The new Eve

[-RanZ-]

So with 1.0.2 as anyone visited Eve yet? Is anyone braving an accent attempt? I have seen people say it is impossible but I am curious if anyone has actually sent a rocket there and tested the new atmosphere.

/discuss

[SkyRex94]

Its certainly not impossible. Physically at least, maybe your PC burns up at a certain part count but apart from that its possible.

Go Youtube and search for Venus RSS mission. Manned mission to Venus and Back (real size) with KW Rocketry parts and without RO-config-tweaking, just RSS.

Maybe a ONE-LAUNCH mission might be difficult, but its certainly possible, especially with Orbit assembly.

EDIT: If your aiming at the tweaked engine configs: Yes OLD craft who were able to do it wont do it anymore, but there are still very efficient Atmospheric Engines with high TWR . The 4-Cluster SLS springs to mind ( dont know the Nickname, only the Rhino).

With stock engines a Sea-Level Return might be difficult due to the high pressure on the engines, but a high level launch will be possible, I would bet on it.

Edited May 5, 2015 by SkyRex94

[maccollo]

It's both easier and harder.

Easier to return from the bottom because you can use larger parts with less drag and just burn through the atmosphere at ludicrous speed. The design principle is just somewhat different. Instead of slowly clawing your way out at more or less constant TWR you need to accelerate like a madman for a few second and gain a huge amount of speed, and then cruise at lower thrust. If you try to take of with a lower TWR you will waste an enormous amount of propellant fighting Eve's gravity with awful ISP. If you do it right you can go all the way from the bottom to the top with just 7.5 km/s of vacuum delta V.

However if you think you can shave 3-4 km/s of delta V like you could before by roving a sleek little EAV up to the 7 km peak and take of from there you are .... out of luck. I even tried to design a roving rocket that was designed to be as aerodynamic as I could. It would drive on it's side and then erect itself once it reached the top, and had 5 km/s of vacuum delta V. However as the smaller parts have much more drag it didn't even manage to get out of the atmosphere :/

Edited May 5, 2015 by maccollo

[Shadowlord]

I hyperedited a RAPIER&nuke plane (by which I mean something like 12 rapiers and pre-coolers) above it in sandbox and dropped it through the atmosphere because I was feeling particularly silly one day. Not that there's any oxygen on Eve.

That plane made it through the atmosphere without chutes, and crash-landed on the planet surface. It broke into individual pieces when it hit the ground, but they stayed where they were. (I didn't take a screenshot because I ran KSP through CKAN instead of steam so my F12 wasn't working)

Apparently a kerbal can survive falling thousands of meters through the air and hitting the ground on Eve. (He ran out of fuel trying to redirect his descent into the sea)

Kerbals have perpetual temperature bars on Eve's surface, and in the sea, but did not seem to leak memory.