D.E.R.P. ScatterProbe - A high-tech littering system

[kreutzkevic]

Why launch only one rover probe when you could launch twelve?

This high-tech littering system lets you land four probes at a time, which adds the statistical benefit that al least one will survive!

Atmospheric bodies only!

http://kerbalx.com/kreutzkevic/DERP-ScatterProbe

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Edited July 14, 2015 by kreutzkevic

[KingPhantom]

how to they survive the atmospheric entry? is the heat radiator at the bottom enough?

duna is very forgiving with his atmosphere. but on eve none of them would touch the bottom. i created something like "curiosity"... a small skytrain for placing rovers on eve. worked mostly well

[ndiver]

Interesting. How distant are separated the different rovers of a same cluster ?

Is there a real interest in the exploration of Duna to have small rovers like these ones rather than larger inhabited rovers (that can travel on hundreds of kilometers)?

[KingPhantom]

it takes AGES to travel houndreds of kilometers... so a spread at a high altitude is very interesting

[ndiver]

With a large rover, it's not so long, as its weight makes it stable. It allows cruise speed of about 70km/h (20m/s) and up to 100 km/h (27m/s) without too much risk (done on Mün with the Caterpillar rover).

[kreutzkevic]

how to they survive the atmospheric entry? is the heat radiator at the bottom enough?

duna is very forgiving with his atmosphere. but on eve none of them would touch the bottom. i created something like "curiosity"... a small skytrain for placing rovers on eve. worked mostly well

I tested these on Duna as well as Eve. The descent on Eve was nerve-racking. It was a really close call but nothing exploded. Not for want of trying however. Darn thing was flickering like a christmas tree.

Can't recall the descend angle but since these probes are separated by small SRBs, finetuning is not really an option. Too bad they landed in the ocean. No pics, alas.

On Duna it was hard getting at least a couple onto the ground with intact wheels.

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Interesting. How distant are separated the different rovers of a same cluster ?

Is there a real interest in the exploration of Duna to have small rovers like these ones rather than larger inhabited rovers (that can travel on hundreds of kilometers)?

I separated quite low (under 30k) to keep them in physics range. The spread was not great. Less than 1 km. they're painfully slow and completely useless as they have no science experiments. I just thought it was a fun idea.

If the physics range were greater you could release 4 probes with different small science experiments over different biomes.

The rocket, however, is stupidly expensive. I'm sure there are more efficient ways of gathering science from Duna.

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With a large rover, it's not so long, as its weight makes it stable. It allows cruise speed of about 70km/h (20m/s) and up to 100 km/h (27m/s) without too much risk (done on Mün with the Caterpillar rover).

I use that Caterpillar rover a lot. It's an infinitely better design. The centre of mass could be lower, however.

As I said: these small rovers are painfully slow. Not really useful. I just wanted to try this.

Edited July 14, 2015 by kreutzkevic

[Gaalidas]

A similar packing system could be used to create a craft capable of carrying lots of small satellites for a mission that aims to pass by multiple bodies in need of mapping. I've been trying on and off to make something like that where the probes could go out, map a body, then be picked back up when the craft makes it's return trip.

[kreutzkevic]

A similar packing system could be used to create a craft capable of carrying lots of small satellites for a mission that aims to pass by multiple bodies in need of mapping. I've been trying on and off to make something like that where the probes could go out, map a body, then be picked back up when the craft makes it's return trip.

Really? That's extremely interesting. It's taking the concept quite a bit further, especially the recovery.

Logistics on that mission would be a nightmare.

I have, however, built RemoteTech and ScanSat probes that split in multiple satellites upon arrival in the Jool's system. I just never could be bothered to recover them.

And yes. The splitting into multiple parts was intentional