Mesklin Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 Best place in Jool system for mining is Pol:1. Easy landing, you do not need to do pinpoint landing as on Laythe2. Easy ascent, you do not need big engines and tanks for deliver ore from surface to conversion station (you need to make complex craft for deliver ore from Laythe surface)3. Cheap delivering, almost same dV as for Laythe for delivering fuel from Pol to another bodies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpy Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 I am looking for advice on the best moon to drop a mining outpost on.Oh, you're all silly, people. Bop? Vall?... Only Tylo! The drop will be absolutely spectacular!(the mining operation afterwards, not so much though...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rune Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 Best place in Jool system for mining is Pol:1. Easy landing, you do not need to do pinpoint landing as on Laythe2. Easy ascent, you do not need big engines and tanks for deliver ore from surface to conversion station (you need to make complex craft for deliver ore from Laythe surface)3. Cheap delivering, almost same dV as for Laythe for delivering fuel from Pol to another bodiesAnd... 4. Much less often launch windows to the other moons, and longer delivery times. People forget that dV savings often come at the expense of flight time, since we have control over it with timewarp. But if you run a lot of things at the same time and/or are waiting to finish contracts, or have a life support mod installed... time can also cost you then.Rune. Especially if you miss a lunch window because you have to wait for a final tanker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomassino Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Anyone else reading the OP with Prof. Farnsworth's voice? According to mining, Bop and Pol are the best if you will be using ISRU to refuel vessels to reach more distant targets (maybe those in Outer Planets Mod). Then you can refuel at Pol and use the huge Oberth effect at Jool's periapsis combined with possible gravity assists from moons to fling yourself out. If you don't want to use any mod with distant planets, I'd go for Vall mainly because of its accesibility and lowest gravity of all the big Joolian moons. It's a pity there are no trojan moons like Helene in KSP those would have been ideal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RocketBlam Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 The argument that landing doesn't take as much fuel doesn't really work for me though. Since you can make fuel once you land, your tanks can be bone dry and it doesn't really matter. Being able to use efficient air breathing engines is a bonus though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hagen von Tronje Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 The argument that landing doesn't take as much fuel doesn't really work for me though. Since you can make fuel once you land, your tanks can be bone dry and it doesn't really matter. Being able to use efficient air breathing engines is a bonus though.I think it is a consideration, no? If you're setting up a surface mining operation, at least one of the components is going to have large volume tanks for holding or hauling. Landing on thrusters means taking fuel with you for that purpose, whereas landing in atmosphere means you can empty the tanks either getting there or setting up the landing site, then use chutes to get safely to the ground. Cuts back on the cost to send it there in the first place since fuel in the lander can count towards something other than just putting it down. When making deliveries, that's also fuel that doesn't have to be used by the hauler - which of course could be a spaceplane.I have a huge refinery on course for Jool right now, planning to put it down on Laythe for pretty much this reason. I fully expect the tanks to be empty on landing, so I packed an absurd number of chutes. Maybe I'm doing it wrong but it seemed like a decent idea to me, since it's all of the holding volume, none of the dead weight in the tanks, and easy braking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazarus MonkeyMan Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 I like the idea of free (cheap) descent with a mining station on Laythe. I've had great success with a mining/fueling operation on Duna, but Duna has a much weaker atmosphere. How rough is Laythe's atmosphere on a lander? Then again, we have to look at everything: It takes 2,900 m/s to get to Laythe orbit, but only 860 to lift from Vall. Returning down to Laythe may only require 100 or so m/s, but Vall requires another 860 back down. With wiggle room, that means a Laythe fuel-lifter needs about 3,300 m/s, and the Vall one needs 2,000 m/s. Vall doesn't require you to take an engineer over to repack chutes. Vall also doesn't have an atmosphere, which makes it easier to use the landing guidance feature on MechJeb. Finally, Vall has more places to land because you don't have to aim for an island- just a flat(ish) spot. Honestly, I'm leaning towards Vall on this one. I guess if you're good at space planes (which I am not) then Laythe is the better option. If you're using rockets, I think Vall would be better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snark Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 Given that the OP was asking this question four years ago, I think it's fairly safe to say that they've long since settled on a strategy, and further advice on the point is probably moot. Accordingly, locking the thread to prevent further confusion. If someone wants to discuss Jool-system mining operations, feel free to spin up a new thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts