TheCardinal

After many failures, i've come up with an alternate plan. I launched the original craft with a slight modification; i added two docking ports to it. Instead of jettisoning empty stages after use, i've kept them onto the craft. It meant that the thrust deminished as the altitude increased but so did the mass of the craft. I managed to get the craft into a stable orbit around Kerbin at 200 km. Then a second launch went up consisting of nothing more than fuel. I docked it to the first craft and transferred almost all the fuel to it. A third flight will leave tomorrow to fill the rest of the tanks to full capacity. That should give me about 8300 dV which should be more than enough to reach Tylo and land there.

I'm really stuck at the moment. No matter what i try, i can't reach my goal of at least 12.000 m/s dV. One of the reasons is that the partcount has risen so high that KSP crashes. When i try to launch, several stages are inexplicably empty. So either i ligthen the load (design another rover) or i'll have to move to a multi- rocket mission.

Sad news. My craft has reached Tylo, only to discover it should have had 300 m/s more delta V. The craft had 11500 m/s when launched and still it comes up short.

The mission patch

It's not the one i used to use but it incredibly simple te use (provided you have correct textures). Frankly, it's better than the one i used before. So i completely agree with you. Thanks, Hab136!

I'm sorry things didn't work out for you so well. I thought things would be clear with notifications like "This mod consists of two configuration files one of ...." and "All combinations of multiport-a, multiport-b and stock docking port Jr. will dock." in the first post.

Good luck, I will be joining you shortly on Tylo.

I had no idea that you were already on Tylo. I thought you still needed a transport vehicle. My mistake.

Thank you both, i can't remember if i used of either of them, so i'll try both of them.

There is a mod which allows the user to add images to transparant parts to give craft their own decal. I only have forgotten which one it was (must be my age ). Can anybody help me please with the name/location?

..... I would like to request annuator lights to signal certain conditions (f.e. gear up/down)

Nomen est omen?

The steep hills is exactly why i've tested the drop capacity. The tracks provide the best braking power available. The rover has a very low center of gravity. It is quite hard to make it unstable, therefor the maximum speed is the maximum speed. I will test the rover extremely well, you can be sure about that! (only to find on Tylo that i didn't think of this or that) Concerning the Kraken, it has a very nasty temperament; it never is pleased .

I think you misunderstood me concerning the constraints. I was talking about the rocket there, not the rover. My rover has three types of energy suppliers: two RTG's, which combined provide insufficient power to keep on driving 24/7. ,two fuel driven generators as backup and one solar panel as a last resort backup. Testing might seem unneccessary however during the Pol expedition i was confronted with several things which might have been done better (if only i had tested before). The current rover managed to explode during testing when dropped from 18 meters, after a slight redesign it now can survive undamaged a drop from 59 meters (provided it lands straight on its tracks. So the advantage of testing is evident. Besides, how else can you chack if your vehicle can survive a certain situation. Kerbin has a slightly higher gravity than Tylo, so you now it will survive on Tylo if the same happens there. I wil make the rocket as stock as possible, so you can use it as well (if you want, that is.) More details about the rover, preparations etc. on the mission page.

Currently i'm preparing for an Elcano mission on Tylo. This is the designed rover (so far) Nomenclature 1 - LLL Liquid fuel generator 2 - LLL Rocket engine for righting rover when upside-down 3 - Telus Mobility Enhancer 4 - KerbalFoundries Longtrack (sized at 1.6 x normal) 5 - LLL Landing leg (sized at 0.89 x normal, extended when driving on Tylo) 6 - Last resort solar panel 3x2 7 - RTG 8 - LLL Service module (200 l monopropellant / 1000 electricity) 9 - LLL 2x1 Standard tank (third length, 220 l liquidfuel / 269 l oxidizer) 4 times 10 - group of three extra lights (sized at 0.1 x normal) 11 - Buffalo command capsule,2 Kerbals 12 - LLL rotating radar (just eye candy) Rover statistics: Parts : 53 Mass (wet) : 20.1 tons Mass (dry) : 7.7 tons Height : 2.0 m Width : 4.6 m Length : 6.5 m Liquid Fuel : 904 l Oxidizer : 1076 l Monopropellant : 620 l Electric Charge : 3090 Speed : 16.2 m/s The rover in 'real' life with landingfeet and emergency solar panel deployed. One thing often neglected is testing designs. After the experiences on Pol, i am convinced of the importance of the testing stage. There were some tricky moments on Pol which could have been lot less tricky if i had taken the time to test the design of that rover. A mistake i won't make twice! The Tylo rover will be tested rigorously on Kerbin before sending it all the way to Tylo. Three tests have been performed sofar, droptesting, rolltesting and getting the rover to right itself after tunbling on it's back. The rover has three types of powersupplying devices, RTG's, fuel driven generators and as a last resort one solar panel. The testing proved that the generators had to be placed in a slightly different location and required better protection. The RTG's don't provide sufficient power to charge the batteries when driving. When power in the batteries drops beneath 30% one of the generators will startup automatically. When the power drops beneath 15% the second one starts as well. The combined energy production of the RTG's and the generators is sufficient to fill the batteries even when all powerdraining devices operate at the same time (driving, lights, BTDT scanner). In emergencies, the solar panel can activated manually to provide power (as well). Other tests will be posted whenever possible.

