All planets and moon in one go

[selfish_meme]

It's definitely possible, the Eve Lander isn't even that big anymore, only requiring 8,500m/s and can go down empty at less than 100tons with ISRU. Tylo can be done with an SSTO, in fact all the other planets and moons apart from Jool (which was not excluded in the original post) can be done with the same lander. Then it's just a big interplanetary stage and a lot of time.

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It's definitely possible to do this, even without mining. This person did it, and his ship isn't even very big:

http://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/1km15p/the_grand_tour_landing_a_single_kerbal_on_every/?limit=500

Making use of command seat in pre 1.02, won't work now.

[Teilnehmer]

Making use of command seat in pre 1.02, won't work now.

What has changed in 1.0.2 with command seats?

[John FX]

I don't think it's possible to make a single ship that can land on all the planets and moons.

I think it is possible to make single launch mission that puts a single kerbal on each planet and moon and return him safely to kerbin. (I almost pulled it off in 0.90)

It would require a big interplanetary transfer stage with nuclear engines and a BIG lander to go to eve, the top of the eve lander should then become the lander for the other planets and moons and refuel from the transfer stage.

Edit:

Never mind, it is very possible with the new mining facilities.

I was thinking to much about my 0.90 attempt of the same thing .

There is nothing stopping you from making one large ship, leaving kerbin SOI, sending one part to Eve, one to jool etc then meeting up and landing on Kerbin again.

[selfish_meme]

What has changed in 1.0.2 with command seats?

You can't survive high heat anymore so your kerbal will die on the way up.

[stanleywinford]

Making use of command seat in pre 1.02, won't work now.

I haven't looked too closely, but I think the same person did a grand tour without command seats. His craft is much bigger, and available for download:

http://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/1qbdum/an_epic_grand_tour_follow_the_18_year_journey_of/

[davidparks21]

The engineering appears done, so I hereby announce the launch of Krispy Kerbal Enterprise's grand tour attempt.

After a few spins in the sandbox simulator our engineers have shown:

• This booster aided SSTO can indeed make it's way off Kerbin in once piece
  
• It can indeed launch off Eve from 5,000m and make its way to the surface of Gilly for refueling.
  
• And it can land under power at least in KSPs back yard.
  

The idea is to take off from Kerbin in one piece, refuel at Minmus, and do a powered landing on Eve's peaks. The 6 large boosters will be shed on the ascent from Eve, and the rest of it is designed to SSTO every other body, landing under power. Full mining capability is built into the SSTO portion. Wish these two kerbals luck. This may take them a while...

Mission updates:

• [14 June] Blamed on faulty nerves of our newly christened green pilots, a less than optimal first launch of the bohemith left the grand tour team a few dv shy of minmus, stranded in near kerbin orbit they called for help, and after a nearby refueling vessel made a quick detour, they have returned safely to KSP for what some kerbals have dubbed the "Grand Do Over".
  
• [18 June] Reentry into Kerbin after the Minmus mishap went well, everyone survived and landed intact, however it did reveal one problem, we completely melted our ladder system from reentry heat. The engineers ran a few simulations of reentry heat on Eve and confirmed that the ladders have no chance of survival as-is. It's back to the drawing board to find a way to not melt ladders on entry to Eve. The best proposal so far: A large central heat shield discarded after the Eve landing.
  
• [23 June] The grand tour has now relaunched with a slightly modified plan and a new massive heat shield designed to sustain the extreme heat of Eve atmospheric entry. The extra drag added to the launch necessitates a refueling in LKO before launching on to Minmus, then Eve.
  
• [24 June] Well, I got blindsided by the fact that the new heatshield was blocking the mining drill on the Minmus stop. Had to ditch the heat shield to get the drill working, so it's back to KSC again for some more tweaks.
  
• [26 June] Relaunched successfully, the trek to Eve was anything but quiet, it turns out that aerobraking on Eve is not possible in such and un-aero friendly vessel. The extra insertion burn forced an additional stop at Gilly to top up.
  
