Hubba!

At the halfway point of the transfer I corrected for the inclination of Jool's orbit and ended up with a periapsis of 65km. A bit low, but since periapses are recalculated or something after the SOI switch I left it at that, knowing I'd have to correct after the switch anyway. After entering Jool's SOI the estimated periapsis jumped to somewhere above 200 km - which I guessed was gonna be way too high after seeing here (http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/showthread.php/21251-17-Planet-information) that the atmosphere of Jool is supposed to begin at 130 km. So I corrected and went for a periapsis of 120 km. When I entered Jool's atmosphere (which was more like 138 km than 130 km) everything turned a beautiful green. I actually packed four 'chutes which I tried to deploy upon entering atmo. Didn't work. But I was actually lucky it didn't because after exiting Jool's atmosphere my orbit looked like this: Not exactly beautiful. But I can live with inclination and eccentricity because the atmo-breaking maneuver actually worked! This felt more awesome than my first Mun landing! At the beginning of the mission I had actually set out to land on Laythe after this maneuver, but I thought the fuel I had left wasn't going to be enough for a landing on a moon with pretty much Kerbin's gravity. So I settled for Vall. And after some (I admit, a lot) orbital corrections I managed Vall encounter. Knowing full and well I didn't pack enough fuel for a return Dunbert, Gernand, and Maldan Kermin will have to settle into their new home on Vall. By the way: my vehicle (Chollima 2) was all stock. I didn't use mechjeb. But I did use Kerbal Engineer Redux Version .4.1.1 during construction of the ship. Man, that is awesome work! I imagine your three guys felt somewhat agitated during the maneuver? I managed to make a controlled aerobreak-to-insertion around Duna using my Cherenkov II. I put my periapsis at 15k for my entry on my way in and control my new apoapsis with burns inside Duna's atmosphere: Like you, I had planned to used chutes for this maneuver. They never deployed and were quite redundant anyway since moving my periapsis up and down just a few thousand meters yielded widely different results. When/if we have to take atmospheric friction and heat into account we'll hopefully get the baluts (have no idea how it's actually spelled) from 2010! I also found out that what we are doing is technically called aerocapture, aerobreaking seems to refer to the same technique but applied to several consecutive passes. Anyway, great work! This will likely be my new standard maneuver for planetary insertions!

I updated the craft in the link! The new B-version has more RCS-tanks added and has had some of its separatrons removed or moved to increase safety. The change in separatron position caused the first stage to tear off the winglets on separation, surprisingly this resulted in a more stable ship. Conclusion: winglets were redundant! Btw, if you would like to reduce the number of parts greatly, feel free to remove the separatrons, they are mostly fireworks anyway! Also FOR THE LOVE OF KERBIN, DO NOT initiate your turn before the second stage has separated! This causes the middle main-sail to come loose and crash through the stack above, disintegrating the vessel banana-peel style! Otherwise this is a completely safe and dependable ship:wink:. I also pulled off an aerobreaking procedure for Duna-insertion, check it out here if you're interested!

One of the most intense memories of my childhood was watching the brutal aerobreak-scene in 2010: a ship on the way to Io saves fuel by bleeding off speed in Jupiter's upper atmosphere, streaking like a meteor across it's sky! I couldn't find the specific scene on youtube, but had a similar scenario. I can seriously recommend checking out 2010 though.Your mission, then, is as follows: use the friction of Jool's upper atmosphere to slow yourself down to into Jool orbit! I've aerobreaked at Duna, but Jools enormous gravity well should make this a different ballgame altogether. Good luck! Hard mode: Aerobreak and swing around Jool into orbit around one of it's moon! Nightmare mode: Perfect the procedure so that you can CHOOSE which moon you'll end up around! Hyper-Nightmare-BLARGGHA-engineer-mode: Post the required formula to calculate the outcome of this maneuver!

That's something I'd love to see! I currently have a crew stranded on Duna because I used to much of the ascent-stage's fuel to break. Perhaps one could eventually land a solar-powered module on a polar cap which would break down the water in the snow to fuel and oxidizer, or a similar setup?

@walia6 - I am honored I contributed to your day. In all seriousness, I don't know what you would like to try, but I find this excellent orbital calculator by Olex extremely useful. If handled properly, the rocket does what is advertised. @The Destroyer - Because BIGGER IS SOVIET! *cough* The entire thing is assemble through guesswork and trail-and-error so I imagine there is a huge potential for optimization, I haven't even begun to look at thrust to weight ratios for the different stages for example. I was increadibly impressed by this rover by MeticulousMitch for example. That said, I mean if the craft is going to perform different tasks, planetary transfer, atmospheric entry and exit and so on it will have to carry the parts for it right? A certain size is inevitable. @Oggula - I love compliments

412 parts in 13 stages, all stock 0.17

Comrades! Members of the Central Design Bureau! I am greatly pleased to present to you the Cherenkov II! Named after the man who described Cherenkov radiation, it is absolutely guaranteed to take three foo- *cough*, BRAVE kerbonauts to Duna and back, often in one piece too! After being placed into high-kerbal-orbit by the ascent stage, The Cherenkov uses five nuclear engines and eight fuel tanks to transfer to Duna and break into orbit, four standard thrust vectoring rockets along with four parachutes to land, the same four rockets for re-ascent and three fuel tanks and one nuclear engine for the return trip. On the way to orbit: Re-orientation after main-stage separation: Five engines burning during trans-dunar-insertion: And our safe arrival! Now, remember to switch off fuel flow to the remaining nuclear engine during landing and to switch it back while on the return to Kerbin. Also, landing on Duna is a bit quirky: one must make sure to break enough so that the craft is not torn to pieces when the cuhtes deploy (happens frequently) while at the same time conserving enough fuel to make it out of Duna's meager atmosphere again! If done correctly, the lander's center of both thrust and drag have been deliberately placed towards the rear of the craft which allows it to auto-stabilize itself during landing. Also worth noting is that the four extra nuclear engines could be removed for a reduction of weight. However, this would extend the required burn to around 15 minutes in order to catch up with Duna! I'm planning to modify this vessel to make it suitable for missions to Eve; I'll probably end up attaching more rockets to it to clear Eve's thicker atmosphere and gravity well. I'd also love it if people likes the design enough to make their own modifications! ...about the Cherenkov I... We do not talk about it. The craft - 412 parts in 13 stages, all stock 0.17 - Updated, new B-version!