grynspan

Went through a few design iterations on the Mun before heading for Duna to investigate the southern ice cap. 100% stock parts.

After this shot was taken, Jeb took off from Duna. Turns out I had a lot of extra fuel, so Jeb landed on and took a stroll on Ike while waiting for Bill and Bob to get there in the return craft.

Been listening to John Hodgman's latest audiobook. It's in my braaaaain.

Jeb looks on as the sun disappears behind Ike. "Must be Ragnarok," he thinks to himself. "I always liked Ragnarok."

Every body has a different set of requirements. No one lander design will be optimal for all of them.

The aerospikes would give you higher thrust but would burn through the fuel more quickly (I believe?) Atmospheric drag would end up killing any benefit.

The whole thing is the ascent AND descent module. You don't burn any fuel on descent, and rely on parachutes.

Pictshurs: http://imgur.com/a/Q4zOE/ This lander is capable of reaching the surface of a celestial body with an atmosphere. It is then capable of ascending to orbit around any such body with the exception of Eve (due to excessive drag.) The lower stages are not included; only the lander is. Once in orbit around a body, you will want a second ship to rendezvous with the C.L.A.M. and ferry its kerbstronaut back home (think Apollo.)

Thanks! The best missions are the ones where something actually goes right.

They're currently on Eve right now. Gallery is on hold while I figure out how to get enough fuel to them to get them off Eve.

It was dumb luck, really. Saved me a huge amount of fuel.

Sent three kerbstronauts to Jool, landed one on Laythe, and returned them all to Kerbin, with far less fuel than I was expecting to need. Yay for gravity assists! Photo Gallery

Depends what I'm trying to accomplish. For a new rocket/system, I'll test stages. 1) Ensure my new rocket can get to Kerbin orbit. 2) Ensure it has enough fuel to transfer to its destination. 3) Ensure it can get back. 4) Actually land it, if applicable.

Oh, the pain!

You really don't need much to get to another planet. Returning from it, however, takes a fair bit more effort, so I had to design all-new ships for that (see my newer thread.)

Welp, my three-ship concept paid off, though in the end it was simpler/cheaper to discard the LKO bus. <a href="http://imgur.com/a/A38sy">To Duna and back in two ships, with pretty pictures!</a>

And <a href="http://imgur.com/a/5h6BZ">Mariposa II to Jool</a> (mission goal: to determine whether Jool is minty-fresh) was a huge success too, with the crew actually returning alive!

Needless to say, this was a one-way trip.

Aaaand on the next trip over I just found another arch. I'm on a roll tonight. It's difficult to see in that image due to the JPEG compression. It's the bright blurry bit very close to the centre of the image.

Sent a team to the Mun to conduct geological experiments (i.e. "does Mun dirt taste better or worse than Kerbin dirt?") and saw a glimmer in the distance during landing manoeuvres. Decided to investigate and it turned out to be one of the Munar arches. Go team!

I spent real-world days on a tour of the system. The crew was in space for a total of about 500 in-game days. On atmospheric re-entry, when the parachute fully deployed at 500m, it ripped off the (eight-strut secured!) ASAS it was attached to and the crew impacted and died. I was about ready to chuck the computer out the nearest window.

The large crater is on the near side of the Mun. The small crater is slightly to the south of the orbital plane.

Any chance we could get an ASAS that matches the diameter of the other parts? The ASAS is definitely the weak point of my stack right now...

Welcome to Kerbin! From your post it sounds like you're still in school? If rocketry is interesting to you and you want to learn more about it, I highly recommend you take every math class you can get your hands on from this point onward.

They never EVA from the cruiser. I rendezvous the cruiser with the lander, transfer one crewman (usually Jeb), and leave the other two in a parking orbit until the lander returns.