• [29 June] Our march through the Kerbol system overcomes its 2nd major milestone, landing on Eve
  

Mission Review:

• Chapter 1: Kerbin to Kerbol
  
  • 
    

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  - That launch took every bit of fuel we had. The massive heat shield cost probably 500-1000dv on the ascent and stopped us from using the LV909 to get to Minmus. With that heat shield, necessary to enter Eve atmosphere, we now need a LKO refueling stop. Good thing there's a refueling vessel nearby.

• 
  

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- Refueling in orbit using a previously captured asteroid and dedicated refueling vessel.

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- Refueling stop on Minmus, with the next stop at Eve. We'll take every drop of fuel we can fit. The descent to Eve will require two in-atmosphere burns of ~1000dv each, plus the burn to get there.

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- A powered gravity assist off Kerbin puts us on our way to Eve.

[*]Chapter 2: Eve

• 
  

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- There was no way to aerobrake around Eve without disastrous consequences, the insertion burn left us shy on precious fuel needed to survive Eves descent. An additional stop at Gilly was added to top off the tanks.

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- A successful landing, but missed the peaks by a few kilometers. We'll need to do a little grasshopper maneuver to get into position for liftoff. Luckily it was a reasonably soft landing, only blew 1 or 2 struts. I think the hardest part is behind us now.

Eve hop-to-the-peaks maneuver
Eve Ascent
Gilly

Edited June 29, 2015 by davidparks21

[Zamorakphat]

Seem's a bit hard. I'll give it a go.

[davidparks21]

Seem's a bit hard. I'll give it a go.

Eve is wicked hard for me so far... I've never actually succeeded at getting off Eve before taking on this challenge.

[cicatrix]

I did Eve rock challenge once (never applied though because I was lazy and simply hyperedited my craft into Eve orbit). Actually, pushing it out of Kerbit to Eve might have been a challenge of its own though not so tough. What I did is simply added asparagus stages around the lander can until KER showed 12 km/s of dV. Landed on parachutes then took it back. Oh, it was on ksp 0.25. New aero should require a bit less dV for ascending from Eve's sea level.

[davidparks21]

I did Eve rock challenge once (never applied though because I was lazy and simply hyperedited my craft into Eve orbit). Actually, pushing it out of Kerbit to Eve might have been a challenge of its own though not so tough. What I did is simply added asparagus stages around the lander can until KER showed 12 km/s of dV. Landed on parachutes then took it back. Oh, it was on ksp 0.25. New aero should require a bit less dV for ascending from Eve's sea level.

In addition to the there-and-back mission to Eve this challenge has to be able to continue on and handle Laythe, Tylo, etc. It's a heck of a lot more than a lander can that has to make the ascent off Eve. I've gotten an ascent to work, at least from the mountains, but the entry heat generated by putting such a large vessel down on Eve became an even bigger problem than the ascent.

Edited June 24, 2015 by davidparks21

[cicatrix]

In addition to the there-and-back mission to Eve this challenge has to be able to continue on and handle Laythe, Tylo, etc. It's a heck of a lot more than a lander can that has to make the ascent off Eve. I've gotten an ascent to work, at least from the mountains, but the entry heat generated by putting such a large vessel down on Eve became an even bigger problem than the ascent.

The grand tour was perfectly possible on 0.24, I don't know about later versions. Just make several landers for every planet and attach them to a big fuel tank. Then add drives to move it and more fuel It's oversimplification of course, but basically all you need for a grand tour is patience and KER

[Himynameisjake]

Somebody's done it before in .25. I'll post the link if you want. It's possible.

aww, at least someone remembered me!

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The grand tour was perfectly possible on 0.24, I don't know about later versions. Just make several landers for every planet and attach them to a big fuel tank. Then add drives to move it and more fuel It's oversimplification of course, but basically all you need for a grand tour is patience and KER

only mod I used was mechjeb.

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This mission is totally doable, I've done it in the wimpy days before ARM parts. SSTO eve is impossible, it's been tried forever. But that's not needed to complete baseline in this challenge.

My ship would have been an easy single launch in 1.04, and every lander needs a bit more fuel for lifting a heat resistant capsule rather than lander can.