Landers that fit in a Mk2 bay

[Nothalogh]

Never mind whether it's a good idea, I'm curious how to build a decent manned lander for atmosphereless bodies, that I can stow in a Mk2 bay.

Has anyone else done this?

[Shamus6200]

If its an atmosphereless planet, I guess that means no reentry heating, so something like a command chair would work for the pilot, then just work very small and narrow from there. Tweakscale would be a mod that would lend itself in this respect. Mk2 bays are tough, but I think it would be doable.

[Nothalogh]

If its an atmosphereless planet, I guess that means no reentry heating, so something like a command chair would work for the pilot, then just work very small and narrow from there. Tweakscale would be a mod that would lend itself in this respect. Mk2 bays are tough, but I think it would be doable.

I'm trying to keep it stock, but yeah, command chair is an obvious choice

[Vegetal]

Oh I've done some with command seats, I'll see if I can get some here for you.

[cantab]

Two possible approaches. Tall and narrow is fine if you're good at landing and at finding flat ground. If you'll need to land on a slope consider instead a lander that lands "sideways", but balance can take a bit of work.

Either way keep in mind the cargo bay is somewhat wider than a 1.25m part but not a lot higher. This means that you can have things stuck on in two-way symmetry but not three or four-way. Don't be afraid to narrow parts of the lander to fit things on. The Mk1 pod will fit comfortably if you don't want to use lawn chairs.

[Red Iron Crown]

A trick I picked up from Wanderfound is to use Oscar-B tanks for mounting the landing gear to keep them within the 1.25m diameter when retracted. You need a fairly flat landing site for such a tall, thin lander, though.

[Vegetal]

As my current career save is based heaviliy on space planes, this was almost inevitable for me. Here my latest one: http://1drv.ms/1KgX8CZ (craft file)

An image:

Inside the bay:

[Nothalogh]

As my current career save is based heaviliy on space planes, this was almost inevitable for me. Here my latest one: http://1drv.ms/1KgX8CZ (craft file)

An image: http://i.imgur.com/E2WAM6q.png

Inside the bay: http://i.imgur.com/kDUDbpR.png

Neat, I like it.

What kind of dv does it have?

Edited August 12, 2015 by Nothalogh

[Geschosskopf]

Never mind whether it's a good idea, I'm curious how to build a decent manned lander for atmosphereless bodies, that I can stow in a Mk2 bay.

Has anyone else done this?

AFAIK, the only practical lander than can fit in a Mk2 bay and return to orbit from an atmospheric planet would be designed for Duna. The Mk2 bay limits you to a 1.25m stack and small lander legs, with external chairs port and starboard instead of a can (which is fine for Duna), and you don't want the lander too long or it will tip over on Duna's hilly ground, given the narrow spread of the landing legs. Now, if you're talking a 1-way probe lander, then you can build one for any atmospheric planet.

[fchurca]

Someone could try packing a chopped-up lander with the pieces lined up along the bay, and then taking them out and docking the lander back together in orbit. Thus, we can use a skinny service bay to store what ends up being a stocky lander. As a plus, in the radial assemblies are tanks, they can be staged off manually once empty.

[Nothalogh]

Someone could try packing a chopped-up lander with the pieces lined up along the bay, and then taking them out and docking the lander back together in orbit. Thus, we can use a skinny service bay to store what ends up being a stocky lander. As a plus, in the radial assemblies are tanks, they can be staged off manually once empty.

That's kerbal enough to be genius

[Vegetal]

fchurca, your idea is very nice, I'm gonna have to try it sometime.

As for my little lander, it says on KER overlay on the lower part of that picture, around 2800 delta v. I don't remember if when the kerbals are sitting on the command chairs, their weight is actually measured and the delta v drops...

[Nothalogh]

fchurca, your idea is very nice, I'm gonna have to try it sometime.

As for my little lander, it says on KER overlay on the lower part of that picture, around 2800 delta v. I don't remember if when the kerbals are sitting on the command chairs, their weight is actually measured and the delta v drops...

