bsalis

It's about 2 km/s to get there --> http://www.skyrender.net/lp/ksp/system_map.png Plane changes can be expensive since the SOI is small, so cheap very high Ap changes are not available. Aerobraking means getting into low circular orbit is cheap, so is landing. Back to orbit is 2.8 km/s, with transfer to Kerbin a bit over 1 km/s as pointed out by numerobis. You can capture directly into Laythe, i'm not going to bother typing that yet again --> http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/29169-delta-v-requirements-for-Laythe?p=362095&viewfull=1#post362095 You will want some decent TWR for Laythe, but not as much as needed for Kerbin. Oh yes, yes yes yes. Any SSTO Spaceplane that works well on Kerbin will work even better on Laythe. VTOL SSTO is better, since you can handle the rough terrain better, or splashdown if needed. Problem is they are not trivial to make (however, i have an example of one in my sig if you want to d/l it). Anyhow, have fun on Lathe. I do!

Welcome back nhnifong.

Hmm, I right-clicked and "Save link as...", then loaded into a game instance and it seems fine to me. I know in Chrome if you click on it, then it just shown the text content.

Is the landing gear vertical? Also, Pics? craft file?

Congrats - welcome to the club. And.. pics?!

Yeah I hope Squad do something to help here. Other than using a mod, the best I could suggest is filling small tanks to get known quantities before moving the fuel to the target tanks.

Plant flags all over Laythe most likely.

My docking system is pretty simple, mod free and explosion free. I just put the docking port on the nose. The tanker has the port very slightly lower. Notice how they don't quite match up... Then I just retract the landing gear to lower it into place... Work fine elsewhere too...

As an alternative you could drop them off to a space station. Then scoop them up to bring down in a spaceplane once the station is full. That would be easier I think. This one is an 11 seater...

Why not go to Jool?

You do realize that those footprints on the Moon will probably outlast our species ye?

I have not really considered it, but it possibly could. I guess I did it this way since all my previous SSTOs did it this way, but they didn't have many lifting surfaces (old habit). Note that the others needed refueling, and didn't use chutes. edit: here are the others...

On a windows machine, start the Character Map program.

I use symbols to record a flight log of where the craft has been. Otherwise I forget!! Bodies... Ѳ = Sun á´ª = Moho ÑŽ = Eve ü = Gilly ʘ = Kerbin áµ¾ = Mun Ô“ = Minmus ÒŸ = Duna ᶓ = Ike á´• = Magic Boulder ê = Dres ä = Jool δ = Laythe Ѫ = Vall Ѧ = Tylo Ò¨ = Bop ᶑ = Pol â‚ = Eeloo I then mark them up as needed. eg... ҟÇ = Has landed on Duna >ä = Destined for Jool Here is an example. This spaceplane has been on a big tour...

I seem to keep going over this like a broken record, but it's dead easy to get a Laythe encounter, with only tens of dV, if that. As soon as you enter the Jool SOI, end time warp. Make small Normal or AntiNormal burns to make your trajectory intersect with Laythe orbit. Now (with our without checking with a maneuver node) make a slow pro or retrograde burn and wait for an intercept. Since you are so far away from Jool, only a few dV makes a big difference to your arrival time. I have not bothered with Jool aerocapture since like the first .18 Note that there are fine tolerances to direct capture to Laythe. I set my Pe to 20Km, then use the the MJ calculator to work out the Ap once in the SOI. To play safe you could probably try 21-22 Km and with more braking later as needed.

For a VTOL aircraft, the same rules of any aircraft apply. On top of that, the wet and dry CoM need to be in the same place. The vertical CoT needs to be right under it. Also, those vertical thrust engines are best placed along the centerline, so as not to lower the CoM too far below the horizontal CoT. Hope that makes sense... lol, well to me it does. There's a link to a VTOL SSTO Spaceplane in my sig if you want to see an example.

That is very ambitious. Is the wet and dry CoM in the same place?

Pics? ... and/or craft file. EDIT : actually i see yo pics now! craft files also help though

Why not capture directly into Laythe?

The problem isn't enough fuel to get Orbit. The problem is getting to the Mun, landing, and to orbit again, via refueling in LKO. Totally agree. I suggested the exact same thing in my reply. Do people actually ready posts!!! Thanks. I have been Spaceplane-ing for a while. I put it on the exchange for you - see my sig for link. More control surfaces should fix that. Or having them further away from the CoM. Or just having your wet and dry CoM closer together. Admittedly running out of runway is no biggie in my books.

This is what I call a Boxkite Style SSTO spaceplane. It's long, with a forward and rear node to attach tanks, engines, lifting surfaces and control surfaces. Why is this good? * The main reason: it allows you to balance the wet and dry mass around a common center in the middle of the craft. * Control surfaces can be placed further away from the CoM for better control authority * Resilient to flat spins from flameouts, because of the length - i have never lost control from a flameout * Plenty of small tanks allow adequate air intake placement without clipping (16:5 ratio in this case). Craft is here Note that pics below of a Duna return mission (with no refueling!) has a radial MJ module attached. The attached craft file has this removed and is all Stock. Welcome to Duna Unusual re-entry configuration - oddly stable! Landed Back on Kerbin

It's not that hard with a normal, sensible craft, and some decent experience at docking. Pics of it here - http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/26064-Docking-with-no-RCS

Looking at the aerospike compared to the bell engines only, the better isp in space, still makes the aerospike a better engine for all but the smallest of craft. (big pics linked) Example 1 LV-T30 VAC 4672 m/s Spike VAC 4709 m/s Example 2 LV-T30 VAC 915 m/s Spike VAC 934 m/s So basically the aerospike is still king. Even after the nerf. The next step up is the LT-N if you have an SSTO suiting the weight.