Yes, i am. The Elcano challenge is about doing something no-one (or very few) have done before. After doing Minmus i had to choose a target. At the time, there were two bodies not yet circumnavigated, Pol and Tylo. I've completed Pol, so now it has to be Tylo. At the moment, i'm still just testing the rover design, making adjustments where and when necessary. (I'll see if i can't create some video of the testingprocess) When the testing is done, i'll start building the rocket and when ready, I'll send you the design to help you on your way. I'll try to make it as much stock as possible. Given the constraints your using.

Time to create two new badges, Fengist. One for Pol (which i have completed already) and one for Tylo (which will be attempted by several persons).

Go to the first post, right click the appropriate badge, save image as, done

As promised, the album with pictures. Some picture are included, just because they're so beautiful, some because there's something special there. Most are just documentation of the route taken. http://imgur.com/a/cK4SU

The Drainex1 fires when a resource gets below a set value. Dtobi and Firov, could you (pretty please) create a Drainex2 which fires when a resource/tank gets above than a set value?

Part of the challenge is getting there. And as Fengist has said in the first post, it's more about the voyage than the destination. I've checked the threads and found your rover consisting of 92 parts and weighing about 10 tons. My first advice is using the welding mod to reduce the part count. A lot of the parts are structural panels which can easily be welded together. Do you intend to do the challenge with or without mods?

I've completed the challenge on Pol. Mission report: Pol

The mission is completed. I'm back at the starting point. It has taken 6 Kerbal days to drive around Pol. Today with the end in sight, i've travelled the largest distance during this trip. And surprisingly, with fuel to spare. The last degrees i've left the generator running to have all batteries at full capacity in case the second (and last) generator would be damaged. It's a shame i haven't found any spikes during the trip. It's only gueswork but perhaps the spikes are condensed gasclouds from Jool. Spontaneously appearing when and where ever the temperature is right. Perhaps an automatic station can be built here to monitor the forming of the spikes. That's up to Kerbal Control. Both ladies, Sarena and Marella are extremely glad the trip is over. The monotoneous environment is getting on their nerves. A small part of the BTDT track is missing due to me forgetting to start the scanner again after completely draining the batteries. I do have pictures of every 10 degrees of latitude change which i will present in an album as soon as i have the chance to sort them out. (I have about 300-400 screenshots). After driving full circle on Pol i honestly can say that it's difficult but doable. Make sure you have plenty of SAS and power. I only had 1650 batterie capacity. More than once i had to stop between normal stops to reload the batteries. The extra fuel i took with me wasn't necessary but the mass was usefull. The six small solar panels on top were of little use. Either take more/larger solarpanels or leave them off. The tracks were fenomenal, never any trouble. I believe that i would have had innumerable flat tyres when i had used tyres. During the trip, the rover often came loose from the ground at bumps, landing several meters further. It is possible to drive without a nightvision camera but i don't recommend it. No matter how many lights you'll put on the rover, it doesn't compare to the image you'll get from a NVC.

Good luck, Just Jim.

This day has been quite fortunate. I've travelled a greater distance than i thought possible. The new way of driving turns out to be THE way to drive on Pol. It is a lot faster than before and the fuel consumption is down. The sun might have something to do with that as well. The six solarpanels on top don't provide enough power to charge the batteries. They're just enough to keep the BTDT scanner active, whiich means the batteries don't deplete as fast as before. The design of the rover is good but could have been a lot better. Something which i will keep in mind when circumnavigating an other moon or planet. Choosing tracks instead of wheels was one of the best decisions i've made when designing this rover. And the nightvision camera! Without the NVC i couldn't have travelled in the dark which would have made this voyage even longer. Still almost a quarter moon to go but the chances of making it seem a lot more plausible than after the unfortunate crash which destroyed one of the generators and the fuel supply. I still haven't seen any spike, despite of setting the scatter to 100%. (Perhaps it doesn't works when the body is in memory).