Nice, that's kind of where I was aiming for. Although my thought was to use monoprop

[Zephram Kerman]

Here's a simple one. Those radial engines really help when using the mk2 cargo bay. This thing is really meant to be a crew return vehicle from Mun or Minmus, but I think there might be enough. The bottom end had a jr. docking port before reentry.

Another option, although I haven't tried it yet, would be to build your lander on the floor of the cargo bay. That way it can spread out fore and aft.

[Vegetal]

A monoprop one is definitely possible, probably just a little heavier for the same delta V. On this one I decided to let the docking be done by the mothership, thus I wouldn't have the problem of carrying mono on such a small vessel.

[eddiew]

If you don't mind the lack of a command pod, an ECS lander can be tiny; two of these guys fit into a full length mk2 bay

[Sharpy]

Here's a simple one. Those radial engines really help when using the mk2 cargo bay. This thing is really meant to be a crew return vehicle from Mun or Minmus, but I think there might be enough. The bottom end had a jr. docking port before reentry.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/78157466/forum%20posts/CRV.jpg

Another option, although I haven't tried it yet, would be to build your lander on the floor of the cargo bay. That way it can spread out fore and aft.

I think a different option for your lander would be to turn the engines 90 degrees and have it land sideways. The slant of the MK1 pods would allow fitting four legs that extend at an angle.

That would make a very stable lander for two kerbals, that has good atmospheric shielding, can set itself upright just by rolling, and you'd likely be able to squeeze quite a bit of science into it as well (even a materials bay!) by growing it length-wise.

[Signo]

Hi there, just a pic to answer the OP.

Cheers.

[fchurca]

That's kerbal enough to be genius

You flatterer

I'll try this when I get back from work.

[Foxster]

With ion engines and some fuel cells you can make a lander that will get down to most moons and have the capability to return safely to the surface of Kerbin...

Edited August 12, 2015 by Foxster

[rofltehcat]

The most challenging part is probably making it slim enough to fit into the bay but still sturdy/stable enough so it survives the landng. Use a girder segment as "landing legs": It has a high crash tolerance and it is perfect for containing small engines, e.g. Spark or Twitch. Attach the engine to the bottom, then offset it into the girder (can go all the way up without problems). This makes for a very compact and sturdy lander. A small reaction wheel is more than enough to make it very stable and controllable.

Here is an example, one of the rocket chairs I used to hop around Minmus and Mun (removed solar panels to make engine visible). This should easily fit into a mk2 bay. Attaching it to the main craft can sometimes be a bit tricky so you might need to add a small octo strut or similar to get an attachment point (or attach the engine via such means). I'm currently playing with colony and life support mods so I haven't done any manned flighty beyond Minmus yet but I'll soon send a colony to Duna or Dres and I'll use comparable designs there.

Edited August 12, 2015 by rofltehcat

[jackboy900]

If you don't mind the lack of a command pod, an ECS lander can be tiny; two of these guys fit into a full length mk2 bay

http://i.imgur.com/XrfjssD.jpg

Do you have a craft file for this?

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Someone could try packing a chopped-up lander with the pieces lined up along the bay, and then taking them out and docking the lander back together in orbit. Thus, we can use a skinny service bay to store what ends up being a stocky lander. As a plus, in the radial assemblies are tanks, they can be staged off manually once empty.

I imagine a series of FL-400 tanks with RCS, probe core(tiny), a landing leg and a Jr docking port could dock to a central assembly for a wide base lander. KIS/KAS could allow for parts to be added later to save space and fuel tranfer so the thing can ditch the externals upon take-off and return to the bay.Either a transfer stage built in or a nose based docking port on the mothership could be used for transport.

[Foxster]

Now, what might be fun is to fit two 3KdV landers in a MK2 bay...

Edited August 14, 2015 by Foxster

[Sharpy]

I wonder how their TWR compares to the kerbals' jetpacks.

[Foxster]

Umm, those ones above had some serious flaws. Particularly that the thrust goes off-centre as the Xenon is used. These ones are better...

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I wonder how their TWR compares to the kerbals' jetpacks.

Dunno. What is TWR of a jetpack on, say, Eeloo?

These start at a TWR of 1.12 on Eeloo, making them useable there, it being the body with the highest gravity they can cope with.