Scarecrow88

I have used the same lander I went to the Mun with to land on Duna. The only change I made was to add a couple of chutes. Maybe my Mun lander was over-engineered, but getting back to orbit from the surface of Duna isn't particularly difficult as you should have almost all of your fuel available for the ascent.

Coming from Kerbin I find a periapsis at Duna of around 12500m is enough to aerobrake into a captured orbit.

Given that a Kerbin 'day' is 6 hours, the simple answer without giving it any thought is that night time will account for 3 hours of this. However, as a point on the ground moves into darkness, a satellite several hundred kilometres above that point will still be in full sunlight. Likewise at dawn, the satellite will enter daylight some time before the point on the ground below it does so. To calculate how much time is spent in darkness you need to know how much of the orbit circumference falls in the shadow cast by Kerbin, the width of which will be equal to Kerbin's diameter. The speed of your satellite can then be used to work out how long it will spend in this shadow area.

There is no such thing as an ideal station as each will vary depending on what's required of it. You have already figured that you will need docking ports, fuel and RCS on yours to replenish ships and allow transfer of crew. I also tend to put solar panels on mine to keep the batterie charged and enough habitation modules for any crew planned to stay over. Communications is a good aesthetic, and makes sense. I also tend to include enough escape pods for the maximum number of crew the station can hold. These might just be a small capsule that will stay in orbit to be rescued, or can include engines and parachute for de-orbit burn and return to Kerbin.

I try to standardise mine so that an action group key will always perform the same function; e.g. I always use action group key 4 to toggle the ladder on my landers. Makes it a lot easier to remember.

To make craft files downloadable use something like Dropbox. Just upload your craft file there and you can then create a link for others to download from.

Launch as soon as the vehicle is ready, irrespective what time of day it is. Fast forwarding to daylight just increases mission time on existing flights, bringing crew changes a lot closer unnecessarily.

I only use it to enable part clipping in the editor as the connectivity of some parts when building a craft can seriously screw with the aesthetics without it.

I welcome the change as I never use chase cam, finding it too artificial. Tried using it while flying a plane, but to have the aircraft set in a fixed position on the screen with the rest of the world rotating around it was just wrong on so many levels.

This is why I have never used MJ. The sense of achievement when you do something like this is absolutely amazing.

If you are using the 4 nozzle RCS thrusters, you will need to place at least 4 of them on your craft to achieve the required translation movements. One each on the top and bottom of your craft will give you backwards/forwards as well as left/right translation. One each on the left and right of your craft will also give you backwards/ forwards but will also provide up/down. If you are only using two, that's your problem.

I finished putting together a craft that doesn't require any docking skills to go to Duna and back. Duna and back without docking

I recently put up a craft for exchange that was capable of going to Duna and back, aimed at relative novices to interplanetary travel. However, a couple of comments in that thread suggested that because the lander was a separate vehicle to the command module, and required docking with the CSM when it returned to orbit, it perhaps wasn't quite so novice friendly as it could be. To that end, I have put together another craft that is capable of going to Duna and back, and doesn't require any docking at all. Just fly it, and stage when required. Craft file The first two stages will get you to a comfortable 85km LKO orbit. It's possible you will have fuel left over that you can use to start your Duna injection burn should you wish, but it's not actually necessary. The third, or interplanetary stage, will get you to Duna. A reasonable pilot will have fuel left over on arrival to use this stage to do the de-orbit burn. On arrival at Duna, use the atmosphere to do most of your braking. As you don't need to park a CSM in orbit, it's not strictly necessary to establish an orbit on arrival, and if you are short of fuel, a direct intercept may be required. Once your descent is established, stage to jettison the interplanetary stage, and again to activate the lander engines Once below 8000m, stage to deploy the drogue chute, and once this is fully deployed, stage again to deploy the main chute Some use of engines when close to the surface will be required to slow down enough for a gentle landing On the surface, press 4 to toggle the ladder, and EVA to re-pack the main chute, as you will need this when you get back to Kerbin When ready to leave, launch to Duna orbit. I usually go for around 50km When your transfer window comes up, burn to Kerbin Use the atmosphere at Kerbin for your braking, and once you are sub-orbital, stage to jettison the tank and engines and press 1 to deploy the main chute (staging won't work at this point, as the chute has already been staged once.) Action group keys : 1 : Deploy main chute - used on return to Kerbin 3 : Toggle solar panels 4 : Toggle lander ladder Ready for launch Gravity turn complete Jettison 1st stage 2nd stage burn LKO with fuel to spare Jettison 2nd stage and solar panels out Duna insertion burn Arriving in the Duna system Interplanetary stage jettisoned and drogue chute deployed On the surface - don't forget to repack the main chute Launch for orbit Burn for Kerbin Arriving back in the Kerbin system Re-entry Jettison engines and tank Main chute deployed - nearly home

The manoeuvre node system generally works on you being able to change your velocity instantaneously. As we all know, this isn't feasibly possible, so the accepted method of working is to split your burn time around the node point. i.e. if it is predicting a 2 minute burn, you should start your burn one minute before reaching the node and continue burning for one minute after. Having said that, I have never built a ship that requires a 60 minute burn as you are required to do, so am not sure what inaccuracies creep in for a burn of that duration.

