1200 m/s in LKO, or about 1800 m/s if you don't use aerocapture at Duna You need to put the spacecraft onto trans-Duna trajectory during a Duna transfer window. You can use the transfer window planner mod to find a suitable window. A trans Duna trajectory is one that touches Kerbin's and Duna's orbits and gets you an encounter with Duna. This takes about 1100 - 1200 m/s of dv. Once you arrive at Duna you have to enter Duna orbit. The easiest way to do is with a orbit insertion burn of about 600 m/s. A cheaper way uses the atmosphere for aerobraking. You can use the Trajectories mod to accurately plan your aerobraking. Once you're in low Duna orbit you can land on Duna pretty much like you land on Kerbin: Do a retroburn to lower PE inside the atmosphere (Duna atmosphere extend to 50 km in altitude above Duna) Let spacecraft enter atmosphere and slow down Deploy parachute once it is safe to do so Near touchdown, use a landing rocket to decrease vertical speed to a survivable level. Most likely, parachutes alone won't be enough due to the thin atmosphere of Duna That's it really, if you have more questions, don't hesitate to ask.

I posted a similar challenge a while ago. This is possible, I flew a Space Shuttle powered by SRBs to the Mun and back in this fashion:

Don't be! KSP is a very hard game, the fact alone that you made it to Eve is an accomplishment. I think I saw a statistic somewhere that something in the order of 80% of KSP players never make it beyond Kerbin's SOI. I'm sorry I was a bit harsh in my previous comment.

It is quite easy to get to Eve. In fact, landing on Eve is easier than landing on the Mun, as Eve's atmosphere does all the hard work for you. In contrast, getting back from Eve's surface to orbit is quite hard. See https://imgur.com/a/afJG2gZ for a simple, non-returning, Kerballed mission to Eve. This rocket is all you need. I suspect an even cheaper rocket should be possible, I didn't take much time at all designing this one. A Thumper SRB as 1st stage, and an upper stage powered by a Terrier engine. Landed on Eve, flag planted. Unfortunately, Jeb is now stuck here.

Dragonfly XL landed at Laythe. Yesterday I completed my first SSTO mission to the watery moon and back to Kerbin. No ISRU was used, and I landed on the KSC runway at the end of the mission. Dragonfly XL in LKO, just after launch. I optimized this craft for dv only, it does not have any payload capacity. Its sole aim is to plant flags on the other moons and planets.

Not sure if I fully understand the scoring. It is rather trivial to land a Kerbal on Eve, the difficult part is getting them back into Eve orbit. Do I understand you correctly that returning a Kerbal to Kerbin only nets you 1000 additional funds / points in the points tally? I don't think it is even possible to get a Kerbal from Eve's surface to Eve orbit for a mere 1000 funds, so if I understand the challenge correctly, just leaving the Kerbal on Eve's surface is the optimal strategy. Is that what you had in mind?