Jool-5 Spacecraft

[Branjoman]

Hello people, I just quickly need to verify with the wiser KSPers if this craft is large enough to be a Jool-5 Spaceship (ie go to and land on all of Jools moons)

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EDIT: Because tags aren't working, here's the link - http://imgur.com/a/kWQ7w

The Delta V equation gives the ship 10km/s Dv and the lander 3.5km/s

Thanks in advance

[Red Iron Crown]

3.5km/s won't be enough for a Tylo landing and ascent, you will need more like 6km/s.

(I think it's the size tags that are messing up your album embed.)

[vosechu]

Plus you'll need extra fuel to refill the lander.

[Branjoman]

3.5km/s won't be enough for a Tylo landing and ascent, you will need more like 6km/s.

So do I need to abandon the notion of having one lander for all moons? Should I have a Tylo-designed lander?

EDIT: Okay, I've refined the design of my lander to 4.8km/s. With some outrigger engines for descent, and the main stage for ascent, will this be sufficient?

Edited August 25, 2015 by Branjoman

[Red Iron Crown]

The strategy I used for my last Jool-5 attempt was to have a multistage lander for Tylo, the upper stage of which was suitable for the other bodies. I also had a jet powered module to dock to it for Laythe. Picture of the modules docked to the mothership.

[panzer1b]

Multistage is the easiest stuff to pull off, and its also lighter then a single stage craft, although its more then possible to make SSTs (single stage tylo). I have a tylo dropship thing that is single stage and can deposit ~5 tons on tylo surface and get back, provided its fully fueled when leaving. Kinda inspired by some of cupkake's stuff, but not a replica of it though, alot of fuel clipping too to give it the right shape i wanted to have.

If youd like, i can post a few pics (provided it still works in 1.04, last flown it in 0.90 where engines had a hair more ISP).

[Laie]

So do I need to abandon the notion of having one lander for all moons? Should I have a Tylo-designed lander?

Carrying a Tylo-capable lander to every moon will require a lot of extra fuel. Bringing a dedicated vessel and leaving it behind may well be more economical. But there's a reason why the staging approach is so popular:

A craft that can barely take off from Tylo can handsomely land and take off from Vall. It may then proceed to both Pol and Bop, landing on one and meeting the mothership at the other, allowing the MS to skip one Moon.

With smart use of docking adapters, the same vessel may also be used as an upper stage on Laythe, but that's probably not as easy as it used to be in the olden days when aerodynamics were ridiculous. I strongly recommend you bring wings for Laythe: it's atmosphere is ridiculously thick even at 40-45km. A gliding entry will take forever but work well, and the wings are a lot lighter than the heatshields you'd need otherwise. You don't need that many wings, by the way: if it's a half-decent glider on Kerbin, it will work nicely in Laythe's upper atmosphere.