I have just built a ship for interplanetary newbies, who may have mastered going to Mun, but are struggling to build a ship capable of going to Duna and back. More images, flight instructions and craft download file in this thread.

For space plane to Mun or Minmus, I tend to build a VTOL engine in to the design and land vertically, with 0 horizontal speed.

I agree, but I felt there was sufficient available to allow for some piloting error. The problem with building in really large margins is that you run the risk of making some parts redundant. i.e. if there was more margin for error in the first and second stages, it's possible that you wouldn't need the interplanetary stage to get to Duna. Maybe the title of the thread is a little misleading, in as far as this craft isn't aimed at complete novices, but for those who are struggling to put together a craft capable of going to Duna.

That's what I do, but I agree that it should have it's own built in decoupler, as it looks rather inelegant when sitting on a docking port on top of your rocket.

That sounds like a good idea.

I figured that if they have been to the Mun, docking may be a skill that they have acquired before trying for Duna. The idea was that it is for Duna novices rather than KSP novices.

After mastering achieving orbit around Kerbin, followed by trips to Mun and Minmus, most players thoughts turn to interplanetary travel for their next big adventure, and Duna is usually high on the list of the first planet to visit. The craft I present here is designed to be relatively easy to fly, and can put a Kerbal on the surface of Duna, as well as being able to return all crew to Kerbin. As the lander and command module need to separate at Duna, a successful flight profile will require docking. If this is a skill you haven't quite mastered yet, then I am afraid this is not the craft for you. Flight instructions : On the pad, press T to turn on SAS, and throttle up to 100% Stage to launch When the boosters run out of fuel, stage to jettison them and, when they are clear, start your gravity turn When the 1st stage runs out of fuel, stage to jettison it and coast up to apoapsis While coasting to apo, press 9 to jettison the escape tower When 20-30 secs away from apo press stage to fire the second stage engine. If the throttle isn't still set at 100%, throttle up to circularise your orbit Once in a stable circular orbit, shut down the 2nd stage engine and press stage to jettison the 2nd stage Press 3 to deploy solar panels to keep your batteries topped up Set up your manoeuvre node for Duna and when ready, stage to activate the insertion engine When appropriate, perform your insertion burn When in the SOI of Duna, setting your periapsis to 12,500m should be right for aerobraking in to an orbit Once in orbit, you will need to lift your periapsis above the atmosphere. I usually aim for a circular orbit around 50,000m When your orbit at DUna is established, press stage to jettison the lander shrouds and to separate the command module Turn through 180 degrees and dock the command module to the lander Press stage to jettison the insertion stage and to extract the lander Press stage again to activate the lander engine Transfer your chosen crew member to the lander module, and undock from the command module when you are ready to start your landing sequence Burn retrograde until your periapsis is below 10,000m Once below 7000m. stage to deploy the drogue chute When the drogue chute is fully deployed, stage again to deploy the main chute When you are getting close to the ground, use the engine to slow your descent speed to below 10 m/s. Be careful not to reduce it below 0 m/s or your parachutes will disappear, making the landing a lot more difficult Once on the surface, cut the engine and press 4 to extend the ladder When ready to return to orbit, throttle up and burn straight up f to 7-8000m before starting your gravity turn The descent stage has enough fuel to return you to orbit, but if you run out just press stage to separate the ascent module. In any event you will need to jettison the descent stage before rendezvous, as the RCS is balanced for the ascent module only After rendezvous and docking with the command module, transfer the crew and undock what is left of the lander Press stage to activate the CM engine Set up your manoeuvre node for return to Kerbin when you have a window, and burn as required Once on a sub-orbital trajectory back at Kerbin, stage to dump the fuel tank and engine, and then again to deploy the chute Action group keys : 3 : toggle solar panels 4 : toggle lander ladder 9 : jettison escape tower 0 : jettison escape tower and deploy chute after launch abort Launch from KSC Gravity turn complete 1st stage separation 2nd stage separation Insertion stage approaching Duna Lander shroud jettison Docking for lander extraction Jettisoning insertion stage Duna descent On the surface Returning to orbit Rendezvous with Command Module Kerbin insertion burn Re-entry at Kerbin Almost home Duna and back craft file

I believe it's a game, with some elements of simulation. Let's face it, if it was too close to being a simulator, I suspect very few of us would have made it to orbit around Kerbin yet.

I think the majority of people who play KSP already have an interest in science/space etc., so it's not likely to have any effect on their views on space travel or exploration. As for the vast majority of the population that don't play KSP, I suspect that most of them don't even know it exists, so it's hardly likely to influence their thinking towards space exploration. So, on the whole, I have to conclude that KSP won't have any effect on what people think about space travel.

OK. If it happens again, I'll try and get a copy of the log.

KSP v. 0.90 Windows 32 bit Events leading up to problem : Lander set down on Duna, but had a bumpy landing and knocked a few bits off. The parachute and toroidal tank attached to the top of the lander appear to have been knocked off, as there was a big gap between them and the lander, but they acted as if they were still actually attached. On take off back to orbit, the lander was still attributed as being on the surface, which prevented me from switching to another ship or exiting back to the space centre. The attached image was taken with the lander at approx. 62000m above the surface, and travelling at about 890 m/s. As you can see there is no orbit path line, and the information for the lander shows it as being on the surface with appropriate lat and long information.